What Ever Happened to Baby Jane
Two sisters fight over the spotlight in this hilarious and horrific picture show. As children, Blanche Hudson (Joan Crawford) looks after younger sister and childhood star, "Baby Jane" Hudson (Bette Davis), regardless of Jane's self-righteous behavior. Later in life, the sisters switch places. Jane is a has been and her older sister now holds the torch of fame and fortune. Blanche insists on helping Jane with her career out of reluctant duty to her sister, but is her favor out of love or moral superiority? The sisters end up in an accident, paralyzing Blanche, leaving Jane to become her caretaker. Once again changing the sisters’ power dynamics, where the real horror lies.
Family can often become a hierarchy with one member having power over another. Often this happens slowly over time, without notice as a relative slips into power through subterfuge. Even in the beginning, when Blanche promises to always look after Jane, suggests as the older sister that she only allows Jane to feel falsely superior. There's always a sense of gaslighting and manipulation from both sisters throughout the film. In the shadow of her younger sister once again after the accident, Blanche is still a respected member of society. Whereas Jane descends into madness, haunted by her past, desperate to be back in that spotlight. On the surface, it would seem Jane has all the power, but from the confines of her wheelchair, Blanche passively manipulates.
“What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” is a question the film asks us to answer of ourselves. It's a story of what happens to all of us when we can't let go, when we become obsessed with an image, or an idea. Jane was stuck in a persona she could not let go of, with no chance of growth. And her sister, through some misguided sense of guilt or duty, tries to protect Jane, only to cause more harm. When Blanche becomes stuck in that chair, she becomes as much if not more of a selfish monster than her sister. How could Blanche ever let her sister move on when she no longer could? What happens to any of us, that we become so jaded to do terrible things to the people we love.
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford give convincing and remarkable performances. Emotional and terrifying, the cutaway edits embellish the film’s overall mystery. Blanche's caretaker, Elvira Stitt (Maidie Norman) adds a witness to the events that bring us closer to the horror of subterfuge. And Victor Bruno as Edwin Flagg offers a touch of comedic innocence with another character plagued by his past, who gets caught up in Baby Jane’s delusions.
I had the pleasure of watching the movie at the Prytania Theater in uptown New Orleans with a lively crowd for the first time, making it even more enjoyable. Horrific comedic genius! A suffocating and intimate thriller that uses humor as a chaser to help the terror go down easier.