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From: cavettbiter
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  • The video is about Bette Davis and her insights, she is acting royalty so what is the point of mentioning Kardahsians in the same breathe? By the way, what is it that the Kardahsians do again? I don't get why they ware "famous." They are right up there with the Olson twins. I would listen to Bette talk all day about her experiences the others are incapable of even holding a conversation.

  • @Handyman544-you said it perfectly. I can't add anything to what you said because you summed it up perfectly. You put into words what I have been feeling for years but couldn't describe and the Kardashians are the best example of the worst (I'm armenian so I find them particularly offensive as they "represent" my people-NOT!)

  • wonderfully brilliant

  • As I watched this, I slowly realized how ridiculously amazing it would've been to have met her. Hearing that voice in person right in front of you, the one who's made so many fantastic movies--it would be mind boggling.

  • what year was this?

  • @AJDavid90 I think 1971 since she mentions 30-71 when counting the years she has worked.

  • she hit the nail on the head

  • @TheDrYes She did,my FAVORITE actress!!!

  • So true. It applies not just the Hollywood workplace but all.

  • Ms Davis nails it as perfectly as she nails Margot or Jane Hudson.

  • What a wonderfully gracious actress Betty Davis was!! I adore this interview; she didn't seem to have the entitlement elitist attitude that many actors have today.

  • This wonderful lady had amazing insight into the human condition,she recognized her own humanity and was herself off the screen - so refreshing compared to modern pretences. Bette Davis films should be watched and appreciated for the art form they are.

  • what is the name of the book that they mention here?

  • @Ash8604 The book is "What makes Sammy Run?"

  • @dreza4 safee thanks bruv!

  • (con't) ...a little research into Ms. Bankhead's career, compared with Ms. Davis', is all it'll take to grasp the point.

  • Quite true. Unless of course it comes to Ms. Davis giving gratitude, for example to Tallulha Bankhead, upon whom Ms. Davis based her entire off-screen & on-screen persona: Ms. Davis capitalized on that persona because, while Ms. Bankhead could wield herself as she did & remain present & potent on the stage, she was unable to bring it to the screen. And so Bette Davis did. Not sure? Even just...

  • In memory

  • Beautifully stated. So inspiring and so true.

  • what a badass !!!!!!! LOL

  • Betty should slap him on GP!

  • Only one thin Bette said ever matters "She did it the hard way"!!!

  • A very good interv

  • Very well said. A woman light years ahead of her time.

  • The Kardahsians are not talented people. They are a product of what our society has settled for...it's called mediocrity. Dreary, boring, painted, pumped, lypo'd, sprayed, etc., people dominate our TVs today. They have nothing to say of interest to anyone but themselves and we hold our breath every time one of them farts. I don't blame them for taking advantage of us, I blame society for buying into it in the first place and not demanding better.

  • @Handiman544 , I can only wish Bette Davis were here and hear what she have to say about our so-call celebrities nowadays.

  • what a supremely intelligent woman

  • She's not bitching, she's succinctly summing up what a creative wasteland hollywood has, for the most part, become.

  • Mama Fratelli from the Goonies!

  • 667th comment. Sorry, Satan.

  • No one could ever match this woman, it would be a bumpy ride. She is the most fantastic actress who has ever lived. Her Blood, Sweat and Tears.

    I have a Daughter like BD, had everything, but dragged her Mother down in a book which broke Bette's heart.

    Muriel xxx Thanks for posting cavettbiter.

  • -3

  • I love this WOMAN!!!!!

  • i heart Bette Davis

    

  • I think, at times, she came across as too straight-forward. She grew up in a time when people, especially women, were expected to be contrite and somber. But some things you just have to throw out there and stand by it. Bette did it better than anyone. She knew what she was talking about and her brashness was a good touch when it came to getting it out there.

  • We desparately need more Bette Davis' today. It's touching to see that, though she received no gratitude from Hollywood, she did take it to heart the gratitude of her fans. Studios think that they will be the ones remembered for good pictures, but it is the stars and directors (who are so often at odds with the studio suits) that are remembered. Studios should just be content with the money they rake it (that's all they care about anyway) and then shut up and get out of the way.

  • shes not bitching she is honest - if anything shes being mild.

    Amazing woman

  • Now THAT'S a star! A true woman of substance from an era where they all seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Today we get rice paper. Thanks for uploading this.

  • this is true Hollywood. she's stll the greatest.

  • What a woman, jeez, what a woman. <3

  • Watching thing I realized a few things. First, this woman is so interesting, smart and honest, she tells it like it is. Second, talk shows are so boring nowadays its all very calculated and politically correct.

  • Now THAT'S the Bette I remember. She was so stylish, Mod and sophisticated. During these years she turned up on Johnny Carson's show and so many others. It was always a fascinating evening. Today's reefer-steeped "stars" are over-privileged rich kids whom daddy set up in the movies. They're devoid of normal human experience, which is why they have no personality or life wisdom; just shallow rich kids going from one meaningless "kick" to the next. You are gone Bette, but not forgotten!

  • Fantastic interview. She really knew the business. and not to mention understood the rewards. the hardships and what is expected of someone in her situation.

  • @leahar79 Give who what??Ugh...why would Bette waste her time on stupid projects like showing L.L anything??

  • All Bette vis TALKING about is being grateful herSELF...she's bitching that the STUDIOS weren't!!God,she was really somethin else man...what a legend!!

  • I'm sorry, but the title of this video is wrong. Bette, as well as others, helped BUILD those studios with her success. Not only that, she brought a new type of acting, that up until her time, women were overacting & had no range. At the time, she was talking about all of those Hollywood actors who felt that they were entitled because of who they were & yet had no talent! The same is true today. I'm glad Bette didn't live to see the pieces of garbage that call themselves actors today.

  • find it really interesting seeing all these interview with people who were in movies such a long time ago. Who would be over 100 now. They are from an era such a long time ago. Its fascinating. Would be good to have people like this around now.

  • I true legend :)

  • @ThorneAstor - I TOTALLY agree... back then, they had talent. Now, they're just in it for the money and the fame. Yeah, some actors today are ok... Natalie Portman and Kirsten Dunst are merely adequate compared to Bette Davis, Liz Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford... Hollywood royalty!

  • "Fay Bainter was making twice my salary." Priceless.

  • "still water" hehe. i laugh if i see movies with ben stiller or adam sandler (who i always confound ^ O^) but i can not tell which movie ive sawn five minutes right after i left the theater.many newer films just dont have these memorable scenes,settings,locations and characters anymore i guess.

  • We dont have movies anymore. We have trash. We dont have actors anymore. We have supermodels making mroe money than they r worth.

  • @deathbyaraven  Fortunately not all movies today are trash, though I take your point. Interestingly, the tables are turned now and you get far better films made for television, especially here by the BBC, than you do by the major studios. That would never have happened in the 50's and 60's.

  • Legend.

  • my idol such an inspiration :))

  • No stars nowadays would give an interview like this anymore.

  • they just dont make em like bette anymore...thats all ya need to say...what a treasure!...my god! she was so funny on letterman when she was into her "i just dont give a damn anymore!" phase....or the academy awards "WHAT A DUMP!"...thanks for all the memories miss davis...

  • Excellent interview!!!

  • The person who originated this post obviously didn't understand Ms. Davis' motives. She answers honestly and intelligently, something most people today don't understand or even recognize. You have to understand that most people today aren't interested in intelligent conversation. It bores them to death. They would rather listen to some airhead like Paris Hilton talk about her hair or her new boyfriend. Now that's boring.

  • @Pukkie11000 Oh my Lord how old are you and where are you from? This interview was filmed in 1971 when wearing those hats was the cool thing to do. It was part of the style. You do realize that styles change, right? Also, Bette was an open, honest, and very direct person. Have you never met people like that? She was very intelligent, and considered a very pretty woman. Here in this interview she was 63 years old. Everything she said was perceptive, wise, and most importantly, true.

  • Why does this poster have this fixation with "bitching". This is not bitching - have some respect and try to understand this intelligent lady.

    Anyway, thanks for posting.

  • great interview

  • so intelligent. so elegant. i love her! and to have the title be bitchin... no she's exposing.. telling the truth. Go Bette Davis!

  • Awsome the way she's almost sat side on to him and still smoking, Utter Diva.

  • The book is "What Makes Sammy Run" by Bud Schulberg.

  • Bette Davis had the best diction of any actress of her time and after. Her enunciation was superb.

  • @kendahke So was Katherine Hepburns.

  • @hjb103055 must be that Yankee discipline, LOL! cheers!

  • She was the greatest. They don't make them like her anymore

  • what book did he say ??????

  • *establishment

  • Bette always spoke her mind, way ahead of her time. Alot of people today wouldnt respect this because they are too brainwashed with fakeness by the accomplishment instead of hardcore honesty.

  • Wow...I wonder what she'd think of the Kim Kardahsian types who did nothing to get famous except get pounded on camera. I'd kill to see her take 'em down but she'd probably (rightly) think they were beneath her talking about them anyway...

  • @james1200 haha I was just thinking about that too, all these so called reality tv celebs (i use that loosely), I think it would be fun to watch bette rip them apart, I wish more ppl in hollywood / US Celebs watched this esp likes of Paris hilton and Kim K, but then they probably wouldnt get watch she's saying anyway

  • @james1200 she would ripped them to shreads

  • words of wisdom you cant buy anywhere

  • I never get tired of watching this interview. Telling it how it is. Bette Davis wasn't classy... she was in a class of her own.

  • The one and only!! Miss Betty Davis.......

  • please cavettbiter, tell me that your title was a joke. she doesn't bitch at all, bette is so open and honest which is almost unheard of today and she addresses that issue. this is one of the greatest videos I have ever seen on you tube, along with ck and zappa. dick cavett had one of the greatest talk shows ever and didn't raise eyebrow's with the network because he seemed to be a nerd and one of

    them ..he wasn't ! who else would have jimi, janis,bette, lennon etc on a talk show 1969

  • Pause And Look At Her Hand At 1:07 lol.

  • @Ged8506 Me too, she's a legend!

    and they simply don't make em like this anymore!

    and I think that if she was like this today....

    she'd say the same thing in 2011 as she did in the 70's when she did this interview... =)

  • Swag. Look at the boot/mini combo. What elderly woman comes to a talk show dressed like that? Only Bette Davis. #SWAG

  • @dirtynuke And only Bette could pull it off, making it look like she invented the whole damned thing.

  • @dirtynuke Yes, this was a brilliant actress who showed up here with tons of style and frankness.

  • Most of of her colleagues were just that - deadpan, honest, articulate, and CLASSY!

  • What book is that book she recommends? Anyone? Please?

  • @jg33brunner Budd Schulberg—I think it's *What Makes Sammy Run?*

  • It doesn't seem like she's bitching - I thought this was a pretty honest interview :)

  • The newbies out here today could really use a page from her book.  Ms. Davis work ethics and integrity...just phenomenal. She said it all at 6:45 when she mentioned how necessary it is to love the SWEAT more than the limosines, all the crowds, the lights, glamour and those things. And most importantly "You've got to thank GOD". Well said! Well said indeed!!

  • @Meeerah1 Very well said and good point.

  • All we have today are publicity seekers...people with no talent (Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton come to mind...). It's all about their money and that "in your face" attitude they have..."look what I have compared to you" kind of arrogance. The caliber of talent goes down every year and it's replaced with the boring, the untalented, and their binality who only care about their pathetic lives and how much money they can spend. Bette Davis is gone...that's the real tragedy.

  • @Handiman544 - You said it! For me, I like to keep my eye on actors with real talent and some sense of honesty and graciousness. Actors such as Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, Leonardo Dicaprio, Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway come to mind for me. 

  • Bette certainly has raised the bar too high for today's actors and actresses.

    She's a tough act to follow. She's a "no-nonsense" type of woman, no bullshitting, no mind games.

    Bette Davis = Gem

  • Then people could speak without concern about the PC media taking something out of context and playing a sound byte over and over. I appreciate her candor.

  • I beg your pardon, but I don't think, considering that you were clearly not there that you should cast judgement on anyone...

  • i was born too late

  • What a shallow person! Now that I am older and wiser. I see that Bette Davis was an obsessed BITCH! I take her daughter's side! I don't think she knew what a charity was or an underdog. She had it easy! That is the irony of her BULLSHIT saying, "I did it the hard way!" Fuck You Bette! YOU FOOL! You were WEAK! You don't fool me!

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  • @marinello6

    Curious as to why you are going by the username of marinello6, instead of B.D. Hyman; with all that hatred towards Bette Davis, it would appear as if you knew her personally or something. Why you would watch this and feel the desire to go off on her like this, it's a sad reality you must live in...

  • @iFedericoFellini I do live in a sad reality. The reality is "the masses" let a tube, screen, radio, paper, decide what their reality it. Davis is part of the biggest destructive problem that I know exists all over the world. People let mainstream media decide what they should talk about and or feel. I am living in hell. Davis was like all people in her "profession" ...just an image. The President is just an image. People should worry about who controls their money every hour of the day.

  • @1111cedargrove Yeah but they didn't get their own TV shows.

  • !!Grandeee Bette!!! no importa cuántos años ya nos ha dejado.Ella ha sido GRANDE, y, nos dejó enormes lecciones

  • Back then, we had amazing talents like Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Montgomery Clift. Now we have Snooki, Paris Hilton, and the Kardashian sluts. My how times have changed.

  • @ThorneAstor Yes, my mom has tought me...

  • @ThorneAstor We have just as many amazing talents today: Streep, DeNiro, Weaver, Washington ......I could go on and on.

  • @jcq1961 Yeah but for some reason, the press pays more attention to Kim Kardashian and her vagina than to the actual talents you just named.

  • @ThorneAstor People say this throughout every generation. We still have great actors and actresses- Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood

  • @tylertyler82 But the main difference is that even those you mention and a few others I could add, came along after the glory days. They are the ones that started out just as the true legends were beginning to die off. Even those you mentioned would tell you that things have changed. When this lot goes that will be it. The primary culprit will be the corporate powers who somehow about 10 years ago literally took over the world. They buy and sell people for pennies.

  • @ThorneAstor

    Boy - Ain't it the truth. There will always be a small perecentage of us who appreciate the greatness though. The Snookis will come and go with the kiddies. No doubt a few kids will grow up and see an interview like this and they'll get it.

  • @ThorneAstor hm.......you are being abit onesided - we also have Natalie Portman, Kirsten Dunst etc. and hey! give them a chance - their careers are just formning who knows what we will think of them in 20,30,40 years time.

  • GOOD FOR YOU - Society, not everyone, as well as young executives,are to blame. They pay way too much attention to gossip and PURE STUPIDITY. Why do people in charge put, or pay attention to these young loons? Money - now that is really SAD SAD SAD

  • People like BETTE DAVIS shoul stay around 4-ever. what a strong and talented lady.

    thank you for this great video.

  • I LOVE HER

  • I love her and I love how she pronounces "Glasshhghow" :)

  • She's amazing... She commands the entire room with her presence.

  • whats with the boots on the old girl?

  • Anderson Cooper!

  • To be honest ...what the lady said made sense!

  • Man she was fierce! Love her spirit.. one tough gall indeed! Good to know that we belong to a kind... and that the kind moves timelessly through the History of human kind. The world needs more queens of swords, and less lame ass bitches!

  • I dig it!!!

  • one tough and intelligent chick...way to go!

  • There will never be another specific individual from the whole gamut of individuals that can duplicate another character/personality, only glimmers here and there and stunning shinning brilliant stars; Betty Davis, you are that brilliance up above!

  • Boy, they don't make actresses like that anymore!.

  • Wow- what an impressive lady! She was an incredible actress to boot!

  • Well, look who runs the entertainment industry. The shoe fits so I guess the right people are wearing it. Those who are driven by money. So sad. Love and miss Betty Davis. There will never be another like her.

  • @Brighteyes1ful And you are perfect then...?

  • this is a very educative video for actors of today who give interviews away complaining about their fame, whining about, they only have to be thankful for it...

  • "i've never fought for money [...] I fought for parts"

  • I have never seen a interview/film where Bette Davis isn't smoking. I love her.

  • No sugar coating ever came out of Bette's mouth.

    She tells it like it is. Wish more people were like her. Smart and feisty.

  • Hey my first comment ever on you tube. Just wondered if any of you hard core fans of Ruth Elizabeth have been nuts enough to get a tattoo dedicated to her. A couple of years ago I impulsively tattoo'd her name on all ten fingers. Ever since I have not had any regret and get lots of compliments on it.

  • I love her wisdom

  • lovely woman. would've loved to sit and speak to her for a few hours, pick her brain about how to do it in this business...

    absolutely right about corporations now owning film studios.. the movie business is dead, people. they sell 'events' now, not stories.

  • @hcvang

    T H A N K YOU!

    the movie INDUSTRY has forgotten its roots and has NO integrity anymore

  • Bette Davis is as real as a person can get, she didn't give a damn about anyone, she said what she wanted to , she didn't sugarcoat anything, and she still remained classy.I love her soo much.Bette and Lauren Bacall are two of my idols, for their talent, and their realness.

  • there is no actresses like this anymore,its a shame because they werent just talented,they were strong!The Bette davis' ,Joan Crawford,Barbara stanwyck,Marlene Dietrich,Vivien Leigh,and now Elizabeth taylor.and the list goes on.

  • @KURISUCHRIS99... How right you are. Those are the Hollywood idols people need to truly think about. Great comment, I totally agree =)

  • They really don't make performers like this anymore. So honest, so dedicated, and so cool.

  • @megaboo1991..So very true =)

  • SHE SAID IT/GET ON THAT STAGE AND WORK/FAME IS FLEETING/I HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO BE PART OF IT/BUT THE MONEY HAS NOT COME/BUT ITS THE MEMORYS /THE WORK/THE RECOGNITION/I LOVE BEING AN ACTOR/ITS A BUSINESS/SHE WAS OSCAR WINNING IN THE 40S/AND POISON IN THE 60S/BUT SHE WAS GREAT

  • Incredibly articulate, honest and direct. Imagine the impossibility of such a long television interview today. Now interviewers interrupt the guest every five seconds to show how clever and witty they are. Pull that stunt on Bette Davis and you just might get the back of her hand!

  • @ItsSparkyHere Absolutely, and that´s why I don´t watch TV and movies nowadays anymore

  • @ItsSparkyHere well said! there are some of us left for whom an attention span lasts longer than a sugar rush

  • @ItsSparkyHere You should watch Charlie Rose or Tavis Smiley. They give long, involved, articulate and informed interviews every night.

  • @ItsSparkyHere Every once in awhile you'll hear one clap. Only 1 clap. Don't you DARE interrupt Bette Davis when she's talking.

  • @ItsSparkyHere where else except Charlie Rose do you get such in depth interviews... but he needs an occasional back hand the way he interupts guests... Cavett had to interrupt for the crass commercials....... What is Bette doing with the glass?? not many things worst than the ingrates in life

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  • @aeronuk1

    No its when you drop dead and rot in your shitty apartment alone for a month because no one cares about you.

  • I can't imagine any of the precious Prima Donna movie "stars" of today being so gracious and so honest as Bette was here. And everything she says here about no art, only money is doubly so today.

  • God, what a fascinating, intelligent, interesting woman. We loose people like her and we settle for worthless, drug taking, alcohol soaked actors to take her place. Lohan, Sheen, Hilton, and the countless others who are so weak and mindless that they allow substances to become their lives. Davis had character and strength the likes of which we will never see again. We don't "make" them anymore.

  • delightful smile at 1.14 overall a grande dame XXX

  • There is no one like Bette Davis. Thank God for youtube. More and more people can discover this lady and her talent, and of course... her intelligence. Bette Davis is the Queen of Hollywood pictures. I wonder what she's thinking of all the reality tv shows, all the people getting millions of dollars and fame for nothing, yet all the hard work she put in to get to the top.

  • YOU DID A GREAT JOB BETTY!!!! Always strong, always classy, always one to remember forever!!!

    Just think of someone being this honest about the industry these days on a talk show.....it woul dbe pulled in a heart beat!

  • She is WAY to old to be wearing that dress Yikes!!!!

  • A classic character She's impossible in this antiseptic age, of course.

  • No wonder they call her one of if not the greatest of her kind.

  • OMG, Bette Davis (and my personal favorite, Barbara Stanwyck) > anyone today

  • What a FABULOUS lady - and what a great interview! Is this from the early 70s?

    As Madonna says in 'Vogue' : "Bette Davis - we love you"

  • I don't think she's "bitching". I think she's just telling the truth. Would you say "bitching" if it were a man?

  • Talent and Money is all she ever had..so sad

  • @Learning2BThin Not true. She had husbands and children - the family life, but work was always what she wanted, and there's nothing sad about that.

  • The way this woman speaks is a natural, old New England middle-class acent. My grandparents speak a somewhat less educated version of this. She isn't "doing" an English accent. Listen to Gladys Cooper (her mother in Now, Voyager) to hear how upper-class English people sounded at the time.I enjoy her movies but I wouldn't say she's good at accents. She's Bette Davis in all her roles. Her Elizabeth I is just Bette Davis in a costume; she doesn't talk like English Royalty.

  • what's the book called that she recommends

  • @JudgeJulietLit You're absolutely right about her ability with accents. But I think that sort of talent was far more typical back then, as any number of ostensibly American actors had any number of different accents in their repertoire. In fact, a lot of those who started in the theatre used a variety of what I refer to as "high American" accents, i.e. very clipped East coast accents which had a close resemblance to British accents.