Features: DVD, French, Spanish, Biographies, Notes, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Widescreen
Dirctor Robert Aldrich's story: a thriller about an aging ex-vaudeville child star who initiates a psychotic reign of terror over her crippled movie-queen sister. His star: Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. All he needed was money. But when Aldrich scoured Hollywood for backing, he kept hearing, "We wouldn't give you a dime for those two old broads."They were worth millions. Audiences asked What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? in droves-and made this eerie, surprise-laden shocker a deserved smash. It marked both Victor Buono's impressive Oscar®-nominated screen debut as an oily, porcine Tinseltown hanger-on and high points in the careers of its leads. And Davis won her 10th Academy Award® nomination for her acid portrayal of yowling, grotesque Baby Jane. An Oscar® winner for Best Costume Design (1962).
Editor's Note
As a child, Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) was a pampered vaudeville star known to the world as Baby Jane while her younger sister, Blanche (Joan Crawford), led a quiet life in her considerable shadow. Decades have passed and now Blanche is a beautiful, talented movie idol and Jane a lowly extra. When a car accident cripples Blanche, binding her to a wheelchair, Jane sees her opportunity for revenge and assumes the role of caretaker. Her newly gained power completes the transformation of the sugar-sweet child star into a nightmarish caricature of Baby Jane. As she does everything she can to make her sister's life a living hell--including feeding Blanche a dead rat and brutally beating her when she tries to phone for help--Jane plots a comeback, aided by shifty musical director Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono). Director Robert Aldrich (KISS ME DEADLY) composes the strangest and most unsettling film of his career, creating a blueprint for future psycho-thriller filmmakers to follow. Renowned offscreen rivals Davis and Crawford revived their flagging careers with two stunning performances, and Buono received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role. Creepy, campy, grotesque, and terrifying, the wildly over-the-top WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? is a disturbing and unforgettable film.
Plot Summary
Aging sisters--one a bitter former child star, the other an actress whose career was ended by a crippling car wreck--duke it out in this campy shocker.
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