Tweet Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

I love this film! It had such an LA film noir feel to it. I can see why though Bette Davis and Joan Crawford didn't like each other, they both at that age were the only ones from their era who were considered for the very very few roles for actresses of that age. So both were proably trying to outshine the other. The movie Bette made 2 years later Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte should not be seen after you see this one though because it seems to be trying to do the same story in a way.

I love this film! It had such an LA film noir feel to it. I can see why though Bette Davis and Joan Crawford didn't like each other, they both at that age were the only ones from their era who were considered for the very very few roles for actresses of that age. So both were proably trying to outshine the other. The movie Bette made 2 years later Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte should not be seen after you see this one though because it seems to be trying to do the same story in a way.

Ah, well, that explains a lot. I always thought this was a nasty, mean-spirited film for the type of parasitical film-fan who revels in the type of gossip-mongering Hollywood Confidential-type sludge like this is all any actress over 40 should be allowed to play. And Bette Davis's scenery chewing and vomiting performance is a worse torture on the viewer than anything she does to Joan Crawford. I'll take WHALES OF AUGUST again over this any day, some people like to watch films about reasonably decent people too.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

I ... I'll take WHALES OF AUGUST again over this any day, some people like to watch films about reasonably decent people too.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Richard, the first thing that popped into my mind when i read this was ... Ham and Bud.

That said, Whales of August is a real treasure. I don't mind Baby Jane, but i mind the copycat films--and there were a lot of them. It got to be really humiliating.

greta

I ... I'll take WHALES OF AUGUST again over this any day, some people like to watch films about reasonably decent people too.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Richard, the first thing that popped into my mind when i read this was ... Ham and Bud.

I used the word "too" Greta, but there is something inherently loveable in the way Ham and Bud try to sell each other for medical experiments or grind up puppies for sausages that Bette and Joan completely miss. They could have taken some lessons from the Boys.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

I don't mind Baby Jane, but i mind the copycat films--and there were a lot of them. It got to be really humiliating.

greta

Baby Jane works - or at least, *almost* works - as a black comedy, which is a virtue that few, if any of the subsequent "hag" films possess. It's a pity they didn't use the title tune in the final cut (maybe for the closing credits.) I think it would have helped settle the film's tone.

I don't see Jane a problem so much as a symptom of a larger issue - that Hollywood in the 60s didn't have a clue how to tailor product for what was becoming an increasingly younger demographic while at the same time providing work for veterans who still wanted to work.

In addition to all the grand guignol, the era also gave us head-scratchers like Skidoo, When the Boys Meet the Girls, Get Yourself a College Girl as well as Buster and other veteran cameos in those beach blanket movies.

And the Batman TV series.

All that said, it's always a good day when La Craw decapitates Lee Majors.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? was first, and I love it, but I also love:

THE NANNY (actually, I think this excellent psychological thriller is superior to JANE, and one of the finest films released by Hammer)
DIE! DIE! MY DARLING
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN?
WHOEVER SLEW AUNTIE ROO?

Shelley Winters is phenomenal in the last two films listed, both directed by Curtis Harrington; HELEN is also a great showcase for Debbie Reynolds, and ROO is a brilliantly nasty riff on Hansel And Gretel, with the added talents of Sir Ralph Richardson, Michael Gothard, and Mark Lester.

Henry Farrell, screenwriter of JANE, also wrote HELEN and HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE.

Ah, well, that explains a lot. I always thought this was a nasty, mean-spirited film for the type of parasitical film-fan who revels in the type of gossip-mongering Hollywood Confidential-type sludge like this is all any actress over 40 should be allowed to play.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

As it turns out, you were wrong.

Ah, well, that explains a lot. I always thought this was a nasty, mean-spirited film for the type of parasitical film-fan who revels in the type of gossip-mongering Hollywood Confidential-type sludge like this is all any actress over 40 should be allowed to play.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

As it turns out, you were wrong.

The hell I am Sunny Jim, but you are right about THE NANNY, that is indeed a way better thriller then BABY JANE, with an amazingly subdued performance by La Bette.


RICHARD M ROBERTS