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What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Director: Robert Aldrich

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Faded child star of the '20s (Davis) terrorises faded matinee star of the '30s (Crawford) in a decaying Hollywood mansion, after a mysterious accident has confined the latter to a wheelchair. Aldrich didn't have the courage to break with mystery-thriller conventions, and so the whole thing turns out to hinge on the true responsibility for the accident, but the film's real centre of interest is its Sunset Boulevard-type acerbity about Hollywood. Clips from authentic old Crawford movies are used to represent her past, to teasingly 'biographical' effect, and much hinges on Bette Davis' real-life reputation for bitchery. The Grand Guignol elements themselves are relatively forced and unconvincing.

Author: TR 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


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  • kel said...
    Posted on Mar 06 2009 15:05 This is a wonderful film, but very disturbing. Bette Davis is fantastic a 'Baby Jane' and you really fear for her sister. A truly weird film.
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