Feud: Bette and Joan, Ryan Murphy’s latest project, details the complicated relationship between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (played by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, respectively). It doesn’t premiere until March 5, but in the meantime viewers can get an eyeful of the visually stunning opening credits sequence released early by FX. The sequence is clearly inspired by graphic designer Saul Bass, who was responsible for many of the iconic title sequences and film posters in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, and whose work is commonly associated with the likes of Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Scorsese. (Although, interestingly enough, Bass was not involved with the artwork for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?)
Other television and film projects have attempted to replicate or pay homage to Bass’s style over the years, most notably the opening credits to Mad Men and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. But few have matched it as successfully as this effort, which suggests — much like in American Crime Story: The People Vs. OJ Simpson — that Murphy will spare no attention to detail when it comes to fully characterizing the feel of the time period. Previous teasers for the series have also suggested as much, not that we had any reason to doubt.
