She was not disappointed at this outcome. The production had become unlike anything Joan had known—more violently repellent, with more of the “horrendous and evil things” (butchered limbs, for example) that she so hated in an Aldrich movie. In addition, the script had been all but abandoned in favor of wholesale improvisation, and this offended her professional sensibility. Adding to her displeasure was the prospect of continuing to work with Bette Davis, who was a “silent” producer on Charlotte and who had behaved, during its Louisiana filming, as if it were her picture. Hence, although Joan
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