What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Henry Farrell (from the novel by)
Lukas Heller (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

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:

Hollywood | Revenge | Former Child Star | Wheelchair | Actress

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 10 nominations

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 (as Ann Barton)
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
Michael Fox	...	Motorcycle cop at beach
Gina Gillespie	...	Blanche Hudson, in 1917
Barbara Merrill	...	Liza Bates (as B.D. Merrill)
Don Ross
James Seay	...	Police Officer
John Shay
Jon Shepodd
Peter Virgo
Bobs Watson	...	Clerk in Newspaper Classified Ad Department
Debbie Burton	...	Singing Voice (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernest Anderson	...	Ernie, Ice Cream Vendor at Beach
Robert Aldrich	...	Himself - Director - in Trailer (uncredited)
Steve Condit	...	Boy in Audience (uncredited)
Andrew Duggan	...	Trailer Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Aldrich

Writing credits
Henry Farrell		(from the novel by)
Lukas Heller		(screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Aldrich	....	producer
Kenneth Hyman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Frank De Vol		(as DeVol)

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller

Film Editing by
Michael Luciano

Casting by
Jack Murton

Art Direction by
William Glasgow

Set Decoration by
George Sawley

Makeup Department
Jack Obringer	....	makeup artist
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist
Monty Westmore	....	makeup artist
Beau Wilson	....	key makeup artist
Peggy Shannon	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Jack R. Berne	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Aldrich	....	third assistant director
Tom Connors Jr.	....	assistant director (as Tom Connors)

Art Department
John Orlando	....	props

Sound Department
Harold E. McGhan	....	sound editor
Jack Solomon	....	sound

Special Effects by
Donald Steward	....	special effects

Stunts
Carol Daniels	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Til Gabani	....	camera operator (as Till A. Gabbani)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norma Koch	....	wardrobe designer

Editorial Department
Nick Archer	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
George F. Marni	....	music editor
Michael Andersen	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Sidney Cutner	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Ruby Raksin	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Albert Woodbury	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Adell Aldrich	....	script apprentice
Robert Altman	....	dialogue supervisor
Walter Blake	....	assistant to producer
Robert Gary	....	script supervisor
Alex Romero	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Associates & Aldrich Company, The
• Seven Arts Productions
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1967) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Park Circus (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Films (1963) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1963) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1974) (1985) (Finland) (TV)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

134 min | Argentina:135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Trivia:

A freeze-frame just as the car enters the driveway in the prologue reveals the secret of who was driving the car the night Blanche was paralyzed.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first scene featuring nextdoor neighbor Mrs. Bates, she places the telephone on the coffee table twice.

Quotes:

Elvira Stitt:[shocked at some obscenities Jane has scrawled] I can't remember the last time I saw words like that written down!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dallas: Whatever Happened to Baby John?: Part 2 (#3.2)" (1979)

Soundtrack:

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.