Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/834282
74 P E R S P E C T I V E | J U LY / AU G U S T 2 0 1 7 experienced designers know the best research materials are not online. You have to dig deeper. I often hire a professional researcher, Damani Mangum, who does considerable legwork. He goes to libraries, contacts archivists, reaches out to as many people as possible who were connected to the real people in the story. This kind of research is invaluable, and it's really very old school, the way period films were researched in earlier days. Most of the really good material has not been digitized, and I think the problem with assuming you can find so much online is that you're left with a really limited amount of reference. That's why I still have a really huge reference library and buy many books and old magazines, because I find things in them that I'm not going to find elsewhere. If I'm looking for something really specific on interiors from the 1960s, I'll go to a print source for sure. FIREPLACE L L L L BENCH L. L. PLANT 6' CREDENZA T. 7' SOFA T. CABINET CABINET T. L. T. CABINET L. T. L. T. RUG BAR CART L L CHAISE DINING ROOM FOYER LIVING ROOM FRONT ENTRANCE UP WILD WILD WILD Both women had diametrically opposed tastes, and this helped enormously to establish their different characters through Production Design. All the interiors of Joan and Bette's houses were built onstage, and a beautiful Paul Williams-designed house in Holmby Hills was used for the exterior of Joan's front and backyard. Joan was firmly in control of her image as a glamorous woman, and that extended to her home. Her best friend, William Haines, was the top interior designer in Hollywood at that time, and she really tried to keep up with the latest fashions and interior design trends. I read some interesting things about her later in life. Some pictures of her home were published and her taste was criticized for having a Margaret Keane portrait of herself, and some primitive portraits that she had bought in Haiti. She said, "It's my taste, and I love it," but there's also a really huge degree of defensiveness that you read in these interviews. You could tell the criticisms hurt her, that beyond the icy façade a human being was suffering. All this becomes the human drama of a show like Feud. I had heard Joan liked plastic slipcovers, but I had no idea how much she liked them. I was astounded to find pictures of them everywhere. Each place Joan lived, she used plastic slipcovers. My favorite was a publicity shot of her lying in bed, and she's got plastic on her bed, plastic right over the bedspread. Above: The interior of Joan Crawford's dining room under construction, built onstage at Fox Studios. Right: Alec Contestabile's director's plan of Joan Crawford's first floor on Stage 16 at Fox Studios. Below: A white model by Mr. Contestabile for the set, including her living room, entrance and dining room.