John Waters appears in ‘Feud’ with Jessica Lange
By Ross Semple
John Waters has popped up in an episode of FX’s latest Ryan Murphy series Feud.
The legendary film director, who brought us Pink Flamingos, Hairspray and Serial Mom appeared as eccentric film producer William Castle in the latest episode of the show.
Starring Jessica Lange (American Horror Story) and Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), Feud chronicles the bitter rivalry between iconic actresses Bette Davis (Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Lange) in the 1960s, after both actresses careers had waned and they had trouble finding work in Hollywood.
William Castle was known for producing low budget B-movies that he drummed up support for with various gimmicks. During the release of his film The Tingler, which was about a parasite that attaches to humans and causes their spines to tingle through fear, Castle had cinemas install vibrating devices in seats to ‘shock’ audience members during particular scenes.
Joan Crawford worked with Castle for the 1964 film Strait-Jacket. The film stars Joan as a mother who is released from an asylum after being convicted of an axe murder years earlier.
The show’s attention to detail in recreating the film’s trailer is really quite something, as you can see from the side-by-side video below:
Joan Crawford (Strait-Jacket, 1964) // Jessica Lange (FEUD, 2017) pic.twitter.com/4ci01v6fJr
— Jessica Lange Daily (@JLangeDaily) April 10, 2017
Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’ fearsome feud continued for decades, when they were brought together to star in the 1962 classic film, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, which only served to heighten the drama when Davis was nominated for an Oscar and Crawford wasn’t.
The award eventually went to Anne Bancroft. She was unable to attend the ceremony, so Crawford accepted the award on her behalf.
Feud airs on Sunday nights on FX in the US. There is no UK broadcaster as of yet.