Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? - 1962

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. 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.


The movie opens in 1917. Baby Jane Hudson (Julie Allred) is a vaudevillian child star. She performs to adoring crowds, and there’s even a (rather expensive) “Baby Jane” doll. Jane is also a spoiled brat, and her doting stage father Ray (Dave Willock), gives in to her every whim. Her jealous sister Blanche (Gina Gillespie) watches from the wings.


The movie then jumps to 1935, and the sisters' roles are now reversed. Both are movie stars, but Blanche is the successful and glamorous one, while Jane’s films have flopped. Unable to establish her talent as an adult actress, Jane has taken to drinking. One night after a party, one of them is at the gate of her mansion while the other one, in her car, steps on the gas and smashes into the gate. It is intentionally unclear to the viewer which sister is driving at this point.


In the present, both Blanche (Joan Crawford) and Jane (Bette Davis) are now retired from their acting careers and living in their decrepit old mansion. Blanche is crippled from the automobile accident and is usually holed up in her bedroom watching her old movies on television. Jane is a shadow of her former self, still drinking and wearing caked on make-up. She is abusive towards her sister, who now depends on her. There are not many visitors at the house, except for their cleaning woman Elvira (Maidie Norman). Elvira fears for Blanche’s safety because of Jane’s erratic behaviour. She even tells Blanche that her sister has been opening her mail and dumping it in the trash. Later, when Jane finds out that Blanche intends to sell the house and put her in a sanitorium, she responds by increasing her abuse.


The house used for the exterior of the Hudson mansion is located at 172 South McCadden Place in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. The final scene on the beach was shot in Malibu, reportedly the same site where Aldrich filmed the final scene of Kiss Me Deadly (1955).


The small role of the neighbor'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 a very unfavorable light.


Before, during and after the film's making and release, there was heavy fighting between Davis and Crawford, which included Davis actually kicking Crawford in the head (she went for small stitches[citation needed]) and Crawford putting weights in her clothes for the scene of Jane's dragging Blanche[citation needed] (Davis got muscular backache as a result[citation needed]). Not even director Aldrich could stop the fighting, which escalated in the coming months. At Oscar time, Crawford was infuriated when Davis was nominated for an Oscar and she was overlooked. She contacted the Best Actress nominees who were unable to attend the ceremonies and offered to accept the award on their behalf should they win. When Anne Bancroft was declared the winner for The Miracle Worker, Crawford triumphantly pushed her way past Davis saying "Step aside!", and swept onstage 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."


The film's success led to the birth of the "psycho-biddy" sub-genre of horror/thriller films featuring psychotic older women. Among them Robert Aldrich's Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte and What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?.


The suspense novel of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" was written by author Henry Farrell and published in 1960 by Rinehart & Company. The novel has earned a cult following.