Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Regista:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Henry Farrell (screenplay) &
Lukas Heller (screenplay) ...

Data di uscita:

24 dicembre 1964 (USA)

Genere:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Slogan:

Don't Tell Anyone What Happened In The Summer House!

Plot:

The arrival of a lost relative, engulfs terror upon an aging southern belle, forever plagued by a horrifying family secret.

Plot Keywords:

Macabre | Physician | Nightmare | Southern Gothic | Southern Belle

Premi:

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 5 wins

Recensioni degli utenti:

Southern Discomfort

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Charlotte
Olivia de Havilland	...	Miriam (as Olivia deHavilland)
Joseph Cotten	...	Drew
Agnes Moorehead	...	Velma
Cecil Kellaway	...	Harry
Victor Buono	...	Big Sam
Mary Astor	...	Jewel
Wesley Addy	...	Sheriff
William Campbell	...	Paul Marchand
Bruce Dern	...	John Mayhew
Frank Ferguson	...	Editor
George Kennedy	...	Foreman
Dave Willock	...	Taxi Driver
Michel Petit	...	Gang Leader (as Michael Petit)
John Megna	...	New Boy

Alias:

What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?
Piano... piano dolce Carlotta (Italy) [it]

Durata:

133 min | Argentina:134 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Bianco e nero

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sonoro:

Mono

Divieti:

USA:Approved | Germany:12 (nf) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:Atp | Norway:16 | Australia:M | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Spain:T | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Luoghi delle riprese:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Curiosità:

Although she was replaced by Olivia de Havilland midway through production, Joan Crawford (then on the Pepsi board of directors) was notorious for demanding that product placement shots of her company's soft drink appear in all her pictures of that era. Perhaps to spite her, there's a shot of a rival Cola-Cola truck barreling through town just before Miriam sees Jewel Mayhew on the street.

Errori:

Continuity: During the scene where Miriam meets Jewel in public, a smiling young girl extra with a bouffant hairdo and a ribbon in her hair can be seen walking behind them. Seconds later the same girl walks behind them again.

Citazioni:

Harry Willis: You're my favorite living mystery.
Charlotte: Have you ever solved me?

Movie Connections:

Citato in "Dallas: Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie (#7.29)" (1984)

Colonna sonora:

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Southern Discomfort

Few films have the ability to show the decay of plantation life in the South better than Hush...Hush sweet Charlotte. The setting is a rural plantation home that in 1927 was the scene of a brutal murder where an unfaithful husband was beheaded and behanded. Next we fast forward to 1964 and see the effects of this crime on Charlotte Hollis..the young girl accused of the crime and bordering on mental instability. Bette Davis plays Charlotte and her performance is a tour-de-force as she plays a woman under stress with a zeal that would make any ham actor proud. Davis tops her baby Jane performance by not only creating a character with obvious problems, but also giving this character feeling, compassion, and an air of pity. The plot of the film involves Davis's descent into madness as she thinks she sees things..or really does. The rest of the cast is first-rate with Joseph Cotten playing the stereotypical Southern doctor with the over-pronounced inflection only Cotten could provide. Olivia De Havilland creates one of her better roles, and makes a superb wicked woman. The real treat to watch is Agnes Moorehead who plays a wise-cracking, crotchetey housekeeper. Rounding out the superb cast are a few nice performances from the ever affable Cecil Kellaway as one of the few humane people in the film, a nice cameo by Mary Astor, Bruce Dern and Victor Buono in flashback sequences. The movie tells a pretty inventive tale...but really is a showcase for great talent, good direction, wonderful atmosphere, and a rather perverse thematic underpinning. To use a well-worn cliche....they just don't make em like this anymore. Ain't it a shame!