I had read this before but came to it today as it coincides with some of what I am thinking about now about Davis's acting style and how that is read and received. The thing that bugs me about Mandelbaum's article is the auteurist bent and how, even though this is billed as an article about Davis, it is more about the male directors she worked with and which ones were better able to contain or utilize her and which ones she was able to force into obedience.
He writes:
Being a histrionic performer, Davis emphasizes polarities. The tendency to underline extreme emotions is both her greatest strength and greatest weakness. The actor creates the characterization, but the strong director creates the context, modulating the performance to harmonize with all other elements.Not very enlightening then as all this does is to further spread the idea that Davis was a bitch and her best films are those in which a "real" man, the "strong" director, stepped in to "modulate the performance." Like Mankiewicz whose "pleasant" experience with Davis must be attributed to "his foolproof script" and ability not to let anyone "hog the spotlight."
Not like that "mouse' Goulding or Rapper: lacking the "muscularity" of Curtiz and being "not born to lead."
Annoying.
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