The PlayFinder™

THE STORY: It all starts when a mutual friend brings Bette Davis to Elizabeth Fuller’s house for dinner. Davis calls the next day to thank Elizabeth for the lovely dinner (although the chicken was a bit raw), and to ask if she could possibly impose and stay with her for a couple of days (no more than three) while a hotel strike runs its course in New York. Fuller, a life-long fan, can hardly refuse. But trouble soon begins as Davis arrives with a station wagon full of belongings and, moves right in. Davis quickly dominates the lives of Elizabeth, her husband, John, and their young son, Christopher, who begins imitating Davis’ tones and, worse, her language; as does Elizabeth, who desperately wants to form a real friendship with her idol. Elizabeth tells Davis stories of how she and her grandmother used to go to Davis’ double features and write her fan letters. Oblivious to the Fuller family, Davis decides what they will have for dinner, when they will go to the beach and speaks her mind on everything from child-rearing and spiritualism to Paul Newman and, of course, Joan Crawford. As the days progress it becomes clear that Davis thrives on conflict and high tension, and that she is only truly happy when she is stirring things up. The month vacillates between highs—watching JEZEBEL on the late movie together—and lows—when John threatens to move out if Davis doesn’t leave. Then, on the thirty-second day of her stay, the hotel strike ends, and Davis departs as quickly as she arrived. But she leaves behind a gracious thank you letter and, as Bette Davis herself might have said, one hell of a good story. NOTE: Both the one and two-person version are included in a single volume.