In 1917 Baby Jane Hudson (Julie Allred) is vaudeville’s precious little darling. She performs song and dance routines under the tutelage of her father. Jane is spoiled and her older sister Blanche is jealous. In 1935 the tables have turned. Blanche (Joan Crawford) is now famous and Jane (Betty Davis), no longer the child star she was, has begun drinking. For every movie that Blanche stars in she insists that Jane also be given a movie. The producers are not happy with this requirement, but Blanche is adamant.
A car accident cripples Blanche. Jane doesn’t remember causing the accident since she was drunk. Thirty years later Blanche is in a wheelchair and dependent on the care of her alcoholic sister Jane. They live in a decrepit mansion that Blanche bought in 1932. It used to belong to Valentino.
Basically alone in the house Jane resents having to take care of Blanche and in her alcohol addled brain believes that Blanche is to blame for her career going nowhere. Jane embarks on a campaign to alienate Blanche further from the outside world. Wanting her sister dead she slowly begins go starve Blanche and psychologically torture her. As Jane grows more insane she is willing to get rid of anyone that is in the way of her ultimate goal. What she wants is a comeback as Baby Jane.
“Whatever Happened To Baby Jane” was released in 1962 and was directed by Robert Aldrich. The movie is a dark gothic psychological thriller with horror aspects.
Many critics consider this movie as the creation of the "hag horror" subgenre, also known as "psycho-biddy," "hagsploitation," and "Grande Dame Guignol." Seems a little harsh to me.
There are many anecdotal stories about friction between the two stars of the film especially with Davis’ Oscar nomination. Both women were big stars at one time and egos are difficult to set aside. I don’t doubt a lot of them. They are good examples of the sixties version of frenemies, something that transcends perfectly to the characters in the film, legendary stars now fading and perhaps a little too close to real life. Needless to say both are equally creepy in this film. Davis much more so since she is more on the homicidal side of crazy.
Davis did her own make-up for the film. "What I had in mind no professional makeup man would have dared to put on me," said Davis. "One told me he was afraid that if he did what I wanted, he might never work again. Jane looked like many women one sees on Hollywood Boulevard. In fact author Henry Farrell patterned the character of Jane after these women. One would presume by the way they looked that they once were actresses, and were now unemployed. I felt Jane never washed her face, just added another layer of makeup each day."
According to Bette Davis, Joan Crawford refused to dispose of her 'falsies': "As part of her wardrobe, Miss Crawford owned three sizes of bosoms. In one scene in which she lay on the beach, Joan wore the largest ones. Let's face it, when a woman lies on her back, I don't care how well endowed she is, her bosoms do not stand straight up. And Blanche had supposedly wasted away for 20 years. The scene called for me to fall on top of her. I had the breath almost knocked out of me. It was like falling on two footballs!"
Both Bette Davis and Victor Buono were nominated for Oscars. As for Davis, I’m not surprised she was nominated for an Oscar. She’s enough to scare the crap out of you. It’s an intensely chilling movie and Davis looks like the creepiest insane clown you’ve ever seen.