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| A rare color shot of 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?' B&W signified drama. Can you imagine 'Pyscho,' 'Manchurian Candidate,' or 'Virginia Woolf' in color? |
What
more can be said about What Ever Happened
to Baby Jane? Well, here’s my two cents. The 1962 film classic has been
loved and loathed, quoted and parodied, badly remade for TV and periodically threatened
with a big-screen remake starring God knows who. Don’t bother, Hollywood! Baby Jane’s original stars, Bette Davis
and Joan Crawford, are the kind of movie lightning that doesn’t strike twice.
 |
| Davis & Crawford on the set of 'Baby Jane.' All smiles here. |
Like
Psycho, which came out two years
prior, Baby Jane was a bleak,
black-and-white flick shot on a low budget with big stars, and upturning plot
conventions that threw audiences for a loop. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? gave the careers of Bette Davis and
Joan Crawford a new lease on life.
It’s
also movie legend that Bette and Joan absolutely loathed one another. I believe
the rivalry/jealousy/disdain between these dueling divas is what gives Baby Jane its incredible tension. Just
as their real-life marital tensions ignites Richard Burton and Liz Taylor’s
George and Martha in Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?, Davis and Crawford’s animosity is most apparent. On its
own, Baby Jane is a top-notch,
well-crafted suspense thriller, with a terrific supporting cast. However, it’s
the two Hollywood legends, as twisted sisters in sibling rivalry, who take this
film into another realm. Their rivalry turned into a grudge match two years
later when they tried to re-team in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. But that’s another showbiz story!
 |
| Baby Jane Hudson was the star of the family--at first! |
For
the uninitiated, What Ever Happened to
Baby Jane? is the gothic showbiz saga of sisters Jane and Blanche Hudson,
played by Davis and Crawford, respectively. Jane is the vaudeville child star
and breadwinner of the Hudson family. Flash forward to the 1930s and now
Blanche is a big, fat movie star and Jane is a no-talent lush. Coming home from
a party one night, there is a car accident—“incident” would be more accurate—leaving
Blanche crippled.
 |
| No, Joan isn't re-writing her will! Blanche sees Jane's cursive. |
A
quarter of a century later brings Baby Jane
to the present. Blanche is still in that wheelchair and Jane is now not only a
drunk, but deranged to boot. And when
Jane gets a whiff of Blanche’s plan to downsize, which includes putting Jane
away, she puts the boots to Blanche, figuratively and literally.
Baby Jane
is a cat-and-mouse suspense film of the highest order. The plot plays off the
real stars’ careers. For the scene of a director moaning over Jane’s latest bad
film, clips of Bette’s actual early acting efforts were shown. Watch Joan as
Blanche gaze in rapture while watching one of Joan’s real ‘30s reel hits. Or
the scene where Jane tries to order a bunch of booze from the liquor store,
then impersonates Blanche to clear the order. It is obvious Joan’s voice was
dubbed in, but one wonders how director Aldrich got Joan to lay on her
cultivated MGM English thicker than Bette’s Baby Jane makeup. Watch Bette, then
at a career low, as Jane, asking strangers if they remember who she is! Actual
portraits and photos of Bette and Joan’s career litter the Hudson mansion as
props.
 |
| Jane works her Blanche Hudson imitation to her advantage throughout 'Baby Jane.' |
The
dialogue in Baby Jane has some of the
most famous one-liners in film history—do I really need to repeat them? The
one-liners that allude to Bette and Joan’s real life feelings for one another
are especially entertaining. At the very end of Baby Jane, after two hours of
sisterly warfare, Bette’s Jane plaintively says to Joan’s Blanche: “You mean
all this time we could have been friends?”
 |
| Davis & Crawford rehearse for the beach finale of 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?' |
All
of this is all just delicious frosting on a cinema cake. What makes What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? memorable
are the performances of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Film fans love to argue
about who was the greater actress, but in this instance, Davis and Crawford were
both great in polar opposite roles. Joan had less obvious mannerisms than
Bette; still, Crawford tones down the latter day dramatics that beefed up some
her ‘50s vehicles, and made them camp classics. As wheelchair-bound Blanche,
Joan underplays and wins our sympathy, watching her old movies on TV, grateful
for a new generation of fans that they’re generating. As the tension between
the two sisters amps up, while we’re still rooting for Joan/Blanche, but start
noticing Joan’s insinuating threats, coated with grand insincerity. Joan’s last
vestiges of on-screen glamour slowly get stripped away as she is mentally and
physically tortured by her character’s crazed sister. This was brave of
Crawford, the eternal glamour star. The last scene, on the beach, with dying
Blanche finally telling the truth to Jane, is beautifully performed by both
Joan and Bette.
 |
| Davis slyly took out a classified ad for acting work before 'Baby Jane.' |
As
for Bette Davis, her turn as Baby Jane Hudson was as huge a comeback. Only two
years before, Bette had jokingly put a classified ad seeking acting work in the
Hollywood trades. Still, some critics and moviegoers rolled their eyes at what
they thought was Bette Davis at her most over the top as Jane. To me, Bette
went for broke as Baby Jane—and won. Bette
is terrifying at times, but also funny, sad, dramatic, and finally, child-like.
Davis hits all these notes in her best scene, when Jane is alone, drinking. She
hears her childhood hit, “I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy,” in her head. With no
one but her Baby Jane Hudson doll as company, Jane sings along in her raspy
voice. Putting the doll’s bow up to her head, Jane walks to the mirror, singing
coyly. Seeing her now-ravaged self, Bette lets out a pathetic moan as Jane.
Upstairs, Blanche starts laying on the buzzer like a game show contestant, Jane
slowly lifts her head and launches into a bellowing tirade, starting with, “Whaddya
want, Blanche?!” Bette knocks this virtuoso scene out of the park.
 |
| IMO, Bette Davis' most brilliant scene as 'Baby Jane.' |
For
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Davis
received her 10th and last Oscar nomination. Davis had some tough
competition at the Oscars that year—Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker, Kate Hepburn in Long Day’s Journey into Night, Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth, and Lee Remick in The Days of Wine and Roses.
I
think Bette should have taken her 3rd Oscar home for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Maybe my
criteria are not the benchmark of great acting, but of the five performances,
Bette’s the one that people remember best and still talk about. Davis took some
big risks and they paid off. And Joan should have been nominated for at least
best supporting actress as Blanche. Crawford truly supports Davis, supplying sympathy
and reality, her Blanche underplaying to Davis’ Jane’s baroque descent into
madness.
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| The beach scene finale; Davis and Crawford are both brilliant . |
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| "You mean all this time we could have been friends?" |
FYI: I put all the movie overflow on my public FB movie page.
Check it out & join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/178488909366865/
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne Of The Best Film Of My Youth
ReplyDeleteIt certainly stood out in my youth, as well!
DeleteWell put and well written. A lot of reviews make fun of this film as campy but you see this film and review it as exactly how I saw it - a terrific film with two screen legends giving a knock out performance. I love this film for its story two 1940 movie stars that brings us to the present where they are old and long forgotten. It's almost sad to watch because it shows the golden years long gone. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford - WOW! How can people mock this movie?? Bette Davis shows us again why she became such a legend. She played that part so perfectly and kudos to her for donning all that hideous makeup to play it. It was always my favorite movie of hers. This was an actress. Getting Joan Crawford to play the sister and together they are magic. Another pro who can show actresses how it's done. Yes, it was a tough competition year in the Oscar race in which Joan didn't even get a nod and Bette lost out for the triple crown. You phrased it perfectly - awards mean nothing and ask me who won last year and my mind goes blank. All that remains are the stellar performances two great actresses gave.
DeleteHi there, just saw this. Yes, I find knee jerk reactions to certain films and stars quite tiresome. Especially in the age of the internet, where everybody parrots each other. 'Baby Jane' is gripping every time I watch it, and I've seen it a zillion times! As I wrote, Bette was NEVER afraid to go there, and she hits all the bases as Jane. And Joan should have asked to be put in Best Supporting Actress category that year (unheard of then) because she truly gives a terrific supporting performance. Imagine if they had both won that year... wow! But there was a contingent, and still there, that feels the movie was a stunt. Their loss, I say. Cheers, Rick
DeleteIt's the only time I thought Crawford gave a fine performance, so, she was a great professional here. Davis is supreme, BUT----- it's expected of her. That's BETTE DAVIS after all.
ReplyDeleteSo, they could really work together.
The TV REDGRAVE was not in the same league, though I did like LYNN.
I think Crawford could be good, but she was not versatile, Bette was. For those who try to equate Joan as an actress with Bette, imagine them swapping parts in 'Baby Jane.' Bette could have played Blanche, but Joan as Baby Jane? Never in a million years.
DeleteAs for the Redgrave sisters, great actresses both. But when I saw this most needless remake on TV, I was amazed at the lack of tension. And filming it like a kitchen sink drama, with no style. It was a total bust, in my book.
Cheers, Rick
It's become like an urban myth that Davis got the part of Jane after placing the available for work ad but in fact the advert was placed nine days after What Ever Happened To Baby Jane finished production.
ReplyDeleteRight? And it wasn't like Bette hadn't been working: touring with Gary Merrill with the Carl Sandburg production, A Pocketful of Miracles, and Night of the Iguana. Davis was making a general, pointed point about the lack of roles for actresses, especially older ones.
DeleteThanks for writing!
Rick
Yes, Bette Davis is a much better actress with much more range than Joan.
ReplyDeleteStill Crawford made some very good pictures, especially when she let her vulnerability show like in Baby Jane.
Other favorites include Mildred Pierce (of course), A Woman's Face, the second of her films titled Possessed (1947) and the overlooked but incredible Autumn Leaves, another Aldrich film featuring newcomer Cliff Robertson.
i too think davis ought to have won the oscar for this unforgettable performance.
ReplyDeleteI think the' 62 Oscar race was the all-time best list. Frankly any performance could've taken it. I think this was Hepburn's best work (and that is really saying something)Remick was absolutely heartbreaking ,Page was mesmerizing as the fading movie queen and even won a Golden Gobe(Dramatic).The NY Times was on strike so there was no film critic's award, although The National Board of Review backed Bancroft and poor Roz Russell didn't even make the cut for Gypsy although she got a Globe for Best Mus-Comedy .Oddly the Globes listed ten nominees in the Dramatic Actress category but Crawford's name was not among them.( a true slap in the face). I don't think Joan would've accepted a Supporting nod if it was offered .I read somewhere the studio was pushing for a nomination for The Best of Everything but ever the star Crawford balked and nothing came of it .I think she thought like many of the Golden Age Stars that leading rolls would just stop coming.
ReplyDeleteThe '62 Oscar noms were pretty strong in all the acting categories. Yes, every Best Actress nom was a key role in each actress' career. And the Supporting Actress category was tough, too. Personally, I think Patty Duke should have been given a special Oscar as a juvenile. And letting Joan get nominated for Baby Jane (tho she wouldn't have gone for it!) and letting Angela Lansbury win for her stunning monster mommie in "Manchurian Candidate." Great comments, BTW. Cheers, Rick
DeleteCan we discuss the vulgar subject of money? With their percentage deals, how much did Davis and Crawford earn from "Baby Jane's" success?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like one took more money and less percentage... Bette, I think. Frankly, neither walked away with the money they should have, since they sold the movie!
DeleteAbout their "salaries" for Baby Jane, I've read that because they each had a percentage of the profits; each received a million or more.
DeleteThee winner that year won for a role she did on Bdway for over 2 yrs. No stretch there
ReplyDeleteI would have been happy to see Bette win. Also, of the five performances, it's the one that's still talked about the most!
DeleteJoan and Bette were co-leads, Joan is NOT supporting.
ReplyDelete