What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Regista:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Henry Farrell (novel)
Lukas Heller (screenplay)

Data di uscita:

31 ottobre 1962 (USA)

Genere:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Slogan:

Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?

Plot:

In a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation.

Plot Keywords:

Starvation | Parakeet | Bondage | Macabre | Villain Played By Lead Actor

Premi:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 10 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

Disturbing, because it's real

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Bette Davis	...	Baby Jane Hudson
Joan Crawford	...	Blanche Hudson
Victor Buono	...	Edwin Flagg
Wesley Addy	...	Marty Mc Donald
Julie Allred	...	Baby Jane Hudson, in 1917
Anne Barton	...	Cora Hudson
Marjorie Bennett	...	Dehlia Flagg
Bert Freed	...	Ben Golden (as Robert Freed)
Anna Lee	...	Mrs. Bates
Maidie Norman	...	Elvira Stitt
Dave Willock	...	Ray Hudson
William Aldrich	...	Lunch counter assistant at beach
Russ Conway	...	Police Officer
Maxine Cooper	...	Bank teller
Robert Cornthwaite	...	Dr. Shelby

Alias:

Che fine ha fatto Baby Jane? (Italy) [it]

Durata:

134 min | Argentina:135 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Bianco e nero

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonoro:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Divieti:

Ireland:12 | France:-12 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16 (f) | UK:18 (1988 rating) | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12A (re-rating) (2004) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:Unrated

Luoghi delle riprese:

172 N. McCadden Pl., Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Curiosità:

Joan Crawford was an avid collector of Margaret and Walter Keane's "sad eyes" paintings and befriended the couple and tried to incorporate their work into her films. In the film, during the interior scenes of the neighbor's (Mrs. Bates) house, several Keene paintings can be seen displayed on the walls.

Errori:

Continuity: When Jane is shocked by her reflection in the mirror, the expression in her face as well as her posture has changed in the next shot.

Citazioni:

Blanche: You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I weren't still in this chair.
Jane: But you *are*, Blanche! You *are* in that chair!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Ally McBeal: The Dirty Joke (#1.9)" (1997)

Colonna sonora:

I'VE WRITTEN A LETTER TO DADDY

Disturbing, because it's real

Interesting, to see comments dismissing WEHTBJ? as a "gay" film, or "cult" film, etc.

As a writer/producer who lived and worked in Hollywood for 30 years, I submit that those comments represent a "denial syndrome" of people who are ignorant of the facts of Hollywood.

What is so "horrifying" about WEHTBJ? is that the film is an utterly realistic psychodrama about two specific sisters of that era.

It's easy to say that Bette Davis' performance/makeup was "over the top," except that they weren't. In fact, I thought her look was taken from a sad "street person" in Hollywood who, in her seventies, walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard in a pink ball-gown and dead blonde wig and thick makeup, speaking into a transistor radio she held to her ear -- in the 60s, long before cell phones -- "talking" to the FBI about people chasing her.

Perhaps those who've spent their lives elsewhere, other than in Hollywood, feel that the characters in WEHTBJ? are "over the top." But they're not.

That's what makes them so heartbreaking. And the incredibly brave performances by Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Victor Bono and the rest -- not to mention the script and Robert Aldrich's direction -- make this simply the most definitive "Hollywood" psycho-thriller since "Sunset Boulevard."

There's "A Star Is Born," in any of its incarnations. Which is also "true" in its (their) way.

And there is "Sunset Boulevard" and "Baby Jane," which are even more true, and more brilliantly made.

These are not "horror films." They are riveting psychological studies, cast with astonishing actors, and magnificently directed and photographed.

They are the equivalent of Hitchcock's "Psycho," IMHO, which was preceeded by "Sunset Boulevard" and followed by "Baby Jane."

Each different, each brilliant, each marked by some of the most indelible performances ever captured on film.

It's typical of adolescents to make a "joke" about things that make them uncomfortable.

But when experience and age acquaint one with people like Baby Jane and Norma Desmond and, yes, Norman Bates, what's the point of joking?

These three films will tell those characters' stories forever, and better than 99% of films ever made.

That's why they're classics.