Clea DuVall DuVall starred as Emma Borden, sister of Lizzie Borden (played by Christina Ricci), in the Lifetime television film, "Lizzie Borden Took an Ax". She then reprised the role for the limited series "The Lizzie Borden Chronicles" (2015). The latter received mixed reviews, but critics praised the performances of Ricci and DuVall. Writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", Keith Uhlich said the actresses "have a delectable rapport not too far removed from Bette Davis and Joan Crawford at their hag-horror peak in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"" In 2016, DuVall made her feature directorial debut with the comedy-drama "The Intervention", which
Bette Davis an English teacher who saves a young Welsh miner (John Dall) from a life in the coal pits, by offering him education. The part had been played in the theatre by Ethel Barrymore, but Warner Bros. felt that the film version should depict the character as a younger woman. Davis disagreed, and insisted on playing the part as written, and wore a gray wig and padding under her clothes, to create a dowdy appearance. The film was well received by critics, and made a profit of $2.2 million. The critic E. Arnot Robertson observed: Only Bette Davis...could have combated so