Bette Davis (28 page)

As Ben Hubbard knows only too well, with her husband dead, Regina may be able to gain a controlling interest in the business deal. So instead of saying "He's not conscious"—as indicated in Hellman's script and included by Wyler in the film—-Bette thought it crueler and more effective to respond wordlessly.

Which, in large part, seems to have been her strategy with Wyler upon returning to the set of The Little Foxes. Although lurid rumors in the press went so far as to report Bette's having "jabbed Wyler unconscious" shortly after coming back to work, their ongoing battle was mostly subtextual. More often than not, she reacted to him with steely politeness, as if they barely knew each other. Rather than argue with him, when Willy said or did something she didn't like, she forced herself to walk silently off the set. But when Goldwyn—less patient now—threatened to take her to court, she returned and went through the motions of doing as Wyler told her.

Strangely enough, as actress and director they did some splendid work together in the tense and unpleasant days between June 5 and July 3.

Of particular interest is the sequence where Regina allows Horace to die by refusing to fetch his heart medicine. Cameraman Gregg Toland shows Regina seated impassively in the living room,

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Bette and her mother, Ruthie, on April 6,1908, the day after Bette's birth.

Bette; her sister, Bobby; and their father, Harlow Morrell Davis. Bette was so traumatized by the loss of her father after her parents' divorce that, in later years, she could no longer bear to remember the true story of her early childhood.

Bette, age 20, in Rochester, New York, as she began her stage career.

Bette, age 15 (right) in the Fall of 1923, after her return to Massachusetts. At Newton High School, Bette was a class officer and wildly popular with boys, but she was privately in turmoil because of her sudden proximity to Harlow and his new wife.

Bette's first husband, Ham Nelson. They met in boarding school but married after Bette went to Hollywood.

Bette as Mildred Rogers in Of Human Bondage. This was her first important film role.

Bette and Victor McLaglen in March 1936, the night she won her first Academy Award, for her performance in Dangerous.

Below, Bette and Henry Fonda, her co-star on the set of Jezebel.

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Top left, Bette as Julie Marsden in Jezebel, her first fully realized dramatic performance. In later years, Bette would weave a web of destructive fantasies around the story of this film. Above, Bette and William Wyler during the filming of Jezebel. These were perhaps the happiest months of Bette's life. She was not only madly in love with Wyler but also doing her best screen work to date under his direction.

Bette and Spencer Tracy in February 1939. She has just won her second Academy Award, for Jezebel.

Bette and Geraldine Fitzgerald in Dark Victory. Although this was a period of intense emotional turmoil for Bette, she managed to turn in one of her most powerful performances.

Bette and George Brent in Dark Victory. The day this scene was shot, she and Brent had just begun a love affair and they kept breaking down in giggles over what they read as double-enten-dres in the script.

Bette in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. The role of Elizabeth had been performed on stage by Lynn Fontanne, one of the actresses Bette most admired.