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Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte

  • 1964
  • Approved
  • 2h 13m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
17K
YOUR RATING
Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and Joseph Cotten in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
TV spot trailer three
Play trailer0:54
5 Videos
72 Photos
Psychological ThrillerWhodunnitCrimeDramaMysteryThriller

An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.

  • Director
    • Robert Aldrich
  • Writers
    • Henry Farrell
    • Lukas Heller
  • Stars
    • Bette Davis
    • Olivia de Havilland
    • Joseph Cotten
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    17K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Robert Aldrich
    • Writers
      • Henry Farrell
      • Lukas Heller
    • Stars
      • Bette Davis
      • Olivia de Havilland
      • Joseph Cotten
    • 176User reviews
    • 58Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 7 Oscars
      • 3 wins & 9 nominations total

    Videos5

    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Trailer 0:54
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Trailer 0:19
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Trailer 0:19
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Trailer 0:20
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Trailer 2:56
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
    Trailer 1:26
    Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte

    Photos72

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    Top cast37

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    Bette Davis
    Bette Davis
    • Charlotte Hollis
    Olivia de Havilland
    Olivia de Havilland
    • Miriam Deering
    Joseph Cotten
    Joseph Cotten
    • Dr. Drew Bayliss
    Agnes Moorehead
    Agnes Moorehead
    • Velma Cruthers
    Cecil Kellaway
    Cecil Kellaway
    • Harry Willis
    Victor Buono
    Victor Buono
    • Samuel Eugene 'Big Sam' Hollis
    Mary Astor
    Mary Astor
    • Jewel Mayhew
    Wesley Addy
    Wesley Addy
    • Sheriff Luke Standish
    William Campbell
    William Campbell
    • Paul Marchand
    Bruce Dern
    Bruce Dern
    • John Mayhew
    Frank Ferguson
    Frank Ferguson
    • Editor
    George Kennedy
    George Kennedy
    • Foreman
    Dave Willock
    Dave Willock
    • Taxi Driver
    Michel Petit
    • Gang Leader
    • (as Michael Petit)
    John Megna
    John Megna
    • New Boy
    Kelly Flynn
    • 2nd Boy
    Percy Helton
    Percy Helton
    • Funeral Director
    Alida Aldrich
    • Young Girl
    • Director
      • Robert Aldrich
    • Writers
      • Henry Farrell
      • Lukas Heller
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews176

    7.516.7K
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    Featured reviews

    8BrandtSponseller

    Great film but slightly flawed in the middle

    John Mayhew (Bruce Dern), a married man, is having an affair with Charlotte Hollis (Bette Davis). When Charlotte's father, Sam (Victor Buono), a local bigwig (the town is even named after the family) finds out that John was planning on eloping with Charlotte, he demands that John tells Charlotte during a big party that he's breaking off their relationship. John ends up dead, and Charlotte is the likely suspect. Thirty-seven years later, Charlotte is still living as a recluse on her family's plantation, but now she is being forced to move, as a highway is going to be built across her property. Gradually, people come back into her life to ostensibly help her.

    For at least the first 45 minutes to an hour or so into the film, Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 10 out of 10. Unfortunately, given a 133-minute running time, director Robert Aldrich can't sustain the intensity for the length of the film, but Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte finishes as an 8 out of 10 for me.

    Although there are some thriller and horror elements, both take up relatively little screen time. At that though, these elements are extremely effective. Some parts are surprisingly graphic for 1964--just enough to be a surprise and evoke the appropriate sense of shock. The best horror/thriller material in the film is in the haunted house vein, and for a time, we wonder if Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte is going to end up being a ghost story.

    But the focus here is primarily on Charlotte and Miriam Deering (Olivia de Havilland) and their relationship to one another. Davis and de Havilland are both incredible in the film, and both go through a very wide range of emotions. Oddly, Agnes Moorehead (as Velma Cruther) was more recognized for her performance than the rest of the cast in terms of awards and nominations, with de Havilland receiving neither. Not that Moorehead wasn't good, but in my view, she wasn't the standout performance. However, that's just further fuel for my belief that the Academy Awards have little to do with rewarding the best films, actors and filmmakers.

    There are also broader themes explored as a subtext, including the changing way of life in the southern United States between the early and mid-20th Century.

    I subtracted two points because the film lost a bit of its momentum and direction in the middle, but the last half-hour is as exciting as the beginning.
    8djkent

    A Fun, Frantic, Over-the-top Gothic Melodrama!

    Well, I loved Bette Davis' performances, as a rule. But I'm willing to bet that even NON fans of Davis would appreciate her tour in this particular movie. Following two years after "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is nevertheless four times the film of its more noted predecessor. The reasons for this are four=fold. The script, though occasionally unintentionally funny, is still crisper, more believable and contains a more satisfying ending. Next, Davis' is more balanced by the performances of DeHavilland, Cotton, a more mature Victor Buono, and the great Agnes Morehead. Thirdly, we have a better set and setting, more attuned to the genre. Finally, the cinematography is several notches better, in my opinion. Adding it all up, you have an exceptionally fine example of that unique genre, the gothic melodrama. In this movie, the genre is virtually defined! If asked to name an example to a "top twenty" or "top fifty" movie list, "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" would definitely make the cut.
    8dougandwin

    A Cast of Class!

    Following soon after "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", I originally thought that "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" would be a letdown - far from it, in my opinion, much better due a great deal to the cast of great actors and actresses. Bette Davis was in her element in this role of Charlotte, while Olivia de Havilland in the role originally planned for Joan Crawford was superb, and was an inspired piece of accidental casting! Agnes Moorehead deserved her Academy nomination, while Mary Astor was a most welcome sight. Joseph Cotten normally seems very wooden in his parts, but does an excellent job here. The Black and White photography adds a great deal to the mood, and is far better than Colour would have been. The ending was very well planned and carried out, and you feel after the film ends there is something else that happened that the viewer never saw. Get it on Video - it is well worth the experience.
    8ccthemovieman-1

    Memorable Characters, Song

    It's tough to beat this for a good, deep cast: Bette Davsi, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorhead, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor and Bruce Dern.

    My favorite character in here was played by Moorhead. She was excellent as the eccentric (but very perceptive) housekeeper. I wish Kellaway's role had been bigger. It was interesting, too, to see such a young Dern. Davis looked really grotesque, but that was the idea. Kudos for her to not care about her looks.

    Speaking of looks, the best feature in here might have been the cinematography. I have not seen this on DVD but I'd like to and wonder if it looks tremendous. It sure looked good on VHS. And that theme song! It is played throughout the movie and once you hear it, as I first did in the theater over 40 years ago, you never forget it.

    My lone complaint is the length of the film. At 133 minutes, I think it would have been a lot tighter and better at about 110. However, even though there were definite lulls in the story, they were never that long in length.
    7bkoganbing

    The Lonely Life

    A few years before this film came out Bette Davis penned her first set of memoirs, The Lonely Life. She might well have been setting the stage for this film, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.

    Bette is a lonely old spinster woman who back in the day was set to run off with married lover Bruce Dern. Bette's father wouldn't hear of it and paid Dern off. But he wanted Dern to keep a scheduled rendezvous with Davis's character. In keeping that rendezvous Dern was done in with a well wielded meat cleaver.

    She's lived in that old mansion, quite a showplace during her youth, for 40 years with only Agnes Moorehead her maid for company. Of course she was suspected in Dern's murder and a whole lot of legends have grown up about her as she's grown older.

    People are terrified of who they believe is their own southern fried incarnation of Lizzie Borden. But during the film Bette is more put upon than anything else by some rather unscrupulous people.

    Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte is Davis's obligato to her well received Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. She's joined in this film by former work colleagues, Olivia DeHavilland, Joseph Cotten, and Victor Buono.

    Olivia's quite a wonder in this. She substituted for Joan Crawford who after the well publicized battles during Whatever Happened to Baby Jane decided she wasn't up to rematch. DeHavilland and Davis were old friends from Warner Brothers. And those of us who remember Olivia from her salad days at Warner Brothers will not be used to seeing her in the kind of role she has her.

    Both Charlotte and Baby Jane were well done horror flicks. Unfortunately for Bette some of the later ones she chose weren't quite so good and didn't add anything to her reputation.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When Olivia de Havilland agreed to make this movie, director Robert Aldrich called Bette Davis to give her the good news. He also requested she keep the news a secret until he returned in two days, when he would legally inform Joan Crawford and her lawyer by letter. However, Davis didn't listen - she called her press agent, Rupert Allan, who immediately leaked the story to the press.
    • Goofs
      In the ballroom dance set in 1927, the women's hairstyles are contemporary with 1964.
    • Quotes

      Charlotte: What do you think I asked you here for? COMPANY?

    • Alternate versions
      The original UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to heavily edit the opening cleaver murder, and some cut prints have also been shown on Channel 4 TV. Video and DVD releases are uncut.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Time That Remains (2012)
    • Soundtracks
      Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
      Lyric by Mack David

      Music by Frank De Vol

      Sung by Al Martino

      [Performed over the closing credits]

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    FAQ19

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 20, 1965 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?
    • Filming locations
      • Houmas House Plantation - 40136 Highway 942, Burnside, Louisiana, USA
    • Production company
      • The Associates & Aldrich Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $2,235,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $18
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 13 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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