What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

"Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?"

1962 2h 15m EN

🙌

7.9

BANGER

★7.9TMDB · 1,198

HorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.

“Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Bette Davis
Baby Jane Hudson
Joan Crawford
Blanche Hudson
Victor Buono
Edwin Flagg
Wesley Addy
Marty McDonald
Julie Allred
Young Baby Jane Hudson
Anne Barton
Cora Hudson
Marjorie Bennett
Dehlia Flagg
Bert Freed
Ben Golden

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Aldrich
Writers: Lukas Heller
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

64 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Aldrich, shot by Ernest Haller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Frank De Vol. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Luciano shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and Victor Buono carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0056687 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Aldrich directs. Ernest Haller behind the camera. Frank De Vol scores. Michael Luciano cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
264 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Robert Aldrich, shot by Ernest Haller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Frank De Vol. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Michael Luciano shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and Victor Buono carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?".
8IMDB entry: tt0056687 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 23 themes, including "beach", "sibling relationship", "based on novel or book", "insanity".
10Released under 38 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ernest Haller
Original score: Frank De Vol
Editing: Michael Luciano
Runtime: 135 min · 2h 15m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $980,000
Original language: EN
IMDB: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Robert Aldrich

Stills · wallpapers

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Cat Ellington2017-03-01
For this particular review, I have chosen to render my critique - in description of this timeless masterpiece - with a word from each letter of its title: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? An opus of epic proportions, the tour de force performances in this cinematic icon relay what is: Warped. Hellish. Atrocious. Tumultuous. Evil. Vile. Envious. Ruthless. Hostile. Abhorrent. Perverse. Paranoid. Enraged. Nightmarish. Erroneous. Depraved. Terrifying. Ominous. Brutal. Apprehensive. Backstabbing. Yucky. Jealousy. Abominable. Nefarious. Egotistical. ...And there you have it, folks. A single word from every letter of the title to describe the ice-cold spirit of the one and ONLY What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? This Robert Aldrich-directed, old era silver screen jewel is a phenomenal feature of cinematic art, and a legendary masterwork of prestige. Superb performances by the real-life archenemies, Davis and Crawford. Absolutely superb! Way beyond worthy of its 5 of 5 stars rating.
CinemaSerf2022-09-03
★ 8/10
Now then, settle down - turn off the phone, grab some Malbec and be prepared for one of the finest examples of character-driven cinema you are ever likely to encounter. Bette Davis is the former, rather petulant, child star "Baby Jane" who rather grudgingly looks after her sister - the more critically acclaimed actress "Blanche" (Joan Crawford) as their dotage approaches in their Hollywood home. "Blanche" is largely confined to a wheelchair, so is entirely dependent on her increasingly alcoholic, flaky and downright nasty sibling. Thing is, though, it's Blanche who has the money - and when she starts to discuss selling their house this riles her sister who soon has some pretty menacing thoughts about thwarting this "betrayal". Luckily for "Blanche" - their maid "Elvira" (Maidie Norman) starts to become aware of this rather menacing change in attitude, and well... Crawford and Davis are very much at the top of their games here, and somehow you can't help but wonder if they were really acting their socks off, or whether there was a serious bit of professional "loathing" going on on the set of this deftly directed Robert Aldrich classic. There is a positive sense of venom here from Davis, and her counterpart portrays the traumatised victim with great aplomb. Neither woman is afraid to ditch their more traditional glamour. Davis looks truly demented in her part as the woman with one hand on the bottle and the other on the door handle of the sanatorium - and she excels in the part. It's almost 2¼ hours long and it positively flies by. The pace is perfect, the DeVol score ebbs and flows with the frequently pithy and powerful dialogue and the photography - often tight and intimate makes this a superb example of the ultimate cinema sibling rivalry. Big screen if you can - but either way, this is just about as good as it gets.

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