Davis/Reed/Black--rec ipe for discord - Burnt Offerings (1976) Discussion

[–] DrinkFromTheSameFountain 12 years ago

I read in one of Davis' biographies that she didn't enjoy working with Black or Reed. She said that Oliver Reed was always either drunk or hungover and liked to play his bagpipes (lol! I think Reed would have been a blast to hang out with!) and that Black was not good at projecting her voice (not exactly sure why that bothered Bette) and that Karen was always changing her makeup within the same scene, which made for obvious inconsistencies for the final product. She also said that Black slept in a lot.

I think Bette was probably more professional than any of them, but oh well. They are three of my favorites.

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[–] fiatlux-1 12 years ago

Bette Davis said that Reed was always drunk? LOL! She was surely drunk 99% of the time herself, she was a hardcore alcoholic.
I do believe her about Reed though, he himself admitted he LIKED being drunk all the time! What a shame, they both must have been tormented souls.
As no one drinks/does drugs if they're happy.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[–] DrinkFromTheSameFountain 12 years ago

Yeah, I'm sure Bette was much more discreet than the wild man, Oliver Reed.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] DrinkFromTheSameFountain 12 years ago

What aspect about Karen Black are you talking about?

I think Bette got along okay with Olivia DeHaviland and Agnes Moorehead. Then again, she could have just been in a good mood for her triumph over the psychological warfare between her and Joan Crawford during the making of "Hush, Hush... Sweet Charlotte". I bet she got along with Gena Rowlands, too.

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[–] ElectricWarlock 12 years ago

Bette Davis also didn't get along with Olivia Hussey according to Olivia's IMDb bio:

-Clashed with Bette Davis on the set of Death on the Nile (1978) when the cranky, older star complained about her playing "East Indian chants" on her dressing room stereo at six in the morning. They did not speak for the rest of the filming.

Come, fly the teeth of the wind. Share my wings.

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[–] DrinkFromTheSameFountain 12 years ago

Yeah, I read that one, too. I do believe, however, that Bette Davis and Maggie Smith got along very well during the filming. Ditto Peter Ustinov.

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[–] Cultfilmfeverforever 11 years ago

I loved Bette and Karen's work in BURNT OFFERINGS. In defense of Karen, she was about five months pregnant during shooting. Her pregnancy may have made her tired. The director praised her for her effort. Can't help it, but I love me some Karen Black!

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[–] ReneeFindley (38) 2 years ago

Karen Black was pregnant during the filming of this movie, which is probably why she slept all the time.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Slaterson14 8 years ago

From listening to the commentary on the blu ray for this film you can just tell that she is insufferable pregnant or not. She is so in love with herself that its nauseating, she never once commented on anything really except for "look at me" in this scene type of stuff and the director was obviously annoyed by it and had to steer the convo back the the overall movie several times if I remember right. I also read that Rob Zombie who was a huge fan of hers rescued her from no budget straight to dvd garbage and casted her in House of a 1000 corpses and then when he asked her back for the devils reject she decided it was a good idea to get all hollywood on him and demand a ridiculous sum of money for a movie that could not afford to pay that kind of fee and pretty much figuratively spit in his face by doing so so he got someone else. She should of been kissing his shoes for being gracious enough to ask her once let alone ask her back again for another movie and yet she acts like she's somehow got all this leverage and star power. The main audience for zombies movies are younger crowds and aside from a few diehard horror fans most younger people probably have no clue who she is or cared so she was pretty stupid to have that attitude about it

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] Slaterson14 8 years ago

In all fairness though I will give her her due props for her role in this movie, whether shes just weird in real life or she actually acted in this movie is debatable but whatever the reason it worked and I can't see another actor in the role. I wish Reed would of been replaced by someone else though, I feel the movie would hold more weight because his performance is way to hokey and way way to over the top.

Karen, Bette, and Davy all did very well and Reed was okay at times but he didn't fit, didn't buy him as part of their family for a second. Whats funny about Bette Davis is I bet she and her fans felt this role was below her but I honestly feel its her best performance, she was very raw and real in this movie and her transformation scenes she seems so sickly that its hard to believe its just acting. Shes good in her older movies as well but she didn't have to act in the same manner, it was more posturing and looking a certain way IMO which is why I dont like very many movies from the 50's and before, the realism factor was just never there, movies just seemed like stage plays.

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] KutWrite (1241) 4 years ago

Davis' and Anthony James (chauffeur) were the only performances I bought. Meredith hammed it up and Heckart was too wooden for my taste. The kid... fagedaboudit! Annoying and whiny - even aside from what was on the page.

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