What Ever Happened to Films like ‘What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?’

January 10, 2019

What ever happened to Baby Jane? The real question is “What ever happened to movies like What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” There are a million lists out there telling you what movies you have no right not having seen, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? better be on all of them.

I recently realized that the Bette Davis and Joan Crawford masterpiece, produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, has been on my to-watch list for decades. Anyone and everyone whom I respect as film buffs and horror fans has recommended it to me. Who was I to continue to put it off? I waddled into it like a chore, but found myself running headlong through everything related to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and tumbling down that rabbit hole at full speed.

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I warmed up with an episode of Feud (the FX series). It stars Susan Sarandon (born for this role) as Bette Davis, and Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford. Horror fans already know Jessica Lange for her award-winning performances in American Horror Story. As an actor she has, much like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, found a home in a genre she never expected. In her first role, she was the sexy Dwan, the Ann Darrow character in the 1976 remake of King Kong. Jessica Lange struggled with aging beauty in Hollywood the same way Joan Crawford did, so she played Joan Crawford flawlessly in Feud. Another generation sees Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford, but that’s just the first braided pigtail of Hollywood’s incestuousness 6-degrees of Kevin Bacon.

“I’ll stop worrying about how I look when they dip me into formaldehyde.” — Joan Crawford in Feud (Jessica Lange)

Faye Dunaway played in Mommie Dearest (1981) as Joan Crawford, who acted opposite Bette Davis, portrayed by Susan Sarandon starring opposite Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford in Feud, a series about the relationship between two stars entering their silver years from very different perspectives who were acting as two sister actors who had very different careers. Rabbit holes lend themselves to run-on sentences, so bear with me…

The aging child star, and emotionally disturbed, unbalanced Baby Jane Hudson has lost the marbles from her bag of envy, and she is committed to caring for her more successful sister, Blanche Hudson, in their own silver years. As Jane’s world continues to crumble around her, she progressively creates situations that put her in a darker and darker place. When Jane’s got Blanche tied to her bed, relying on her for food, water, and caring, I was reminded of Misery, the movie based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. Kathy Bates must have certainly looked at Bette Davis’s portrayal of Jane Hudson when she played that part. And, of course, Kathy Bates appears in the FX series, Feud, as Joan Blondell talking about the relationship between Joan and Bette on a documentary set. It’s all connected. Hollywood is an infinite meta-pattern of stars and characters. The knee bone’s connected to the shin bone. Well, not anymore. Not after Misery.

After watching the first few episodes of Feud, then watching the original 1962 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, then completing the series, I was left with a list of other films to watch (or rewatch). Among the list: Homicidal (1961) The story of a psychotic killer, and Strait-Jacket (1964) starring Joan Crawford (both directed by William Castle). Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) was originally going to be the second pairing of the feuding co-stars, but Crawford manipulated her way out of it. Bette Davis would go on to enjoy a full career of horror-related films and psychological thrillers. Some of us are still trying to figure out what people liked about Burnt Offerings (1976) other than Bette Davis, but I’ve seen it a handful of times for the nostalgia. Book end must watches for Bette Davis are Scream Pretty Peggy (1973 TV Movie) and Hell’s House (1932). Davis embraced her place in the genre, while Crawford resented it.

“Their scenes are fucking electric. And Let’s face it, after Psycho, horror is the future, and we got it.” — Jack Warner in Feud (Stanley Tucci)

Joan and Bette never had another chance to get along like a house on fire. “You mean all this time we could have been friends?” was Bette’s line in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, but it was Joan’s sentiment by the time the FX series (and Crawford’s life) came to a close. Davis complained that Crawford was more concerned with her appearance while Davis took the method route, playing ugly intentionally. Bette Davis kills the role of Jane Hudson, dragging her feet like an angry old broad, and sneering to emphasize every wrinkle in her jowls. You could even tell how much she enjoyed backhanding the censors when Blanche rings her buzzer for Jane to attend to her. “You miserable [bitch],” the last word being buzzed out by the incessant buzzing. We can all read lips when there are expletives, though.

What’s missing from so much of contemporary horror is the psychological twist. The human aspect that is the germ of the monster. The reason the original Friday the 13th (1980) worked is not the (sort of) twist, but the psychology behind it. The (sort of) twist that is revealed at the end of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? isn’t necessarily executed well, but it gives the viewer a chance to mentally race backwards through the film to find where all this mayhem could have been avoided. Look at Gaslight (1944). The psychology of emotional manipulation was still going strong decades later as Jane Hudson tortured her sister, Blanche.

After having seen What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) twice in a week, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1991) for the second time since it first aired. I am all in on Bette Davis movies. Joan Crawford will always be a better monster as a character portrayed by others, but Davis is the one whose career I will study. Skip the made for TV version of Jane unless you’re a completist. Lynn Redgrave as Baby Jane Hudson is more a caricature of Raggedy Ann, and Vanessa Redgrave’s Blanche Hudson is too tan for a homebound recluse. She looks more like Ludmilla Drago (Brigitte Nielsen) from Rocky IV than a victim should look. The Baby Jane doll does manage to be creepier in the remake, since we’re talking about dolls. The remake is grittier, but the black and white version lends itself to the classic feel of the story. Updating it only made it feel cheesy, right down to the ending with a slow-motion-stop-to-grainy-still effect typical of ’70s and ’80s drama and horror endings.

“The Diminutive Dancing Duse from Duluth” was a child star who was ruined by the spotlight. When her stand-in sister proved to be more talented, and got the roles that fed them as adults, Baby Jane couldn’t handle it. Blanch is the bird in the cage that is eventually served for lunch. Jane’s delusions ultimately bring her to a gawking public on the beach. Her crimes are brought to light as she dances in front of her audience. She is finally in her comfortable space again. The spotlight is on Baby Jane.