|
|
|
|
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
|
|
|
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) reveals a startling portrait of one of Hollywood's most gifted and
enigmatic stars in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story, premiering Wednesday, May 3, at 8 p.m. ET.
Narrated by Oscar®-winning actress Susan Sarandon and written and directed by Emmy Award-winning
filmmaker Peter Jones, Stardust takes viewers on a psychological treasure hunt for the soul of a
person so buried in contradiction and self-styled legend that fact and fiction became nearly
indistinguishable.
Jones is the first filmmaker to receive unrestricted access to Davis' vast personal archives that span
her entire life. Stardust weaves an unprecedented amount of primary source material throughout
the documentary, including scores of never-before-seen photographs and letters culled from more than one
hundred of her personal scrapbooks, some with annotations in Davis' own handwriting.
Stardust also de-constructs Davis' fascinating yet complex life through newly-discovered oral histories
with her most important collaborators as well as original interviews including Jane Fonda, James Woods,
Ellen Burstyn and Gena Rowlands, who critique scenes from films including Of Human Bondage;
Jezebel; Now, Voyager; and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Each actor also
reflects upon Davis' titanic off-screen persona.
Additionally, Davis' son, Michael Merrill, speaks for the first time about his parents' violent marriage
and his sister B.D.'s blistering memoir, My Mother's Keeper. And in her first on-camera interview,
Marion Sherry, B.D.'s nanny and widow of Davis' third husband, reveals shocking details surrounding the
mysterious death of Davis' second husband.
The film explores Davis' troubled relationships with her emotionally distant father, who
abandoned her family when she was 10, and the ambitious stage mother whose drive was crucial to Davis'
early success. It also examines Davis' fiery personal and professional relationship with director William
Wyler (Jezebel, The Letter, The Little Foxes), who, after completing their third
multi-Oscar®-nominated collaboration, vowed never to work with the actress again. Finally, the
documentary examines how Bette's ill-fated love life could prompt this feminist icon and four-time
divorcee to declare, "Unless the girl adjusts to her husband, there can never be a happy
marriage."
Bette Davis is also the May "Star of the Month" in which TCM will air Bette Davis films every Wednesday,
beginning after the premiere of Stardust: The Bette Davis Story. A complete movie schedule is
attached.
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jones began his career as a broadcast journalist. In 1987, he formed
Peter Jones Productions, originally specializing in documentaries related to the history of the Hollywood
film industry. Since then, his Los Angeles-based company has produced more than 120 hours of programming
on a variety of subjects.
 
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
31 Days of Oscar Highlights for Feb. 24
Among our Academy Award® honorees for this day are Alfie (1966) starring Michael Caine & Shelley Winters, The Third Man (1949), and the TCM premieres of A Room With a View (1985) and Mrs. Brown (1997).
MORE >
|
|
TCM UK
| 
TCM Spain
| 
TCM France
| TCM Latin America
| TCM Asia
| TCM Germany
TCM.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network.
