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
 

 
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
 

Cast & Crew

Bette Davis

Joan Crawford

Victor Buono

Marjorie Bennett

Anna Lee

Miss Baby Jane Hudson

Miss Blanche Hudson

Mr. Edwin Flagg

Mrs. Dehlia Flagg

Mrs. Bates

Bette Davis – Miss Baby Jane Hudson
Joan Crawford – Miss Blanche Hudson
Victor Buono – Mr. Edwin Flagg
Marjorie Bennett – Mrs. Dehlia Flagg
Anna Lee – Mrs. Bates
Maidie Norman – Elvira Stitt

 

Robert Aldrich

Lukas Heller

Robert Aldrich

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

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

Top Reviews

James Powers

Jason Bailey

Andrew Schenker

Mike McCahill

Tim Robey

Hollywood Reporter

Flavorwire

Little White Lies

Guardian

Daily Telegraph (UK)

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?
  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?
 

 
Robert-Aldrich.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Hecht-Lancaster Productions, Steven Productions,
 
Distributor
United Artists
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
The Grand Councourse, The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
 
Year of Release
1955
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Joe Mantell, Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli, Karen Steele, directed by Delbert Mann, written by Paddy Chayefsky, produced by Harold Hecht, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Jean Yothers, Marjory Adams, Edwin Schallert, Myles Standish, Elston Brooks, Mae Tinee, Robert Bingham, Moira Walsh, Janet Graves, R.H Gardner, Jay Carmody, Frank Morriss, MPAA rating, romance, relationships, family, Bronx, ballroom, teacher, butcher, character study, slice of life, tender, human, appealing, low-key, solid dialogue, strong performances, heartening, honest, humorous, sensitivity, loneliness, disillusionment, toxic male entitlement, nuances, Academy Award winner, emotional roller coaster, joy, safe harbor, ugly people, Mickey Spillane, simplicity, realism
 

Cast & Crew

Ernest Borgnine

Betsy Blair

Joe Mantell

Esther Minciotti

Augusta Ciolli

Marty Pilletti

Clara

Angie

Mrs. Pilletti

Aunt Catherine

Ernest Borgnine – Marty Pilletti
Betsy Blair – Clara
Joe Mantell – Angie
Esther Minciotti – Mrs. Pilletti
Augusta Ciolli – Aunt Catherine
Karen Steele – Virginia

 

Delbert Mann

Paddy Chayefsky

Harold Hecht

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Delbert Mann
 
Writer(s)
Paddy Chayefsky, Paddy Chayefsky
 
Producer(s)
Harold Hecht

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
NA
 
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Winners
 

Top Reviews

Jean Yothers

Marjory Adams

Edwin Schallert

Myles Standish

Elston Brooks

Orlando Sentinel

Boston Globe

Los Angeles Times

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com

MARTY
  All Critics (71) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (70) | Rotten (1)
  Marty will give you a heartening slice of life, full of honesty and humor.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Jean Yothers
  Orlando Sentinel
  TOP CRITIC
  Marty is one of those films that appear every few years or so — a picture so sensitively acted, so tenderly written, so human in its appeal, that it has the utmost distinction, no matter what kind of audience is in the theatre.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Marjory Adams
  Boston Globe
  TOP CRITIC
  The picture is the ideal homespun type of creation for this era.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Edwin Schallert
  Los Angeles Times
  TOP CRITIC
  This slice of life is heartening becau.se of its humanity; utter honesty doesn’t have to be depressing.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Myles Standish
  St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  TOP CRITIC
  After viewing Marty at an advance screening, it seems rather useless to go on with this year’s Academy Award race. Who but Ernest Borgnine… could be the best actor of the year?
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Elston Brooks
  Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
  TOP CRITIC
  Paddy Chayefsky, who wrote the script, has captured the human element deftly. Here are human beings as they really are, refreshingly lifelike, piteously real, and often hilariously funny.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Mae Tinee
  Chicago Tribune
  TOP CRITIC
  Marty is a small but splendid sample of that richness and variety in American life which has been waiting all too long to be filmed and televised.
 
  February 10, 2022
 
  Robert Bingham
  The Reporter
  The wealth of observed detail about life in the Bronx (the film’s locale and also where it was made) conveys a vibrant and unmistakable ring of truth.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Moira Walsh
  America Magazine
  Wonderfully warm and funny and sympathetic.
 
  October 18, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
 
  Janet Graves
  Photoplay
  Everything you’ve heard about Marty is true. It’s a fine movie. It establishes its author, Paddy Chayefsky… as one of the country’s foremost dramatic writers. And the performances by Ernest Borgnine [and Betsy Blair] are superb.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  R.H. Gardner
  Baltimore Sun
  Under Delbert Mann’s direction, these familiar movie land marks burst suddenly into moving and unfamiliar life.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Jay Carmody
  Washington Star
  This little movie is a masterpiece which confines itself to the small world of the small man, and in doing so makes its real stature tower above most films.
 
  October 18, 2021
 
  Frank Morriss
  Winnipeg Free Press…

 

Plot
Stuck as the last of six children at home with an overbearing Italian mother, the only child still unmarried, 34 year old socially awkward Bronx butcher Marty faces middle age with no prospects of marriage, and he faces permanent bachelorhood. But when he is goaded by his mother into going to the Stardust Ballroom one Saturday night, Marty unexpectedly meets Clara, a lonely teacher. Suddenly, Marty’s future seems bright.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Ernest Borgnine won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Marty.
 

 
Delbert-Mann.jpg