‘You mean all this time, we could have been friends?’
Former child star 'Baby' Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) lives with her sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) in a dilapidated Hollywood mansion. As she grows older, ‘Baby Jane’ falls out of favour with audiences, but Blanche becomes an acclaimed movie star. However a car accident, blamed on Jane, prematurely ends Blanche’s career.
When A TV run of Blanche’s old movies revives the public’s interest and admiration, Jane is overcome with jealously. Determined to reignite her own fame, she hires on-the-make pianist Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono) to accompany the songs penned by her long-dead father that she used to perform as a child.
Jane begins a campaign of cruelty against Blanche, cutting her off from friends, trapping her in her bedroom and tormenting her in a series of increasingly vile ways. Maid Elvira’s (Maidie Norman) efforts to rescue Blanche from Jane’s clutches have tragic consequences.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? is almost always overshadowed by the notorious feud between the two leads, who apparently hated each other – when Joan Crawford died, Bette Davis said, "You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good... Joan Crawford is dead. Good.’
It’s this animosity between the two that makes for such explosive on-screen chemistry. Both performances are masterpieces in conveying the complexity of a co-dependent, toxic relationship. While Davis certainly looks like she’s having the time of her life playing a spiraling, booze-soaked Jane, Crawford brings a steely, determined vulnerability to Blanche that has you rooting for her.
It’s a classic for a reason; an unwholesome gothic horror about the perils of child stardom and the ruthlessness of the Hollywood machine. It’s also really, really funny.
Content warning: some ‘of its time’ language, dead pets, domestic violence.
Final verdict: sisters are doing it for themselves.
