Michael Curtiz was none too happy having Bette Davis thrusted upon him when he was directing October 1932 "The Cabin in the Cotton." Producer Darryl F. Zanuck saw some spunk in the young actress that the Hungarian director failed to see. Besides a lead in George Arliss' 1932 "The Man Who Played God," Davis' roles were minor playing mostly meek characters. Her part as Madge Norwood called for a head-strong, devious sexpot that the director felt demanded a more hardened, experienced actress.
"Are you kidding?" huffed Cortez to Zanuck when he was told Davis was going to be the lead in his film. "Who would want to go to bed with her?" Having no choice in the matter, the director expressed throughout the shoot his lack of confidence in her right to Davis' face. He described loudly so everyone could hear that she was a "lousy actress," and followed up under his breath that she was a "nothing, no good sexless son of a b" when filming her love scenes with actor Richard Barthelmess. Davis, though sensitive to his insults, let his comments slide off her. "Mr. Curtiz," said Davis years later, "was a monster as he was a great European moviemaker. He was not a performer's director. You had to be very strong with him. And he wasn't fun. Cruelest man I have ever known. But he knew how to shoot a film well." Hard to believe, but the two ended up making seven films together.
"The Cabin in the Cotton," focused on the confrontation between a plantation owner in the Deep South and his sharecroppers. The script was adapted from a 1931 Harry Kroll novel of the same name. Barthelmess stars as Marvin Blake, a sharecropper's son whose ambition is to get a school degree instead of remaining in the fields picking cotton all day. Davis is Madge, the plantation owner's daughter, a free spirit who sides with her father. To be fair, the book and the Warner Brothers' picture doesn't take sides; both are ripping each other off. The farmstead owners are more secretive and clever by cooking the books, while the sharecroppers are visibly stealing from the plantation owners.
In one sense, "The Cabin in the Cotton" is a transformative movie transitioning from Hollywood's silent era to sound films. Davis in later years talked frankly about one of silent movie's greatest actors, Richard Barthelmess, and his acting style. "He did absolutely nothing in the long shots, followed basic stage directions for medium shots, and reserved his talent for the close-ups," noted the actress. "In that way it was necessary to use his close-ups almost entirely." Meanwhile, Barthelmess, 37, said of the 24-year-old Davis, "There was a lot of passion in her, and it was impossible not to sense that. One got the sense of a lot of feeling dammed up in her, a lot of electricity that had not yet found its outlet. In a way it was rather disconcerting - yes, I admit it, frightening."
Modern film reviewer Stacia Jones wrote, "Bette Davis' Madge is one of the few reasons to watch this film. Highly sexual and confident, Madge smokes, parties, and when leaving the car of a rich boyfriend, breezily tells him, 'Better luck next time!' She's modern in both style and acting. Her appearance is in stark contrast to Barthelmess' aged silent movie star look."
Davis, quoting directly from Kroll's novel, said one of the more famous lines comedian impersonators of hers loved to mimic. Madge, leaving her father's store, says energetically in her Southern drawl to Marvin, who works there and whom she is attracted to, "I'ld like ta kiss ya, but I just washed my hair."
"Are you kidding?" huffed Cortez to Zanuck when he was told Davis was going to be the lead in his film. "Who would want to go to bed with her?" Having no choice in the matter, the director expressed throughout the shoot his lack of confidence in her right to Davis' face. He described loudly so everyone could hear that she was a "lousy actress," and followed up under his breath that she was a "nothing, no good sexless son of a b" when filming her love scenes with actor Richard Barthelmess. Davis, though sensitive to his insults, let his comments slide off her. "Mr. Curtiz," said Davis years later, "was a monster as he was a great European moviemaker. He was not a performer's director. You had to be very strong with him. And he wasn't fun. Cruelest man I have ever known. But he knew how to shoot a film well." Hard to believe, but the two ended up making seven films together.
"The Cabin in the Cotton," focused on the confrontation between a plantation owner in the Deep South and his sharecroppers. The script was adapted from a 1931 Harry Kroll novel of the same name. Barthelmess stars as Marvin Blake, a sharecropper's son whose ambition is to get a school degree instead of remaining in the fields picking cotton all day. Davis is Madge, the plantation owner's daughter, a free spirit who sides with her father. To be fair, the book and the Warner Brothers' picture doesn't take sides; both are ripping each other off. The farmstead owners are more secretive and clever by cooking the books, while the sharecroppers are visibly stealing from the plantation owners.
In one sense, "The Cabin in the Cotton" is a transformative movie transitioning from Hollywood's silent era to sound films. Davis in later years talked frankly about one of silent movie's greatest actors, Richard Barthelmess, and his acting style. "He did absolutely nothing in the long shots, followed basic stage directions for medium shots, and reserved his talent for the close-ups," noted the actress. "In that way it was necessary to use his close-ups almost entirely." Meanwhile, Barthelmess, 37, said of the 24-year-old Davis, "There was a lot of passion in her, and it was impossible not to sense that. One got the sense of a lot of feeling dammed up in her, a lot of electricity that had not yet found its outlet. In a way it was rather disconcerting - yes, I admit it, frightening."
Modern film reviewer Stacia Jones wrote, "Bette Davis' Madge is one of the few reasons to watch this film. Highly sexual and confident, Madge smokes, parties, and when leaving the car of a rich boyfriend, breezily tells him, 'Better luck next time!' She's modern in both style and acting. Her appearance is in stark contrast to Barthelmess' aged silent movie star look."
Davis, quoting directly from Kroll's novel, said one of the more famous lines comedian impersonators of hers loved to mimic. Madge, leaving her father's store, says energetically in her Southern drawl to Marvin, who works there and whom she is attracted to, "I'ld like ta kiss ya, but I just washed my hair."