Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star Page #9

...there was a toughness

that never went away again.

The look is really rather terrifying...

...with these huge eyebrows

and the teeth getting bigger...

...like maybe she had them recapped.

The thick mouth line...

...and the short cropped hair. She was

creating this almost warrior aspect...

...invincible and indomitable,

that nobody could get her.

She felt she had to control her private

life as much as she did her career...

...sometimes with disastrous results.

In her 1955 dramas,

Female on the Beach for Universal...

...for which she requested that no

close-ups be shot after 4:30 p. m...

...and Queen Bee

for Columbia Pictures...

...Crawford's need for control often led

to conflicts with younger actresses.

l had been warned that she was gonna

be a very, very difficult woman.

She was looking after Lucy's wardrobe,

and Lucy.

She was like a mother

fluttering around a child.

l thought, ''How nice she's being

to this young actress. ''

That changed when we started

doing the movie.

Poor Lucy would just weep:

''She's just so angry.

When she hits me, she really hits me. ''

Maybe Joan was impatient...

...that there wasn't the talent there

that she expected.

Joan pretty much directed herself.

She, of course, would look

at the dailies every day.

So she knew what she wanted.

She certainly knew more about

filmmaking than the director.

She usually had affairs with the men

she worked with.

She and Johnny were having

this big romance.

They'd call in the morning about 7:00,

and they'd say, you know:

''Get yourself over here.

We can't shoot them today.

They've just been

boozing and balling too much. ''

lf that's what got her through the night,

that's okay.

Then, along came Alfred Steele...

...the magnate of Pepsi-Cola...

...and he was entranced with her,

and she with him...

...and his power.

Somebody said, ''Joan's in town...

...and she would like you to come

to her wedding celebration.

She married Alfred Steele

from Pepsi-Cola. ''

l said, ''What?''

Of course, she was there and Alfred

was there and she was just aglow.

l took her over to the side

of the restaurant, and l said:

''You stinker. You and Johnny,'' l said,

''l thought that was a big romance. ''

She said, ''We were in our cups

a little bit, l have to admit. ''

And he said,

''Why don't we just get married?''

And she said, ''All right. ''

And she said, ''Why didn't

you call me in Las Vegas?''

l said, ''Mother, l didn't

know where you were. ''

And she said to me, ''Well, all you

had to do was call lnformation.

Everybody in the world

knows who Joan Crawford is. ''

Crawford starred in Columbia Pictures '

Autumn Leaves...

... with a very young Cliff Robertson.

When l was told l was to go out and

play in this March/December romance...

...l was terrified. Here l was

gonna work with Joan Crawford...

...the essence of an older sexy woman.

l called Bob Aldrich and l said:

''When do we rehearse?'' And he said,

''Cliff, Joan doesn't rehearse. ''

l drove out to Brentwood, and the butler

met me at the door, and he called out:

''Miss Crawford,

Mr. Robertson is here. ''

And l looked out, and there was

a long terry cloth robe...

...with a very shapely naked leg

extended into a foot pool.

That unmistakable voice said,

''Come in, dear boy. We're waiting. ''

l said, ''Oh, my God. Oh, my God. ''

lt was not my idea of a rehearsal.

Another film,

The Story of Ester Costello, followed...

... which would be Crawford's last

for almost three years...

...for she had found a new outlet

to channel her boundless energy...

...as the first lady of Pepsi-Cola.

She sees the opportunity

to keep herself in the public eye...

...and created the illusion that she was

actually the president of Pepsi-Cola.

She could go into a sales meeting and

all the boys would clamor around her...

...and she would shake their hands.

And she would go all over the world,

with Al or without, wherever she went.

He was big news and Pepsi-Cola

was big news.

She was acting Joan Crawford,

which was her most magnificent role.

l wonder if any corporate figure

before or since...

...has ever used the powers

of show business...

...to the corporate advantage

as Joan Crawford did.

She made that product

synonymous with her name.

When she married Steele,

she got an apartment in New York...

...and spent $300,000 cash

to fix it up.

l don't think Steele had

that kind of money.

lt was a very, very Crawford-esque...

...kind of modern contemporary

Billy Haines look.

Joan had a pink bedroom and it was

built with a big terrace around it...

...all glass, facing Central Park.

Walls of dresses, walls of hats,

and everything coordinated.

There was more clear plastic

on that furniture...

...than was on the meat in an A&P.

Joan called me to tell me that Al had

passed away that Sunday morning.

What a shock. Because he was

in very good health, we all thought.

l went to Al's funeral...

...and, oh, Joan was just taken apart.

A fan came up and asked

for an autograph...

...and Joan didn't say anything,

just turned away, and with that...

...the fan took her veil

and ripped it off.

With the death

of her fourth husband, Alfred Steele...

...Joan was plunged into

personal and financial despair.

At the age of 53, Crawford knew

she had to find work in Hollywood.

She says,

''Herbert, l really need a job. ''

Their duplex penthouse

was not paid for...

...and she made a point of working

and paying it off.

l have one small corner of your life.

l've never asked for more.

And l will not settle for less.

Now, you and your rabbit-faced wife

can both go to hell.

She had just lost Alfred Steele,

and there were moments on the set...

...where she was having

a difficult time.

And l came over to her and l said,

''You're gonna do a great job. ''

And then she got herself all propped up

and got courage and did the scene.

And then she looked for me after

to see if l had seen it.

lt was a nice gesture on her part

to make me feel like l was important.

Next, Crawford embarked on a film that

would once again galvanize her career.

When Hollywood learned that

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford...

...were gonna costar

in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?...

...everybody was shocked.

l mean, here are two

of the greatest stars.

Academy Award winners,

queens of their studios.

The story was that Bob Aldrich

shouldn't direct the picture...

...it should be Clyde Beatty,

the famous lion tamer.

Baby Jane provided an outlet

for the rivals to unleash the fury...

...of their longstanding feud.

You wouldn't be able to do these awful

things to me if l weren't in this chair.

In the film, they played a forgotten

child star and her crippled actress sister.

But you are, Blanche.

You are in that chair.

Our dressing rooms are on the stage.

Mine was in the center...

...and Bette was on the left

and Joan Crawford was on the right.

So l got all the vibes.

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