As a child, Baby Jane Hudson was the toast of vaudeville. As an adult, however, Baby Jane was overshadowed by her more talented sister, Blanche, who became a top movie star. Then, one night in the early '30s, came the accident, which crippled Blanche for life and which was blamed on a drunken, jealous Jane. Flash-forward to 1962: Jane (Bette Davis), decked out in garish chalk-white makeup, still lives with the invalid Blanche (Joan Crawford) in their decaying L.A. mansion. When Jane isn't
tormenting the helpless Blanche by serving her dead rats for breakfast, she is plotting and planning her showbiz comeback. Convinced that her days are numbered if she remains in the house with her addlepated sister, Blanche desperately tries to get away, but all avenues of escape are cut off by the deranged Jane. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? sparked a trend toward casting venerable Hollywood female stars in such grotesque Grand Guignol melodramas as Lady in a Cage (1964) and Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte (1965). In addition to revitalizing the careers of Davis and Crawford, whose real-life mutual animosity came through loud and clear, the film made a star of sorts of 24-year-old character actor Victor Buono, cast as a porcine mama's-boy musical composer. Lukas Heller's screenplay was based on the novel by Henry Farrell.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The 1930s Lugosi/Karloff match-ups at Universal Studios only suggested the potential of what a decades-long feud like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford could produce.
...the movie remains a hoot...it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it is unquestionably fun in its totally off-the-wall manner. (Two-Disc Special Edition)
While Crawford is rather subdued throughout the film, Davis chews up the scenery as one of the most bizarre, depraved villainesses you'll ever encounter.
A Gothic Hollywood horror tale at its most grotesque, Robert Aldrich's Oscar-nominated film revitalzed the careers of both Bette Davis (overacting) and Joan Crawford (underacting), turning them into campy horror queens.
Davis and Crawford are priceless here, embracing their roles with tremendous passion and delivering spectacular performances like horror queens in this campy and bizarre story. A psychological thriller that is hilarious and very entertaining as far as exploitation goes.
A wheelchair-bound ex-Hollywood star is terrorized within her own home by her jealous and alcoholic elder sister. Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? hasn't got the most promising premise for a "comedy", but like Psycho and Dr Strangelove, it's the macabre streak of black humour that provides the stroke of genius that
makes it what it is. The plot read as straight is a very melodramatic, soapy affair, but Aldrich's skewed approach makes a black-hearted comedy of grotesques out of it all in a similar way to Sunset Boulevard. The cast are all great, but it is Bette Davis' show all the way as the increasingly unhinged child star-turned embittered old harridan and she sends herself up rotten; the scene where she recreates her old act has to be seen to be believed! The attractive cinematography contrasting with the ugliness of the goings on combines with Hitchockian suspense with a killer twist in the tale to create a bizarre and unique film that's a classic example of offbeat psychological horror.
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