What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Henry Farrell (novel)
Lukas Heller (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?

Plot:

In a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation.

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Parakeet | Recluse | Macabre | Children

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 10 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Bette Davis	...	Baby Jane Hudson
Joan Crawford	...	Blanche Hudson
Victor Buono	...	Edwin Flagg
Wesley Addy	...	Marty Mc Donald
Julie Allred	...	Baby Jane Hudson, in 1917
Anne Barton	...	Cora Hudson
Marjorie Bennett	...	Dehlia Flagg
Bert Freed	...	Ben Golden (as Robert Freed)
Anna Lee	...	Mrs. Bates
Maidie Norman	...	Elvira Stitt
Dave Willock	...	Ray Hudson
William Aldrich	...	Lunch counter assistant at beach
Russ Conway	...	Police Officer
Maxine Cooper	...	Bank teller
Robert Cornthwaite	...	Dr. Shelby
Michael Fox	...	Motorcycle cop at beach
Gina Gillespie	...	Blanche Hudson, in 1917
Barbara Merrill	...	Liza Bates (as B.D. Merrill)
Don Ross
James Seay	...	Police Officer
John Shay
Jon Shepodd
Peter Virgo
Bobs Watson	...	Cop on street reading newspaper
Debbie Burton	...	Singing Voice (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernest Anderson	...	Ernie, Ice Cream Vendor at Beach

Directed by
Robert Aldrich

Writing credits
Henry Farrell		(novel)
Lukas Heller		(screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Aldrich	....	producer
Kenneth Hyman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Frank De Vol		(as DeVol)
Sidney Cutner		(uncredited)
Ruby Raksin		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller

Film Editing by
Michael Luciano

Casting by
Jack Murton

Art Direction by
William Glasgow

Set Decoration by
George Sawley

Makeup Department
Jack Obringer	....	makeup artist
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist
Monty Westmore	....	makeup artist
Beau Wilson	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Jack R. Berne	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Aldrich	....	third assistant director
Tom Connors Jr.	....	assistant director (as Tom Connors)

Art Department
John Orlando	....	props

Sound Department
Harold E. McGhan	....	sound editor
Jack Solomon	....	sound

Special Effects by
Donald Steward	....	special effects

Stunts
Carol Daniels	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Til Gabani	....	camera operator (as Till A. Gabbani)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norma Koch	....	wardrobe designer

Editorial Department
Nick Archer	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Debbie Burton	....	singing voice: Bette Davis, "I've Written a Letter to Daddy" (song title uncredited)
George F. Marni	....	music editor

Other crew
Adell Aldrich	....	script apprentice
Robert Altman	....	dialogue supervisor
Walter Blake	....	assistant to producer
Robert Gary	....	script supervisor
Alex Romero	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Associates & Aldrich Company, The
• Seven Arts Pictures
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1967) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Park Circus (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. (1963) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Runtime:

134 min | Argentina:135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16 (f) | Spain:18 | South Korea:15 | France:-12 | Ireland:12 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | UK:18 (1988 rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12A (re-rating) (2004) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

172 N. McCadden Pl., Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Trivia:

Joan Crawford was an avid collector of Margaret and Walter Keane's "sad eyes" paintings and befriended the couple and tried to incorporate their work into her films. In the film, during the interior scenes of the neighbor's (Mrs. Bates) house, several Keene paintings can be seen displayed on the walls.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Elvira's body is discovered, a large newspaper headline is shown heralding the murder of the "HUDSON MAID." Barring extraordinary circumstances, newspapers don't treat the death of hired help of obscure show biz personalities as front page news.

Quotes:

Jane: [running after Flagg as he flees the house] Edwin, you forgot your money!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Crumb (1994)

Soundtrack:

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

One of the great movies about the movies

One of the great movies about the movies, (and great movies about the movies aren't reverential, they bite the hand that feeds them), and the best of Aldrich's 'women's pictures'. Detractors see it as a misogynist load of horse manure about a couple of self-loathing sisters hauled up together in a decaying Hollywood mansion, a too-close-to-home study of the real life rivalry between stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford or even as a veiled study of homosexual self-depreciation with the sisters as ageing drag queens. But these are the very things that make the picture great. It is precisely because it can be read in this way that makes it such a perversely enjoyable, subversive piece of work.

As the sisters, Davis and Crawford pull all the stops out and then some. What makes Crawford's performance great is that she is never sympathetic even when Davis is feeding her dead rat or quite literally kicking her when she's down, while Davis is simply astonishing. With her face painted like a hideous Kabuki mask and dressed up like a doll that's filled with maggots it's an unashamedly naked piece of acting, as revealing as her work in "All About Eve" and almost as good. Unfortunately the film's commercial success lead both actresses into a downward spiral of not dissimilar but considerably lack-lustre material. But this bitch-fest is the real McCoy.