Mother Goddam : Bette Davis

by Whitney Stine

With the ruefulness implicit in her title, but also with honesty and a bitchy bonhomie that seldom adorn such Sunset sagas, Bette Davis pictures herself as Mother Goddam, a tamable shrew who never found her Petruchio. Her four marriages suffered inevitably from income-patibility. In 1946, Bette Davis earned more ($328,000) than any other woman in the U.S.; one ex-husband, clearing out with the pretty nursemaid, even sued for alimony. Says "The only future marriage I would even remotely consider would be with Paul Getty." But she admits that her own rapturous intensity simply "exhausted" most of her mates. "Many men." she protests, "find their fathers in women. I am the least likely father symbol extant."

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Celebrity, Memoir

374 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always loved this book, it's great to have Davis running commentary. Very entertaining read.

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As for my review of the book- the gimmick that makes this book awesome, is that Bette herself chimes in with commentary as her biographer is writing. As a fan, one cannot read those lines without hearing Bette say them in her husky, cigarette-destroyed voice. I was a little disappointment in Miss Davis' commentary because she almost always takes the high road. For example after an excerpt of a critic bashing her movie and or performance, she will often say, "He was right, the script had issues from the start, but we did the best we could." This is absolutely brilliant on her part, because she stays a victim, and the reader gets mad at the critic and feels for Bette and the art she worked so hard to create. She only has a few lines in the Whatever Happened to Baby Jane chapter, and none of them really zing Joan.
I don't recommend this book if you want to learn more about Miss Davis' private life. If That is what you're after she did write 2 other autobiographies, has had several biographies written by her, and her daughter even tried to copy Christina Crawford and do a tell all. I do recommend this book if you want to read a chapter about each film Miss Davis made and hear insights about those films from the diva herself.

[Booksrock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bette Davis is fascinating to me, but this book written with her heavy editing offered me little. Talk about an unreliable narrator. I did get the gist of her life up to Baby Jane, but she came near to saintly and was a legend in her own mind as well as the rest of us. No objectivity, but did enjoy hearing about her films.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a biography, but rather a verbal scrapbook of Bette Davis’ career, with Davis providing the color commentary. Discrete industry gossip from Hollywood’s golden age. Worth picking up if you’re a vintage movie fan and come across it; worth seeking out if you are a Davis fan.

[Christopher Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Miss Davis adding in her own commentary and corrections where she felt it was warranted I loved and still love this book. This is definitely one to read and keep handy as a true reference guide

[Squintsquadknittr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like an extended publicity release. Marginally entertaining, but if you've read any other decent bio of Bette Davis, there is nothing new to learn here. Virtually nothing about her personal life, just a chronology of her movies, with her comments interspersed.

[Silverspringsrr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chronology of the Davis career, with often hilarious running commentary by Davis herself, added after Stine completed the book.

[Mateja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly this book is very boring. Even Bette's comments can't save it. It took me months to read it.

Whitney Stine's other book about Bette is much better.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following Gabriel Garcia Marquez's wise observation that "gossip is the true history" Whitney Stine has fashioned a Bette Davis biography like no other, bitchy, profane and always shocking. All this with the star's approval, and published fifteen years before her death. Bette would call Jack Warner "Mr. Warner" in interviews and "swine" to his face. She hated the old studio system that kept her in chains to Warner Brothers, yet expressed horror at the New Hollywood stars of the Seventies, "who haven't got a chance to make the money I did". She took her four husbands to the cleaners after each divorce, but never dreamed of living alone. Bette picked out her own cemetery plot at Forest Lawn, "where I will overlook Hollywood for eternity. How is that for irony?". One item not covered here is her political side. A staunch Democrat, a fan asked of her what she would do if Richard Nixon came to dinner at her house. "Why, do what I did in BABY JANE, serve him a dead rat!".

[Michael Haseloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the read, just for the subject's commentary.

[Holli Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't read anything that I didn't already know.

[Jeaninne Escallier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another precious find from a used book store! I love old Hollywood. In fact, my grandmother, born only five years after Bette Davis, always reminded me of Bette. Both women lived unabashedly, thumbing their noses at conventionality, and both women had those "Bette Davis Eyes." I grew up loving the movies, just as my mother had before me. So, finding this gem, recapping Bette's career from the twenties until the mid-seventies, was like dusting off old love letters found in an attic trunk. Because my mother was raised in L.A., she introduced me to the movies of her youth. And, they still hold the test of time.

The best thing about this book, which is pretty much your standard biography, are the comments interjected by the great Ms. Davis in order to clarify Whitney Stine's facts. For you young readers, it would be like reading the set notes from Downton Abbey with Maggie Smith interjecting her pithy responses as the Dowager Countess.

Bette Davis was definitely her own woman. From day one of her career in the late 1920's and early 30's, she had a say in how she was going to act. I especially admire how Bette fought in court for what was ethically right regarding deals and contracts. She even stood up to the movie moguls of the time when studios owned their stars and actors, threatening to quit if she and her fellow actors weren't treated fairly. Bette was one of the first actresses who purposefully made herself look bad in roles to retain their authenticity. She wasn't afraid to age out in her roles. Bette was a dedicated and consummate professional. And how refreshing that she took ownership of the roles that tanked in her career!

I found myself going crazy on Google, looking up all of her movies and co-stars. I even watched some of her movies on You Tube, thoroughly moved and entertained. If you want to learn about Bette's early and middle career, this is the book. However, if you want to know what happened to her before her death in the late 80's, you have to look that up on your own. (It saddened me to know that her daughter wrote a horrible book about her. From Bette's comments in this book, she truly loved her children. No matter what their relationship, Bette didn't deserve that.) Rest in peace, Bette. And thank you for thousands of celuloid hours of pure joy.

[Martin Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book decades ago when it first came out, and just reread it during the pandemic. I think its premise is excellent: the author writes a straightforward biography of his subject, film star Bette Davis, and then the subject comments more or less at will on what he's written. It's beautiful! I have always wondered why this idea hasn't been adopted for other bios of living legends.

Stine gets the facts right, but the real draw of this book is all of Davis's delicious commentary. Her versions of famous/infamous incidents (such as how she got Jack Warner to buy Jezebel for her, her feud with Tallulah Bankhead after she made The Little Foxes, her disappointment at not winning a 3rd Oscar for Baby Jane) are all here, in her unique and clarion voice. Sparing her from having to write all the boring parts of a memoir but letting her sound off on whatever she thinks is interesting is just a genius idea, and makes this a delightful read.

Of course, those seeking unadulterated gossip/dirt will not find it here, nor can they count on anything approaching objectivity toward the subject. But if you are looking for the real Bette Davis, in her prime, she's on display here in full force. Highly recommended.

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though Bette Davis was not a queer woman, she is a queer icon!

Therefore, I declare this to be the fourth book I've read in 2023 celebrating LGBTQ pride.

Bette Davis is my favorite actress. There have been countless of books written about this iconic lady, and this one, though written by Whitney Stine, includes Davis' own commentary about her work; her thoughts on friends, family, colleagues, and loved ones; and together, their work together creates a hybrid part biography, part memoir, and reflection.

Biting, bitchy, honest, and vulnerable- these are all things Davis fans like myself already know about her. But to anyone who doesn't know much about the life and times of arguably the greatest actress that was- this one is a good book to start.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

No dirt to speak of, and Stine focuses a lot on her costumes, hair and make-up, but it's a breezy read through Davis' career, surviving classic Hollywood, the crumbling of the star system (she was fighting her Warner Bros. contract in court in the mid-30s), and the rise of TV.

Describing Davis and Mary Astor rewriting their parts in The Great Lie on set:
"The two actresses, by showing understanding of females in general, infused their scenes with a kind of bitchery seldom encountered - but it was the bitchery of nuance."

[Lee Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A standard-issue "and then she made this movie" bio, enlivened by Ms. Davis herself interjecting her opinion of the facts at hand. Much like in her memoir, The Lonely Life, Davis never seems to find herself in the wrong while pretending to be cooperative and just dedicated to her work. I'll bet she was a nightmare. I love her.

[Rene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely retelling of Bette's career into the 1970s with a running commentary by Bette herself. Not especially in depth or thorough, but a comprehensive overview of her films with that added touch of her commentary. Her voice comes through on every page.

[Elaine]

Delicious! This book covers the career of Bette Davis from 1931 through 1973. Best part, hands down, was her running commentary in red ink throughout the book. Recommended for fans of Davis and/or old Hollywood, particularly its golden age.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the fact Bette Davis had a chance to comment on the things that were said about her. It gave an interesting insight to the media clippings.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very little detail about Davis's life or career. Read a proper bio, like Ed Sikov's Dark Victory.

[Gustav Sandberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant way of writing a biography!