Hollywood produces beautiful women, which is well known.
It's like a manufacturing factory for stunning beauty.
However, there is a woman, she has clear soup and noodles, her face is plain, her face is mediocre, and she is placed in the crowd, and she will immediately be flooded by the sea of people.
But she, "mixed" into Hollywood, won the "2nd place of the greatest actress in a hundred years", surpassing the beautiful Audrey Hepburn and defeating the sexy Marilyn Monroe, ranking second only to Her Majesty Catherine.
She's Betty Davis.
Americans often look at her pictures and shake their heads: It's incredible.
Celebrities have also lamented this.
Film critic Ian Nathan said: "Betty Davis can only be said to be a miracle within a miracle. ”
He used 2 miracles in a row.
How miraculous is that?
Betty Davis had just arrived in Hollywood and didn't know how to get around.
The Hollywood company asked a driver to pick her up, and the driver went, looked left at the train station, looked right, ran to the platform to look at it, and waited for half a day, and there was no one who looked like a star.
So he drove the car back.
Betty looked left and right at the station, looking east and west, until it was dark, and no one came to pick her up.
In the end, she went to the company on her own.
As soon as she entered the company, she split her head and covered her face with a scolding: "The old lady waited until dark and no one came to pick me up, what about the people you are talking about?" ”
The leaders were stunned, didn't they send someone specifically?
As a result, the driver was questioned, and the driver said stunnedly: "I have been looking at the station for a long time, and I have not seen a movie star who looks like a movie star." ”
However, in the station, Betty was not far from the driver, and he looked at her several times and felt that she did not look like a movie star, and she did not have any temperament on her body.
Betty came to Hollywood with a hard time, and she wanted to show her fists, act more, and act well.
But she never thought that the company never gave her a chance.
She wanted to audition, and the company shirked.
She wanted to act, and the company refused.
She's going to read the script and dream.
After having an audition, the leader pointed to the long chair: "You just lie here." ”
Betty lay down as instructed, thinking in her heart that she was going to play well.
After a while, a man came, and the leader instructed him to kiss Betty. The man kissed, and the leader let him out again.
Another man came, and the leader instructed him to kiss Betty. The man kissed, and the leader waved his hand to let him out.
One by one, one after another, came kissing, kissing and leaving. And so on.
There are more than 10 people.
Betty wondered, is there such an act?
The leader shrugged: "As long as you look like this, I just want you to taste the feeling of filming." ”
Betty understood. He is using himself as a target to select male actors.
Because her looks are not good enough, Betty is not like other Hollywood actresses, walking on the street, taking a photo at random, picking a beauty by the way, you can get a chance to perform.
These were the luckies she never had.
Film experts say that Betty Davis broke into Hollywood not by luck, beauty, or money, because those had nothing to do with her.
By what?
100 years after her death, someone has analyzed that the biggest reason for her success is her personality.
She is mighty by nature, not willing to be ordinary, dare to break in, and will also break in.
Most Hollywood actresses have a dead end – childhood misfortune.
Betty couldn't escape either.
Her parents divorced when she was 7 years old.
The father formed a separate family, and the mother was weak and sickly.
In order to survive, the mother took 2 daughters and wandered to New York.
One old and two young, in a different place, how to survive?
The mother patted them on the shoulder: "I heard that photography is very profitable, so I went out to work in photography." ”
Her open-mindedness infected Betty.
Little Betty often went to play in her mother's office. She observed a phenomenon that every time celebrities came to take pictures, they would wear beautiful clothes and make up very delicate makeup. She wanted to do the same.
From then on, Betty vowed in her heart that she would be a shining person.
Who were the brightest people of the 20th century?
star.
Hollywood star.
She persuaded her mother to move from New York to Los Angeles.
This is the closest place to Hollywood.
She came, but people thought she was not good-looking.
Not good-looking, in the show business is the fatal weakness.
Hollywood executives have discussed that to push away Betty, she is not good-looking, can not be on the camera, can not make money, what is the use of leaving?
Betty didn't go, it was not easy to come here, how can you say to go.
The two sides have been deadlocked.
In the end, a well-known photographer kept Betty, who told the top brass: "Betty's eyes are very distinctive. ”
Artists always look at people from a unique perspective, and Betty's eyes have a sense of untamed, gentle and feminine.
Sometimes erratic, sometimes cynical.
Unpredictable and catch people off guard.
Later, in order to praise her eyes, someone wrote a special "Betty Davis's Eyes".
The song received a good response in the United States.
Ironically, Betty's grandson didn't believe it was praise for grandma, he thought that his grandma was just a dry old man, how could he get praise.
Because of the photographer's words, she was desperate.
But since then, Betty has a sense of crisis in her heart.
I am not beautiful, I have no resources, I have no connections, how can I stand here?
She thought of a way not to pick.
No matter what the script is, as long as it comes, it will be performed.
At the time, "The Chains of Life" was picking actresses in Hollywood.
The director watched a lap in Hollywood, and no actress wanted to star, even the heroine.
The heroine in the script is too bad, and she is seducing men, and she is also a little three, arrogant and willful, and when she performs, she is not scolded to death by the audience.
In hollywood in the 20th century, the image of kind, gentle and dignified characters is popular.
No one wants to play a "shrew".
Catherine Hepburn and Irene Dunn are because the heroine image in Of Human Bondage is too poor, and they refuse to star one by one, for fear of damaging the star.
Betty looked at the script and was very cheerful: "I'll act." ”
She acted, playing the character's low emotional intelligence, entanglement, and tackiness.
Especially for Leslie Howard, the voice was exhausted and kept roaring.
She shows this detail very deeply.
Someone said: "She is more shrewd than a shrew in this play." ”
Obviously the beautiful Vivien Leigh is also in this play, but the audience is all attracted to Betty.
Hollywood leaders looked at it and exclaimed: Betty Davis also has acting skills.
Since then, they have given her a lot of grotesque dramas, "The Old Maid", "The Cry of the Grotto", "Over the Forest"...
It's not a crime movie, it's a thriller.
Either playing an old maid, or playing an old mother.
Those pure, quiet, pleasing characters have nothing to do with her.
Betty was furious and there was nothing she could do.
She took the initiative to take control of her own destiny and jumped ship.
Hop from MGM to Warner.
Originally, I thought that the new owner would fulfill his wishes and choose some normal characters.
Unexpectedly, in order to make money, Warner gave Betty some old mother drama.
Betty was gone. Isn't this a blatant bullying of yourself?
She did something that shocked the entertainment industry.
Took Warner to court.
This was absolutely unprecedented at the time.
In the past, even if some actresses were dissatisfied with the role, they would not say it, but would only mutter in their hearts.
Betty, on the other hand, not only spoke out, but also informed the world.
During those days, Betty spent almost all of her energy on lawsuits, and from time to time she confronted Warner in court.
However, how can a little movie star fight a big company?
She lost.
But she wasn't discouraged at all.
Through this lawsuit, Warner seems to have found a conscience and is willing to give Betty a pleasing role.
It wasn't long before she played "Twenty Thousand Years in the Prison of the Stars," with her partner Spencer Qusay, the love of Catherine Hepburn's life.
This drama made her famous, and her prestige, status, and income were greatly improved.
Husband Harmon is dissatisfied, his wife is more powerful than himself, more faceless.
He asked Betty to be a housewife at home and not to shoot any more.
She was a violent temper, and a few words choked back: "If you want to be a housewife, you should be, I will shoot a scene." ”
So the two parted ways.
She turned all her attention to filming and made another film called "Woman Woman".
This drama allowed Betty to win the Academy Award in one fell swoop.
Everyone thought that Betty would only play these vulgar and greedy vulgar women.
Unexpectedly, she acted in another "Sails".
Plays a repressed old maid, but in the end, with his own efforts, he was redeemed.
In the movie, she is pale, always holding a cigarette in her hand, tearful eyes, contrived and flirtatious.
It makes people hate, and it makes people envious.
Many of her expressions and actions have been unanimously recognized by the audience.
It is said that the Hollywood actress at that time, when filming, would always imitate her, with tears, smoking cigarettes, and wanting to stop talking.
They worship this performance as a work of God.
Someone said, "Betty is the only person in Hollywood who doesn't eat by the face." ”
Not really.
She doesn't have to rely on her face, she relies on her acting skills.
When filming Elizabeth, in order to make the acting more profound, she shaved her eyebrows and raised her hairline.
Like an old witch.
She said: "I want to make myself look as ugly as possible." ”
Ian Nathan said: "She proved that looks and beauty are not the most important, wisdom, acting skills and professionalism are the foundation of success in a career. ”
Jack Warner commented: "This little girl, who is a little boring and not pretty, magically became a great artist. ”
Later, she took on "Comet Beauty".
The beauty in the play is like a cloud, but Betty is not inferior at all, and she overwhelms a beautiful woman with her acting skills.
Even Marilyn Monroe gave her a supporting role in the show.
A very authoritative film critic said: "After watching this drama, I found that beauty is not capital, strength is." ”
The show won the Oscar for Best Picture, and Betty was recognized by more people.
Even with such achievements, she has never given up acting.
In her lifetime, she has acted in more than 100 films and received 10 Oscar nominations.
For his outstanding acting skills, he was awarded the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute.
Most of the prestigious actresses will definitely be loved by many people.
But in those days, most people shook their heads and sighed when they mentioned Betty.
She's too extreme.
Whether it's right thing or right person.
There's a rumor in Hollywood that betty Davis shakes the theater when he makes a scene.
As soon as she came, the hip-hop staff immediately became serious, and they were all sincerely afraid, for fear of offending her.
Everyone in the show business knows, no one knows, betty is very eccentric.
Especially with Joan Crawford, it was like a crazy woman.
She has publicly told the media: "Joan Crawford slept with every male star at MGM. ”
This sentence set off a wave of public opinion.
Joan did not show weakness, she was also a superstar, why did she say so.
When they worked together on "Lan Booir", there was a press conference, but the newspaper had limited space to publish the two protagonists.
There is only one way, who sits on the left, who is the headline.
Betty's temper came and she sat on the left.
Joan, very angry.
But she silently ran to Betty's side, pretending to be intimate, but in fact forcefully grabbing the camera.
Two you push, I let.
You blink, I wince.
The reporters exclaimed, "That's great." ”
This time, it's just a clear argument.
And the dark fight.
During filming, Joan was the spokesperson for Pepsi, so she put a Pepsi drink machine in the theater.
Betty saw it and quickly put a Coca-Cola drink machine next to it.
Joan saw it and was furious.
She wondered in her heart how to tidy up Betty.
There happens to be a scene where Betty is required to carry Joan into the house, and Joan knows that Betty has a back injury.
During the shooting, she put a lot of stones in her pocket.
And urge Betty to carry herself.
As a result, After a scene, Betty was exhausted and the back wound recurred.
Halfway through the film, the director hopes that the two leading actors will break the news and hype up the heat.
Betty whispered, "The opportunity for revenge has finally come." ”
She preached in front of reporters: "Joan's chest is fake, hard enough to hurt her head." ”
Joan listened, and immediately called the familiar media and scolded Betty's appearance: "She is older than my mother." ”
After the film was released, Betty was nominated for an Oscar, but Joan did not.
On the day of the award, Joan took the initiative to contact the organizers and was willing to be the guest of honor and present the award to the winners.
Of course, the organizers do. Joan is a big Hollywood star, and volunteers, and she nods her head in agreement.
Betty was tireless in her nomination offstage, and Joan stood on the stage, praising the award-winning actress and personally accepting the award for her.
Although there was no award or nomination, that night, there was no doubt that Joan was the most watched.
You think that after the movie is done, they will not tear up?
Not.
They tore it out of the play.
Betty has a daughter and is very good-looking.
The media sees it once, boasts it once.
Joan saw the report and ran to adopt the pair of children.
But the media still praised Betty's daughter for being good-looking.
Angry, she adopted 2 more beautiful and cute girls.
When Betty found out, she sneered, "She went to the supermarket to buy children again?" ”
You think they're just acting a little excited?
That would be wrong.
They are very excited in their behavior.
Joan has a boyfriend named Thorne, who is a small actor and is not as famous as her.
Joan looked down on him, had no manhood at all, and was ready to break up.
Unfortunately, Betty likes Thorne, and they fall in love with each other.
Joan knew this and immediately pulled Tonne to get the marriage license, not because of love, but because of Betty.
She was going to Betty to death.
Because Betty publicly liked Ton.
However, not long after, this farcical marriage was still broken.
They fought each other for more than 30 years until their deaths.
Hollywood also made this "tear war" into a TV series. It's called Nemesis: Betty and Joan.
Douban scored 9.0 points, and people all over the world were "cheering" for these two people.
The world says Betty is too mean, and Joan can tear up to the old.
But is that really the case?
After Joan's death, her daughter wrote a memoir about her mother, but the superstar is gone and the glory is gone, who will pay attention to this?
Little attention is paid.
Betty has publicly expressed support for Joan's memoirs, seemingly forgetting her past grievances.
There's a line in Old Enemies: Betty and Joan: "You two have so much in common, and there's no one else on Earth who is as similar as you are." ”
"Resentment has nothing to do with hate, it stems from pain."
In life, there is such a person, growing up together, killing and loving each other, it is also a worthless life.
Can she tear up with Joan for so long, is Betty really not easy to get along with?
It's really hard to get along with.
When Betty was just getting a little famous, a couple in the United States invited her to visit her home. During the banquet, Betty's private life has been talked about, too chaotic, too complicated.
Betty couldn't hold back her anger. When she returned home, she invited American couples to her home.
They came, and Betty was gracious.
When she was drunk, Betty said to the couple, "You are the most boring and boring people I have ever met, and you can only say bad things about people." Then, he closed the door and left.
Americans at the time knew about it.
The role of Hao Scarlett in "Gone with the Wind" was grabbed by many Hollywood actresses, but at that time, it was a major hit in the media.
Betty was one of them. She has played so many bad women, she wants to play a beautiful woman, and Hao Sijia is what she wants to play the most.
But I fought over and over, but I still didn't fight Vivien Leigh.
At that time, she acted in "Redwood Tear Stains", which is very similar to The character image of Hao Scarlett.
Many people say: She is angry Vivien Leigh, and Joan Crawford can tear for more than 30 years, Vivien Leigh snatched her role, afraid that she will not be in contact with her.
Surprisingly, Vivien Leigh was married, and Betty turned out to be a bridesmaid.
At the wedding, she was in tears, as if she were marrying herself.
Very touching.
Betty later recalled, "I was in a competitive relationship with Vivien Leigh, but we were also friends. ”
She is not difficult to get along with, but people who are in love with her will get along.
Derek Malcolm said: "She has been fighting all her life, fighting for roles, in order to live better, in order to make better people, never afraid of power, never stopping." ”
Who says it's not?
Without a good family situation, without the appearance of the city, without lucky opportunities, without squandered capital, you can only fight yourself.
Only to fight, to break through, to struggle.
When you increase your strength, climb to a position that cannot be reached by others, and then look back at the road when you came. You will find that what you have been obsessing about in the past, what looks, resources, and praise, are no longer important.
Life really needs to be like Betty, live a good life, live a steaming life.
As she wrote on her epitaph:
I've struggled all my life, and it's what drives me to keep moving forward.
If everything is calm, I will break that calm.
If everything is simple, I make it complicated.
Author: Ji Jinwen (Zhou Chong Studio Writer)