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WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) Starring: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor
Buono Directed by Robert Aldrich Nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Actress, Bette Davis Best Supporting Actor, Victor Buono Best Cinematography Best Costume Design (win) Best Sound Imagine if Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD
had a sister who would become more famous than her after her career began to
fade, and after both had hit rock bottom career wise, what that big mansion
that Desmond lived in would look like as the two go head to head ferociously.
In WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, which resembles that of Billy
Wilder's classic to a slight degree, teamed together two of Hollywood's
stressful head cases with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford who where just as
much known for their talent as their very public feuding with one another
over the course of thirty years. Not only did the movie bring them together
for the first time, but it was the first time that one another met the woman
who they would bash relentlessly. But watching the movie there is no doubt
that each actress was a professional, even having to swallow their own pride
and play wash ups which they basically where at that point. The movie prologue opens in 1917 where we are
introduced to Baby Jane Hudson, a child star who while on stage performing
has big smiles for the audience who simply adore her. With curly blond hair
and a candy coated voice, she appears to be a happy little girl, but as we
soon learn she is a spoiled little mouthy brat whose father is nothing but a
self absorbed rat who is only out to exploit her daughter's image and pay off
on it. He could give a damn about his other daughter Blanche, who, unlike her
sister comes across as bland and ordinary who always has to sacrifice
happiness so her sister will get her way. The film skips to 1935 where both
sisters have become film stars, except now it is Blanche who is the
successful one, and Jane only gets work because Blanche's contract with the
studio has a clause that for every picture she makes, Jane gets to make one
picture. But Jane has absolutely no talent to speak of, as two studio heads
note when they watch one of her recently finished films (the film the two men
watch is actually Bette Davis's 1933 film EX-LADY, who Davis claimed
was one of her worst and was prime for poking fun at). The two men discuss a
party that will be held later that night at Blanche's house and hoping to
convince her to allow them to cut Jane loose since she is costing the studio
money, not only financially but also publicly, as Jane is a drunk and likes
to brawl. The prologue ends with the two women (the camera doesn't show their
faces), returning home, with one getting out of the car to open the gate
while the other one sits in the car while watching her sister in front of the
car and before the gates. She hits the gas pedals and goes speeding towards
her sister but instead misses her and hits the gate. Jane (again, we don't see
her), runs away screaming and sobbing. The film then jumps to present day where
Jane and Blanch are now two elderly women in their 50's and living together,
alone, in an old mansion. Blanche is confined to a wheelchair due to the
accident years earlier, and the world believes it was her sister Jane who who
attempted to run her down, but nothing was ever proved since she was drunk
that night and couldn't remember a thing. Blanche is a soft spoken woman who
enjoys simple pleasures in life such as reading and tending to her small
caged canary (symbolizing her own caged life in her room). Jane on the other
hand is now a grotesque, deranged drunk who resents her sister on a day to
day bases. She must look after her and take care of all her needs such as feeding
and running errands. When a television station begins airing Blanch's old
movies (the movie used in the film is Crawford's 1934 movies SADIE MCKEE),
Jane's venom becomes even more furious, hollering that she also had a movie
that opened the same year but it was never released in the United States.
Jane is extremely bitter about the past while Blanch is always more forgiving
and kind, despite being treated terribly. But Blanche has been biding her
time before telling her sister that she is planning on selling the house and
moving into a special home with her caretaker Elvira (Maidie Norman). But
little does Blanche know that Jane has been aware of her sister's plan for
quite some time, and isn't about to allow her house to be sold. Jane
then goes full force like a hurricane overpowering her sister, systematically
torturing her with mind games. While she is securing her home, she is also,
under the false illusion that she is still a well known actress, planning a
comeback and puts out an ad in the paper for a piano player. Con man Edwin
Flagg (Buono), replies and soon enough Jane begins to fall for the husky
fellow. Edwin is only in it for the money, knowing that the self-absorbed
dreamy eyed woman has no talent to speak of and won't have a chance in hell of
making it big with her act. While Jane is polishing up her act, Blanche
desperately attempts everything to contact the outside world but to no avail,
and Jane ultimately restrains her and makes her a prisoner in her own home.
By the time everything is said and done, old revelations are made, and Jane
goes totally insane, returning to the days (in her mind), when she was loved
by everyone. Though the movie does run a little long (two
hours and twelve minutes), and possessing several holes in the story that
don't seem to follow logic (Blanche has several opportunities to call out for
help but stays mum), the story is splendid tale about power, and instead of
resorting to mindless gore it relies on genuine terror and suspense and
succeeds beautifully. Director Robert Aldrich (who would team up with Davis
once again two years later in the successful HUSH... HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE),
handles both his actresses well and helps them deliver two of their finest
performances of their careers. Crawford masterfully underplays Blanche and
gives her heart and compassion, but doesn't turn her into a naive victim. We
feel for her because she is aware she is being abused and we sympathize with
her when she suffers. Davis on the other hand is wonderfully flamboyant,
pulling every trick in the book with her performance (loud, dramatic, tragic,
hysterical, hilarious). Though Davis does have the showier role and audiences
will watch the movie for her and her wild antics, the character isn't totally
without a soul and there are moments when we do feel for Jane as well. She
herself is a victim, being that since she was a little girl she has been
falsely told she had talent and that people love her (something many child
stars suffer from, and few survive). There is a terrific moment at the end of
the film when Crawford reveals to her what really happened on the night of
the accident which crippled her. Davis, with big sad eyes stares down at her,
You mean... all this time... and we could have been friends. I won't
explain what Crawford revealed, but that one moment is the heart of the story
in my opinion. Buono, who unfortunately died early on in his
career (and is best known for playing King Tut on the Batman TV
series), has an enormous amount of presence in the film and remains one of
the few actors who didn't require Davis's help to be noticed onscreen. To be
honest, Davis takes second fiddle in the scenes they do share and Buono gives
a bravura performance as the hustling con man. The best scene in the movie is
when he plays the piano and Davis sings I've Written A Letter to Daddy
in the most atrocious way possible. The movie was a gigantic hit when it opened and
was just as famous for the behind-the-scenes feuding of its two stars.
Aldrich tried everything possible to make the two women happy, and his most
accomplished effort was hiring on cinematographer Ernest Haller, who had
worked with Davis several times in the past on such films as DECEPTION,
MR. SKEFFINGTON, ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO, DARK VICTORY and her two Oscar
winning performances, DANGEROUS and JEZEBEL. He had also worked
with Crawford in her Oscar winning role in MILDRED PIERCE. Each woman
also got a percentage of the profit added on to their initial salary. But all
that and countless of other efforts didn't always keep the two women on
friendly terms, and there where many a time when they did argue and grate on
each other's nerves (Crawford, who was married to a Pepsi chairman at that
point, insisted that the beverage be served on the set. Davis walked in one
day and hollered, Who do I have to f**k to get a Coke around here?).
But though tempers flared, each actress was a professional and whatever
indifferences with each other they had off screen, their onscreen chemistry
is remarkable, and hopefully they realized that this movie, and their
performances, where one of the many highlights of their careers. I would like
to believe that both woman expressed appreciation to one another in a subtle
fashion, since I know neither would come out and express gratitude. One
without the other, the film wouldn't have that flair it needed, and because
of that they produced one of the greatest, campiest gothic horror films of
all time. My Grade: A |