1963 really was historic, wasn't it?
Well, I like to think so because in April of that year, as Gerry And The Pacemakers hit number one with How Do You Do It, yours truly was born.
But memorable as that event was, it didn't quite have the seismic effect as the killing of President Kennedy or the reverberations of the brilliant women who were nominated for the best actress Oscar that year.
The winner was Anne Bancroft, thanks to her incredible performance in the Helen Keller story, The Miracle Worker. She beat off the challenge of Lee Remick, Geraldine Page, Katharine Hepburn and... Bette Davis.
In any other year Davis would surely have won the award.
In What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (re-released to coincide with its 50th anniversary), she is cruel, twisted, mad and... utterly, sneeringly and shockingly magnificent.
Davis plays Baby Jane Hudson, a child star whose career ended at the same time as her movie queen sister Blanche was crippled in a car crash for which Baby Jane was blamed.
Many years after the tragedy, Jane is spending her life devoted to caring for Blanche (Joan Crawford).
However, a renewal of TV interest in her sister's old films flicks a switch of malevolence in Jane who becomes more and more crazed.
This manifests itself in increasingly spiteful actions, not only towards Blanche but anyone who might question the way she is treating her sibling.
Crawford plays an excellent foil to Davis, although the irony didn't escape me that in real life she was so cruel towards her own family.
In the movie, Crawford is sweating and desperate as her sister cuts her off from the outside world.
Director Robert Aldrich, who appears uncredited in one of the movie's early scenes, is at the very top of his game here, building tension and increasing Baby Jane's craziness with Hitchcockian style.
The word masterpiece is easily used by others but less so by everyfilm. However, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is deserved of the accolade.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
This film is superbly chilling, especially for it's time!
ReplyDeleteIt was recommended to me by an equally disturbed character as Davis (luckily no longer a part of my life!).
I was totally unprepared!
Damn good piece of cinema.