What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Jane, once a child star of the vaudeville stage, lives in the same house as her sister Blanche, who uses a wheelchair. Blanche was a real film star until a 1935 car accident paralysed her. Every day Jane pushes the cruelty a little further. Robert Aldrich directed, from Henry Farrell's novel. Bette Davis plays Jane and Joan Crawford plays Blanche. The feud between them has been retold for decades. Contemporary accounts describe something duller: Davis said they had too much pride to quarrel, and Crawford kept the crew supplied with Pepsi throughout the shoot. The budget was about 1 million dollars and the thirty-day schedule slipped, closing at 1,025,000. It returned 9 million in rentals, recouping in eighteen days and becoming the biggest hit either actress had had in over a decade. It took five Oscar nominations. Davis's was the tenth and last of her career; the film won for Black-and-White Costume Design. It launched the subgenre known as psycho-biddy and entered the National Film Registry in 2021. Who it is for: viewers who want gothic menace and two great actresses eating each other alive. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace. It runs 134 minutes and builds its dread slowly.