Mee-Yow Thursday

Did you miss your favorite cat fights?  We just wanted to revisit the greatest of them all...that is, the Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford feud that has spanned generations.

The Queens of Vintage website reviews the feud, finally digging to the bottom of the fight and discovering that it all started with a man.  Of course -- it all makes sense that two successful, beautiful women would fight over a man.  Sound familiar, anyone?

As the website states: "It was the most notorious cat fight in Hollywood history...A little investigation shows that these two cinematic giants were reduced to duking it out over, what else, a man. Namely, the slightly less legendary, Franchot Tone...

It's all about him...

"Bette starred alongside Franchot in the 1935 film Dangerous, a part for which she won her first Academy Award. Tone played a handsome architect to Bette’s alcoholic actress and she was soon smitten. Said Bette, 'I fell in love with Franchot, professionally and privately. Everything about him reflected his elegance, from his name to his manners.' It’s a pity this debonair actor inspired decades of tit-for-tat cat fighting.

"Joan Crawford, at that time, was MGM’s reigning sex symbol. Newly divorced and on the prowl, she invited Tone over for dinner, only to greet him naked, in her solarium. Whether it was the nudity or the possibility of free tanning sessions, Franchot was hooked and Joan made sure Bette knew about it.

"Davis admitted, 'He was madly in love with her. They met each day for lunch…he would return to the set, his face covered in lipstick…He was honoured this great star was in love with him. I was jealous of course.'

"With deliberate tactlessness Franchot and Joan proudly announced their engagement. They married in New Jersey as soon as Dangerous wrapped. Their union only lasted 'til 1938, the year Bette won her second Oscar for Jezebel. The love affair might have bitten the dust but the animosity created would last a lifetime more..."

For more mud slung, see our previous Mee-Yow Thursday posts.
For more of the article that details the feud, go here.