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What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (film)

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For the 1991 television remake, see What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1991 film).

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Aldrich
Screenplay byLukas Heller
Produced byRobert Aldrich
Starring
CinematographyErnest Haller
Edited byMichael Luciano
Music byFrank DeVol
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • October 31, 1962 (1962-10-31)
Running time
133 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million[2]
Box office$9.5 million[3][4]

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological thriller[5]-horror film[6][7] produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, about an aging actress who holds her paraplegic sister captive in an old Hollywood mansion. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. Upon the film's release, it was met with widespread critical and box office acclaim and was later nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design, Black and White.

The intensely bitter Hollywood rivalry between the film's two stars, Davis and Crawford, was heavily important to the film's initial success.[8] This in part led to the revitalization of the then-waning careers of the two stars. In the years after release, critics continued to acclaim the film for its psychologically driven black comedy, camp, and creation of the psycho-biddy subgenre.[8][9] The film's then unheard of and controversial plot meant that it originally received an X rating in the UK.[1] Because of the appeal of the film's stars, Dave Itzkoff in The New York Times has identified it as being a "cult classic".[10] In 2003 the character of Baby Jane Hudson was ranked #44 on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Villains of American Cinema.[11]

Plot

In 1917, "Baby Jane" Hudson is an adored yet ill-tempered vaudevillian child star while her older sister Blanche lives in her shadow. By 1935, their fortunes have reversed: Blanche is a successful film actress and Jane lives in obscurity, her films having failed. One night, Jane mocks Blanche at a party, prompting Blanche to run away in tears. That same night, Blanche is paralyzed from the waist down in a mysterious car accident that is unofficially blamed on Jane, who is found three days later in a drunken stupor.

In 1962 a wheelchair-bound Blanche (Joan Crawford) and Jane (Bette Davis) are living together in Blanche's mansion, left to her by their father. By now, Jane has descended into alcoholism and mental illness and treats Blanche with cruelty to punish her for stealing her spotlight. Later, when Blanche informs Jane she may be selling the house, Jane's mental health begins to deteriorate further. During an argument, she removes the telephone from Blanche's bedroom, cutting Blanche off from the outside world. Later, Jane begins denying Blanche food, until she serves Blanche her dead bird on a platter.

Jane becomes obsessed with recapturing her childhood stardom and puts an advertisement in the paper for a pianist to accompany her singing, When Jane leaves the house, Blanche tries to get the attention of her neighbor, Mrs. Bates (Anna Lee), by writing a note pleading for help and throwing it out her bedroom window. Jane returns in time to notice the note and prevents Mrs. Bates from seeing it. When Jane reads the note, the two sisters quarrel again.

When Blanche's cleaning lady Elvira Stitt (Maidie Norman) comes to clean the house, Jane pays her and gives her the day off, but when Elvira returns later on, Jane abruptly fires her and sends her away. Meanwhile, Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono) sees Jane's newspaper advertisement and arrives at the mansion, where Jane hires him. While Jane drives Edwin home, Blanche searches the house for food and discovers Jane has been forging her signature on checks. Desperate for help, Blanche crawls down the stairs and calls their doctor, telling him of Jane's erratic behavior and begging him to come to the house. Jane returns in time to find Blanche on the phone and beats her unconscious before imitating her voice over the phone and telling the doctor not to come. She then binds and gags Blanche and locks her back in her upstairs bedroom. Elvira, still suspicious of Jane, returns the next day and discovers Blanche in a weakened and starved state. Before she can rescue her, however, Jane beats Elvira to death with a hammer and disposes of her body.

Joan Crawford as Blanche Hudson.

A week later, the police call the Hudson house and tell Jane that a cousin of her maid reported her missing. Panicking, Jane prepares to leave with her sister. Before they leave, Edwin shows up uninvited and drunk, hears a noise in Blanche’s room, and discovers what Jane has done to her. Edwin escapes and runs from the house. Jane drives Blanche to the beach and reverts to her childhood self. At the beach, Blanche says that her paralysis is her own fault: on the night of the accident, she had tried to run Jane over because she was angry at her sister for mocking her, and ever since she had let Jane believe she was to blame for her spine being severed when the car struck the brick and iron gate. Jane replies, "All this time, we could have been friends." The police arrive to arrest Jane, and while they tend to Blanche, Jane succumbs to her insanity and dances before the puzzled onlookers, believing she is once again the universally adored "Baby Jane". Whether Blanche has survived is not revealed.

Cast

Production

Bette Davis (left) as Baby Jane Hudson and Joan Crawford as her sister, Blanche Hudson

Bette Davis came up with her own makeup for her role. She said that Jane was someone who never washed her face, but just added more makeup.

The house exterior of the Hudson mansion is located at 172 South McCadden Place in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. Other residential exteriors show cottages on DeLongpre Avenue near Harvard Avenue in Hollywood without their current gated courtyards. The scene on the beach was shot in Malibu, reportedly the same site where Aldrich filmed the final scene of Kiss Me Deadly (1955).

Footage from the Bette Davis films Parachute Jumper and Ex-Lady (both 1933) and the Joan Crawford film Sadie McKee (1934) was used to represent the film acting of Baby Jane and Blanche respectively.

The neighbour's daughter was played by Davis' daughter B. D. Merrill who, following in the footsteps of Crawford's daughter Christina, later wrote a memoir that depicted her mother in an unfavorable light.

It was an open secret that Davis and Crawford loathed each other, and filming was contentious as their real-life hatred for one another spilled over into the production, and even after filming had wrapped.

Crawford was scheduled to appear alongside Davis on a publicity tour of Baby Jane but cancelled at the last minute. Davis claimed that Crawford backed out because she didn't want to share the stage with her.[12] In a 1972 telephone conversation, Crawford related to future author Shaun Considine that after seeing a screening of the film she urged Davis to go and have a look. When she didn't hear back from her co-star, Crawford called Davis and asked her what she thought of the film to which Davis replied, "You were so right, Joan. The picture is good. And I was terrific." Crawford replied, "That was it. She never said anything about my performance. Not a word." Considine alleges that this denial from Davis (with regards to Joan's talent as an actress) prompted Crawford to cancel the publicity tour and upstage Davis at the Oscars.[13]

Prior to the Oscars ceremony, Crawford contacted the Best Actress nominees who were unable to attend the ceremonies and offered to accept the award on their behalf should they win. Davis claimed that Crawford lobbied against her among Academy voters. When Anne Bancroft was declared the winner for The Miracle Worker, she was in New York performing in a play, and had agreed to have Crawford accept her award if she won. Crawford triumphantly swept on-stage to pick up the trophy. Davis later commented, "It would have meant a million more dollars to our film if I had won. Joan was thrilled I hadn't."[14] As both Davis and Crawford had accepted lower salaries in exchange for a share of the film's profits,[15] Davis considered it especially foolish of Crawford to have worked against their common interests, especially at a time when roles for actresses of their generation were hard to find.

During the filming of Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), Crawford acknowledged to visiting reporter/author Lawrence J. Quirk the difficulty she was having with Davis because of the Oscar incident but added, "She acted like Baby Jane was a one-woman show after they nominated her. What was I supposed to do, let her hog all the glory, act like I hadn't even been in the movie? She got the nomination. I didn't begrudge her that, but it would have been nice if she'd been a little gracious in interviews and given me a little credit. I would have done it for her."[16]

Legacy

The film's success spawned a succession of horror/thriller films featuring psychotic older women, later dubbed the psycho-biddy subgenre, among them Aldrich's Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?, and director Curtis Harrington's Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? and What's the Matter with Helen?. It was parodied by the Italian comedy film What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?.[17]

Shaun Considine's 1989 book Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud chronicles the actresses' rivalry, including their experience shooting this film.[18]

Comedy duo French and Saunders (Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French) did a BBC episode called "Whatever Happened to Baby Dawn" in 22 March 1990.[citation needed]

The film was remade in 1991 as a television film starring real-life sisters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave.[citation needed]

In 2006, Christina Aguilera adopted a new alter ego called Baby Jane after Bette Davis' character in the film.[19]

In episode 4 of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars (season 2), the queens' acting chops are tested in parody movie sequels of RuPaul's favourite movies. A parody of ''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'' called 'Wha' Ha' Happened To Baby JJ?' was made by Alaska and Alyssa Edwards.[20]

The backstage battle between Crawford and Davis during the production of the film is the basis for Bette and Joan, the 2017 first season of the Ryan Murphy television series Feud. It stars Jessica Lange as Crawford and Susan Sarandon as Davis.[21][22] It premiered on March 5, 2017.

Critical reception

The film received very positive reviews and elicited mixed responses over the Davis/Crawford combination. In his review in The New York Times, Bosley Crowther observed, "[Davis and Crawford] do get off some amusing and eventually blood-chilling displays of screaming sororal hatred and general monstrousness ... The feeble attempts that Mr. Aldrich has made to suggest the irony of two once idolized and wealthy females living in such depravity, and the pathos of their deep-seated envy having brought them to this, wash out very quickly under the flood of sheer grotesquerie."[23]

Variety stated, "Although the results heavily favor Davis (and she earns the credit), it should be recognized that the plot, of necessity, allows her to run unfettered through all the stages of oncoming insanity ... Crawford gives a quiet, remarkably fine interpretation of the crippled Blanche, held in emotionally by the nature and temperament of the role."[24]

TV Guide awarded the film four stars, calling it "Star wars, trenchantly served" and adding, "If it sometimes looks like a poisonous senior citizen show with over-the-top spoiled ham, just try to look away ... As in the best Hitchcock movies, suspense, rather than actual mayhem, drives the film."[25]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 48 reviews.[26]

Accolades

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design.[27]

Box office

The film was a surprise box office hit, grossing $9 million at the worldwide box office and $4,050,000 in theatrical rentals in North America.[3][29]

In the United Kingdom, the film was originally given an X certificate by the BBFC in 1962, with a few minor cuts. These cuts were waived for a video submission, which was given an 18 certificate in 1988, meaning no-one under 18 years of age could purchase a copy of the film.[1] However, in 2004, the film was re-submitted for a theatrical re-release, and it was given a 12A certificate, now meaning persons under 12 years of age could view it if accompanied by an adult. It remains at this category.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (X)". British Board of Film Classification. November 30, 1962. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  2. ^ Alain Silver and James Ursini, Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich?, Limelight, 1995 p 256
  3. ^ a b Box Office Information for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? IMDb. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  4. ^ French box office results for Robert Aldrich films at Box Office Story
  5. ^ allmovie.com
  6. ^ http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-what-ever-happened-to-baby-jane-1962
  7. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/watching/recommendations/watching-film-what-ever-happened-to-baby-jane
  8. ^ a b "'BLU-RAY REVIEW – "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"". Slant Magazine. November 6, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  9. ^ "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?". The A.V. Club. June 6, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  10. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (July 12, 2012). "Whatever Happened to 'Baby Jane'? It's Getting a Remake". New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  11. ^ "AFI'S 100 YEARS...100 HEROES & VILLAINS". AFI. July 4, 2003. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  12. ^ BETTE AND JOAN by Shaun Considine, Dell, 1989, ISBN 0-440-20776-2, pp. 347
  13. ^ BETTE AND JOAN by Shaun Considine, Dell, 1989, ISBN 0-440-20776-2, pp. 433
  14. ^ Mother Goddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis by Whitney Stine, with a running commentary by Bette Davis, Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1974, ISBN 0-8015-5184-6, pp. 296–297
  15. ^ Mother Goddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis by Whitney Stine, with a running commentary by Bette Davis, Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1974, ISBN 0-8015-5184-6, p. 307
  16. ^ Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography by Lawrence J. Quirk and William Schoell, University Pr of Kentucky, 2002, ISBN 0813122546, ISBN 978-0813122540, pp. 221
  17. ^ Alberto Anile. I film di Totò (1946–1967): la maschera tradita. Le mani, 1998. ISBN 8880120808.
  18. ^ Rorke, Robert. "Why Bette Davis and Joan Crawford's Feud Lasted a Lifetime". The New York Post. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  19. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (August 23, 2006) "Christina Clip Got A Boost From Outkast, Role-Playing Dancers". http://www.mtv.com/news/1539161/christina-clip-got-a-boost-from-outkast-role-playing-dancers-vmas-behind-the-camera MTV News. Retrieved June 23, 2013./
  20. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars - Season 2, Ep. 4 - Drag Movie Shequels - Full Episode | Logo TV". Logo TV. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  21. ^ Wagmeister, Elizabeth. "Feud: Ryan Murphy Lands Third FX Anthology With Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange". Variety. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  22. ^ Birnbaum, Debra (January 12, 2017). "FX Sets Premiere Dates for Feud, The Americans, Archer". Variety. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  23. ^ New York Times review
  24. ^ Variety review
  25. ^ TV Guide review
  26. ^ "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  27. ^ "The 35th Academy Awards (1963) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  28. ^ "Festival de Cannes: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  29. ^ "All-Time Top Grossers", Variety, January 8, 1964, p. 69
  30. ^ "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. August 27, 2004. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
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