A Tribute To Bette Davis - France 1988 - Part 1

Miss Davis appears on a popular French Television show interviewed by Frederic Mitterand. Guests include actress Jeanne Moreau, designer Patrick Kelly and her assistant Kathryn Sermak.

[@becky4799]

I'm just happy Miss D had a companion she was close with after that awful betrayal by her daughter. RIP gone but never forgotten.

[@MarthaMansbridge]

Bette was very patient and the picture of grace and elegance as she sat through this interview - that steely blue eyed gaze is mesmerising! I find this lady endlessly fascinating - I could watch her movies, and interviews over and over (and I do!)

[@elbertkitching9906]

Indeed

[@cherchezlavache5183]

I just read Ms Sermak’s book, “Miss D & Me” today, & it is WONDERFUL! I enjoyed every page of it. What an extraordinary look into a portion of Miss Davis’ personality, that would otherwise never have been seen. (BTW, Whoever did Miss Davis’ makeup for this interview did an excellent job! She looks fabulous! And I love her hat!)

[@pAusten]

I read the book also. 👍 Every Bette Davis fan and critic should read it.

[@lapislazuli7876]

I read it also. I really enjoyed it because it gives you an insight into her later years - post the great career. I think Patrick Kelly designed the dress she’s wearing but not sure about the hat and whether he did that as well…. ? Nolan Miller also dressed her in the 1980s when she starred in the Aaron Spelling TV series called “Hotel”. That role was taken over ironically by Anne Baxter following Davis’s departure due to Ill-health. What I don’t understand though is why she needs to have Kathryn Sernack next to her during the interview? She should’ve just appeared on her own as I feel it detracts from her Persona and makes her look dependent. It’s distracting having Sernack pick at her clothes and also we don’t want to hear about Sernack writing the book. It’s not really about her!!! You will notice the daggers Davis gives Sernack when Kathryn picks at her dress or tries to fix something early on in the interview? Kathryn shouldn’t be touching her during an interview. Bette as a great star wouldn’t have liked anyone doing that on camera and her face speaks volumes. I think that Kathryn just was very lucky to land that gig as her assistant, as she lacked training of any kind. Many have said she blocked access to Miss Davis during her final days; the same thing happened to the Duchess of Windsor. The great lesson surely of All About Eve was “Beware of assistants and understudies.” It’s ironic that she finished her life with an understudy of sorts fawning all over her.

[@catman3552]

Too bad we couldn't see these 30 years ago after her death in '89. It's good to see this though. There's a true story I would like to tell. The night she passed,I had a poster of Jezebel on my wall. About 2 am,as I woke up the poster just started to fall off the wall. I sat up and realised what it was. I lay back down and after a few minutes I couldn't get back to sleep. So I turned my radio on,which was set to a rock station. Several minutes later a dj came on and said something like, Movie legend Bette Davis died in a hospital in France after a long battle with cancer. She had been there to receive an honorary award and was taken to a hospital shortly after the ceramony. I thought that was some kind of a sign that something had happened.That the poster fell as she passed and it woke me up. I will never forget that.

[@kathrynsermak7720]

Hi Bruce, Yes, Miss D took me to her home town of Lowell and gave me a tour of the town, where she was born etc. She always said, "be proud of where you come from." Amazing we were neighbors and sorry you never got a chance to meet her. She was a great friend and mentor.

[@stmichl9433]

I lived in Paris at that time, and I always loved Frederic Mitterand's interviews and his "cine stars" series, which was the best and most fabulous thing I have ever seen. It was so different to the way American interviewers ask questions. he always asked such intelligent and insightful questions and his shows had such an incredible atmosphere about them, slightly darkened rooms, beautiful lighting. You can see those production qualities here. Bette Davis is impeccably dressed and turned out. It was clearly a great honour for her to be interviewed in France, and to receive those awards.

[@sharonedwards6010]

I bought that book a few years ago in a thrift store and I couldn't put it down. It is very well written. Love her.

[@teeniebeenie8774]

she never looked more beautiful....awesome lady

[@hollbri2]

greatest american actress ever.bar none

[@troyleong7412]

Thanks sooooo much for sharing this Kathryn. As soon as your book came out I read it. I totally loved it......was full of heart and very well written.

[@damibp87]

Thank you for sharing this, Kathryn.

[@theredbutterfly-]

Je t'aime Bette ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you so very much Kathryn Sermak for sharing this with us! I'm gonna buy your book for sure. Votre français est très correct 😉

[@astonvilla2345]

LEGEND

[@richardfuchs3690]

Always great to see more of these treasures being unearthed. Thanks for sharing!

[@robertjackson5645]

Bette deserved every award she got. I do not like, as a human, to see her struggling with another language at this point. But I do like to see her accepting awards that are that are beyond language. As my Grandma once said to me, para-phase: "She said everything (in her roles) I wanted to say" Says something. A movie projected on a hay wagon...Art will touch who it does..and brava for that.

[@leonlee6832]

Thanks for this!

[@manuellarodrigues]

What a beautiful eyes she has... thank you for sharing this marvelous!

[@stephenrafter1980]

How long after this interview was Miss Davis taking. Didn't she die in Paris.

[@bruceallensullivan6532]

I lived in West Hollywood in the 80's and my Boyfriend live in a apartment on Havenhurest dr right off Sunset blvd we would smoke cig on the sidewalk crossing our young 23 years old fingers that we wopuld get a chance to see Ms .Daves come or gol ..we never did I felt a little kinecked to ms davis having been born in Lowell ,ma ..Kathryn did you ever go back with her to Lowell ,ma

[@stmichl9433]

Interesting how Bette Davis says that 'All About Eve' was exactly how theatre people are, and yet Jeanne Moureau says in her piece to camera that's not how she ever found theatre people to be. I don't think Bette understood what Jeanne says in her piece...Jeanne of course later goes on to compliment Bette Davis. I love this whole interview but the translation process gets the in the way. They should've either subtitled the interview or had another interviewer, not Frederic Mitterand himself, asking questions in English. The translation process frustrates the flow of the interview and you can see Bette perplexed at times, and also slightly on edge with what's being said. Katherine's French is not very good, and so she should've spoken in English. there was no need (except perhaps vanity) for her to speak in French in that interview. Bette wasn't a fluent French speaker and Katherine should've just spoken in English. Apart from that, this whole thing is completely fabulous! A Masterclass in class.

[@nemesis1761]

Frédéric Mitterrand has never been Prime Minister of France. He was minister of culture between 2009 and 2012.

[@teeniebeenie8774]

bette is loved by the world. her daughter is NOT

[@seymourbutts2530]

She's not smoking. That's strange