Wicked Stepmother is best known for being the last film of Bette Davis, who withdrew from the project after filming began, citing major problems with the script, Cohen's direction, and the way she was being photographed.[1] Cohen later claimed she really dropped out due to ill health but avoided publicizing the truth for fear it would affect potential future employment.[2] Davis disputed this claim.[1]
The original plot cast Davis as the title character, a chain-smoking witch named Miranda, who has married Sam while his vegetarian daughter Jenny and son-in-law Steve are on vacation. They return to find their new stepmother has filled their refrigerator with meat and played havoc with their collection of herbs. To explain Davis' absence, the script was rewritten to introduce Miranda's daughter Priscilla, a witch who inhabited Miranda's cat. They both share one existence in human form and while one is human the other must live in the form of a cat the rest of the time. Priscilla takes on a human form while Miranda's spirit inhabits the body of the cat. Priscilla then sets out to defeat Jenny who has figured out that there is something going on. Priscilla uses witchcraft and deception to convince everyone Jenny is wrong. The entire time she refuses to switch bodies with Miranda. Jenny then figures out that they're witches and tries to stop them from ruining her family.
Joan Crawford appears in a photo as the deceased wife of Sam and mother of Jenny. The estranged relationship between Jenny and her late mother is a reference to the exposé memoir Mommie Dearest, written by Crawford's adopted daughter, Christina Crawford. Crawford was also known for her feud with Davis during the filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?.
Critical reception
TV Guide calls the film "a good-natured, occasionally hilarious spookshow, graced with a few ingenious special effects and sassily acted - with Davis giving a gleefully nasty, if abbreviated, last film performance.[3]
wicked, stepmother, this, article, about, 1989, comedy, film, fairy, tale, archetype, stepfamily, fairy, tales, disney, cinderella, stepmother, lady, tremaine, 1989, american, black, comedy, film, written, produced, directed, larry, cohen, starring, bette, dav. This article is about the 1989 comedy film For the fairy tale archetype see Stepfamily Fairy tales For Disney s Cinderella s stepmother see Lady Tremaine Wicked Stepmother is a 1989 American black comedy film written produced and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Bette Davis and Barbara Carrera Wicked StepmotherTheatrical release posterDirected byLarry CohenWritten byLarry CohenProduced byRobert LittmanStarringBette DavisBarbara CarreraCinematographyBryan EnglandEdited byDavid KernMusic byRobert FolkProductioncompanyMetro Goldwyn MayerDistributed byMetro Goldwyn MayerRelease dateFebruary 3 1989 1989 02 03 U S Running time93 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 2 500 000 estimated Box office 43 749 US Wicked Stepmother is best known for being the last film of Bette Davis who withdrew from the project after filming began citing major problems with the script Cohen s direction and the way she was being photographed 1 Cohen later claimed she really dropped out due to ill health but avoided publicizing the truth for fear it would affect potential future employment 2 Davis disputed this claim 1 Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Principal cast 3 Critical reception 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksSynopsis EditThe original plot cast Davis as the title character a chain smoking witch named Miranda who has married Sam while his vegetarian daughter Jenny and son in law Steve are on vacation They return to find their new stepmother has filled their refrigerator with meat and played havoc with their collection of herbs To explain Davis absence the script was rewritten to introduce Miranda s daughter Priscilla a witch who inhabited Miranda s cat They both share one existence in human form and while one is human the other must live in the form of a cat the rest of the time Priscilla takes on a human form while Miranda s spirit inhabits the body of the cat Priscilla then sets out to defeat Jenny who has figured out that there is something going on Priscilla uses witchcraft and deception to convince everyone Jenny is wrong The entire time she refuses to switch bodies with Miranda Jenny then figures out that they re witches and tries to stop them from ruining her family Principal cast EditBette Davis as Miranda Pierpoint Barbara Carrera as Priscilla Pierpoint Lionel Stander as Sam Colleen Camp as Jenny Fisher David Rasche as Steve Fisher Shawn Donahue as Mike Fisher Tom Bosley as Lt MacIntosh Richard Moll as Nathan Pringle Evelyn Keyes as Witch Instructor James Dixon as Detective Flynn Seymour Cassel as FeldshineJoan Crawford appears in a photo as the deceased wife of Sam and mother of Jenny The estranged relationship between Jenny and her late mother is a reference to the expose memoir Mommie Dearest written by Crawford s adopted daughter Christina Crawford Crawford was also known for her feud with Davis during the filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane Critical reception EditTV Guide calls the film a good natured occasionally hilarious spookshow graced with a few ingenious special effects and sassily acted with Davis giving a gleefully nasty if abbreviated last film performance 3 See also EditList of American films of 1989References Edit a b EASTON NINA J 1989 01 03 Bette Davis Smoking Over Stepmother Los Angeles Times ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved 2018 02 15 Cohen Larry 2012 I Killed Bette Davis Filmcomment com Retrieved 3 November 2016 TV Guide reviewExternal links EditWicked Stepmother at IMDb Wicked Stepmother at Rotten Tomatoes Wicked Stepmother at Box Office Mojo I Killed Bette Davis Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wicked Stepmother amp oldid 1138357807, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
