She Went Fucking NUTS, That's What Happened.
Things Baby Jane does:
- Hates her sister, who is a cripple. Traps her sister upstairs in their dilapidated house.
- Kills her sister’s pet bird and serves it to her on a platter. For lunch.
- Then for dinner she serves a dead rat. WTF?!
- Then she kicks her in the head. Repeatedly.
- Kills the maid with a hammer. She was getting too suspicious!
Just Cold Reviewin'
“Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” is equal parts “Psycho” and “Sunset Boulevard.” The film revolves around two Hollywood sisters who were both famous, beautiful, adored actresses. Bette Davis (Baby Jane) was the child starlet, a Shirley Temple-type, who never made the transition into adult films (cue the bitterness!). Joan Crawford managed to become a successful adult actress. Early in the film both are driving back from a party in the 30s. We’re led to believe that out of jealousy, Baby Jane drives the car into her sister, crippling her for life, and pretty much resigning both of them to their Hollywood mansion, where they remained up to when the film resumes action, in 1962.
So Crawford’s holed up in the house in her wheelchair, while Davis just fucking TERRORIZES her, all while planning her big showbiz “comeback.” Baby Jane is equal parts dark comedy and searing drama. In one scene, Davis—who is made up to look absolutely repulsive in this—is dancing around her darknened living room, reliving her song & dance days, when she suddenly catches sight of herself in a mirror and understandably screams with horror.
You can tell that Bette Davis just relishes this role—bitter old has-been actress who just torments people she knows, and desperately seeks recognition and admiration from the outside world. After being tormented by a soulless, heartless industry like Hollywood, she’s turning it back on her poor sister—Hollywood created a monster. You can also tell that a lot of this character comes from her own life, and she plays it perfectly—she knows exactly when to get a laugh and when to freak you out.
Naturally, in real life, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis just plain hated each other. “Whatever happened to Baby Jane” was supposed to both of their comebacks, but Davis naturally got the juicier role (and rightfully so—she pulls of psycho better than anyone, even though Joan “Mommie Dearest” Crawford.
One of the most memorable scenes in the film is when Baby Jane heads into a newspaper office to place a classified ad. She puts on the Betty Davis charm, dressed like it’s 1935 and acting like she’s auditioning for “Jezebel”. The crucial moment of the scene is when she gives her name. “Maybe you remember me. I’m Baby Jane!” as she flashes a big Hollywood smile at the man. He politely plays along and says, “yeah sure lady.” When she leaves the guy standing next to him deadpans “Who the hell was Baby Jane?” Showbiz!
While Baby Jane’s parading around LA in 1962, where kids are dancing the twist rather than the jitterbug, Crawford goes for a power play, attempting a coup over the household by throwing a typewritten note out of the window towards the neighbors’ lawn. But of course Bette Davis drives home just at that point, after humiliating herself at the newspaper office, and picks up the note. Aw, fuck. Now she’s really pissed. Hey, things are hard when you’re sister is trying to kill you! If I were Joan Crawford, I would’ve just charged that cold bitch in my wheelchair, flew down the stairs and out the front door to safety. Then maybe go chill with Don Knotts or something. Whoever was famous in 1962.
Victor Buono injects some humor into the film as an out of work songwriter hired by Davis to be her piano player for her non-existent revival. Fat, shy, and British, Buono’s not exactly leading man material. The look on Bette Davis’ face when she opens the door at their first meeting is priceless. Clearly she was expecting a “Sunset Boulevard” kind of arrangement, but nope, handsome William Holden was not on the other side of that door. William Holden was probably drunk somewhere nearby, though. Watching Davis—her voice destroyed by years of booze and smoke--attempt to revive her childhood act is both depressing and creepy. Crawford makes this situation even funnier, as she cautiously peers from her balcony, thinking “ooh! A gentleman caller!” It’s hilarious to see two of Hollywood’s most desired women, a couple decades later, fawning over Victor Buono as if he’s the last man on Earth. Showbiz!
Buono has his own charisma, and manages to hold his own against Bette Davis, which says a lot. Their initial exchange is priceless—it’s fascinating to watch how Baby Jane interacts with people from the outside world. When Buono asks her how much she can pay him for his services, she looks absolutely crestfallen (forgetting that this is a job for him), then like the ol’ Hollywood pro that she is, she plasters a huge insecure smile on her face and suggests $100.
The movie ends with a “Sunset Boulevard” style descent into madness. As the police crowd around Crawford’s body, on the beach, while she does one of her song and dance routines that were popular and charming when she was, oh, seven. By the end of the film, Davis is no longer villainous. She’s reduced to a child, dancing along the beach while her sister lays there dying. Showbiz!
Posts
