What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
93%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
5 wins & 11 nominations total
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? combines powerhouse acting, rich atmosphere, and absorbing melodrama in service of a taut thriller with thought-provoking subtext.
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is a classic horror movie that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford deliver virtuoso performances that will make you both searing and poignant. The film is gorgeously atmospheric, and the soundtrack is mordantly trying to break into Hooray for Hollywood. It’s a marathon of high-impact Grand Dame acting that offers commentary on aging, sisterhood, and show business, all remaining worthy of discussion today. Plus, who doesn’t love a good camp-Gothic bitchfight? This movie is vastly entertaining and unforgettable.
Production Company(ies)
Toho Company,
Distributor
Warner Bros., Warner Home Vídeo
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
172 South McCadden Place, Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Passed
Year of Release
1962
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 12m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 31, 1962 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 30, 2006
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, horror, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Robert Aldrich, Lukas Heller, Henry Farrell, Warner Bros., Warner Home Vídeo, Mono, Flat (1.37:1), Miss Baby Jane Hudson, Miss Blanche Hudson, Mr Edwin Flagg, Mrs Dehlia Flagg, Mrs Bates, Elvira Stitt, powerhouse acting, rich atmosphere, absorbing melodrama, taut thriller, thought-provoking subtext, Hitchcock vein, virtuoso performances, searing, poignant, lurid melodrama, hate, revenge, murder, dark, suspenseful, intense, thrilling, darkly comic, Gothic, bitchfight, vivid, barnstorming, decaying flesh, Hooray for Hollywood, camp shock levels, frightening, commentary on aging, sisterhood, show business, gorgeously atmospheric, marathon of high-impact Grand Dame acting, psychological, physical torture, fallen star, jealousy, guilt, comeback, torture-porn, Misery, courageous, ugly, self-delusions, complex, difficult to stomach
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Joan Crawford – Miss Blanche Hudson
Victor Buono – Mr. Edwin Flagg
Marjorie Bennett – Mrs. Dehlia Flagg
Anna Lee – Mrs. Bates
Maidie Norman – Elvira Stitt
Director(s)
Robert Aldrich
Writer(s)
Lukas Heller, Henry Farrell
Producer(s)
Robert Aldrich
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
5 wins & 11 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (4)
A lurid melodrama of hate, revenge and murder, a high-class horror film, in the Hitchcock vein, with virtuoso performances from Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and moments both searing and poignant.
March 5, 2017
James Powers
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
What so often gets lost about ‘Baby Jane’ is that it’s a real thriller, dark, suspenseful, and intense.
March 3, 2017
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
There are plenty of thrills and no shortage of suspense in this darkly comic horror film.
December 13, 2012 | Rating: 3/5
Andrew Schenker
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
Remains fascinatingly warped: an extended study in decaying flesh, set to a score mordantly trying to break into Hooray for Hollywood.
December 13, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Mike McCahill
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The ultimate camp-Gothic bitchfight. Vastly entertaining.
December 13, 2012 | Rating: 5/5
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It’s still vivid, barnstorming stuff.
September 24, 2007 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Its descent into chaotic madness is exquisite, although it’s overlong in the process, going into a considerable amount of detail for its depiction of escalating insanity.
August 27, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Bette Davis is unforgettable in classic horror movie.
April 18, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
Brian Costello
Common Sense Media
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane offers commentary on aging, sisterhood, and show business, all remaining worthy of discussion today.
April 3, 2017
Spencer Coile
Film Inquiry
Gorgeously atmospheric in both the visuals and the soundtrack, and it’s a marathon of high-impact Grand Dame acting.
August 2, 2014 | Rating: 8/10
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy
[A] frightening, darkly comic picture …
December 16, 2012
Philip French
Observer (UK)
The on-screen fireworks were reportedly fuelled by off-screen hatred, but the chemistry between the stars is unquestionably hair-raising and upped the Gothic stakes to camp shock levels.
December 14, 2012 | Rating: 5/5
Alan Jones
Radio Times…
Plot
In a tale that almost redefines sibling rivalry, faded actresses Blanche and ‘Baby’ Jane Hudson live together. Jane was by far the most famous when she performed with their father in vaudeville but as they got older, it was Blanche who became the finer actress, which Jane still resents. Blanche is now confined to a wheelchair and Jane is firmly in control. As time goes by, Jane exercises greater and greater control over her sister, intercepting her letters and ensuring that few if anyone from the outside has any contact with her. As Jane slowly loses her mind, she torments her sister going to ever greater extremes.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford’s real-life feud added an extra layer of tension to their on-screen performances in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
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