Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): 60 years later, the horror classic with its legendary, feuding stars remains a terrifying and campy delight

Chad’s Grade: B+

If I had to pick a movie with one of the juiciest backstories and behind-the-scenes shenanigans, it must be “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” The 1962 cult classic is most famous for its legendary feuding stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, a pair of grand dame actresses at the twilight of their careers. To say that these acting giants did not like each other in their only pairing is an understatement. There have been books and even a 2017 TV mini-series that chronicled the sordid relationship between the two rival starlets. A toxic brew that bled into the finished film with impressive results.

Thanks to the massive success of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho just two years earlier, studios were jumping at the chance to make more schlocky, B-movie style slashers enhanced by above-the-line talent, giving them an air of respectability. Director Robert Aldrich, also with a fading career, brought the project together, convincing the two acting titans that combining forces would make them an unbeatable team. Aldrich then secured Warner Bros. chief Jack Warner to finance the mid-budget feature, arguing that the added press of co-stars Crawford and Davis would add to the box office. Warner loved the idea, despite having reservations about working with two stars he used to despise. And he gleefully labeled their new sub-genre “hagsploiation.” 

Based on the novel by Henry Farrell, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” is the story of the Hudson sisters, both aging film actresses well past their prime. Older sister “Baby” Jane was once a famous vaudeville child star but couldn’t transition into a successful adult career. In contrast, her sister Blanche thrived as a film actress and became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. But a tragic car accident crippled Blanche, relegating her to a wheelchair, and both sisters now live in a mansion long forgotten by Tinseltown. Jane plays caretaker to the homebound Blanche, desperately clinging to her once childhood fame. Soon, Jane starts losing her grip on reality and, in a jealous rage, begins to systematically cut off Blanche from the outside world, embezzling the family fortune in hopes of reviving her long-lost career. The film becomes a cat-and-mouse game as Blanche fights back and desperately tries to escape the prison her revenge-filled sister has erected.

There is a particular camp factor at work in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” as it’s fun to see these two screen legends square off, let loose and watch art imitate life. But camp factor aside, this is still a supremely entertaining thriller that works perfectly when separated from the messy backstage drama. Director Aldrich knew precisely what he was doing when he cast Crawford and Davis, as both actresses are perfect in their respective roles. And he keeps the direction clean and unobtrusive, letting the charisma of the leads carry the picture. 

As “Baby” Jane, Davis has the showier role, which she sinks her teeth into with relish. Baking her wrinkled face in white, doll-like makeup, she resembles a clownish freak desperate to relive her bygone child star dreams. Davis was never a vain actor, often hiding her unique beauty in pursuit of meatier roles. Those qualities are fully displayed here as she crafts a grotesque caricature that combines sympathy, menace, and pity to create a terrifying villain. It’s no wonder she received a much-deserved Oscar nomination.

Crawford is the flip side of the coin, where she downplays her screen beauty to play Blanche as a tragic figure that was robbed of a thriving career. It’s a less flashy role but equally important, as Crawford imbues Blanche with a melancholic grace. She’s the aging star who has accepted her fate and is desperate to save her sister, who falls prey to her toxic Hollywood fame. Her role here is ironic, as Crawford was a vain actress known for being extremely particular about her onscreen image. Reportedly, she and Aldrich bitterly fought over her dowdy appearance in the film.

“Baby Jane” was unfairly categorized as a horror film alongside Psycho and its many cheap knockoffs, as there is very little slashing in this “slasher” picture. Most of the terror is psychological, with the tension building as Jane systematically cuts her disabled sister off from the outside world, letting her slowly wither away. It’s fun and frightening to watch Blanche lift the dinner plate to reveal her pet bird and, later, a dead rat. This beat would be repeated in the infamous “boiling bunny” scene in Fatal Attraction, a thriller with much of “Baby Jane” in its DNA.

In fact, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” has much more in common with Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir masterpiece Sunset Boulevard. Both films brilliantly cast actors to match their onscreen faded legends, creating a tragic “art vs. reality” subtext. Like Baby Jane, Norma Desmond (a brilliant Gloria Swanson) is a forgotten screen star desperate to reclaim her lost glory while decaying in a decrepit mansion. A sense of dread permeates both films as they are the rare reflection of how the studio system treats its aging starlets. And these movies show the dark side of the mythical Hollywood dream, where success comes with a price, and failure is just around the corner.

As a fan of these screen legends, it’s sad that this was Crawford and Davis’s final swan song to their storied careers. Despite the film’s critical and commercial success, it did little to improve the fading prospects of its lead stars. After bitterly losing the Best Actress Oscar (a loss that some say Crawford helped engineer), Davis would return to guest TV spots and become a mentor to the next generation of actors. For her part, Crawford found work in more low-budget schlock like the terrible Trog. It’s a shameful end for one of the original MGM screen beauties, as Crawford was a product of the silent era, with co-stars like John Gilbert and Lon Chaney.

“Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” also reflected the changing audience tastes in the 1960s. With films now competing with the booming TV industry, the horror genre blossomed as its immersive qualities of shock and terror could not be replicated in family living rooms. You can see “Baby Jane’s” influence in Roman Polanski’s 1965 psychological thriller Repulsion and later Rosemary’s Baby. Hell, both Psycho and “Baby Jane” created the template for the low-cost “Blumhouse” brand of horror films popular in cinemas today. In fact, horror is one of the last thriving genres in the current post-pandemic theatrical landscape. Some things never change.

Finally, if you want to know more about the behind-the-scenes drama that’s way more vicious than an episode of the Real Housewives, I encourage you to check out the 2017 FX mini-series Feud. Ryan Murphy produced this surprisingly fair and thoughtful dramatization that starred Jessica Lange (as Joan Crawford) and Susan Sarandon (as Bette Davis). Also, co-starring Alfred Molina (Robert Aldrich), Stanley Tucci (Jack Warner), and Judy Davis (Hedda Hopper), the 8-episode limited series charts the genesis of the production, the deliciously chaotic filming, and fiery aftermath. There is a touch of camp and melodrama to the proceedings, but it’s a well-written and researched accounting of the troubled production and is a vivid portrayal of how cruelly Hollywood treated aging starlets in the 1960s. It’s available to stream on Hulu or Disney +, depending on where you live—highly recommended!