On October 31, 1962, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford was released. The psychological thriller incorporated camp and black comedy, terrifying audiences with a new horror film sub-genre.
The premise of the film centers around two rival sisters, Baby Jane (Davis) and Blanche (Crawford), who were once movie stars, but are now stuck living in a mansion together. Although Jane was a star first, Blanche ultimately eclipsed Jane as the successful film actress. However, due to an accident, Blanche becomes a paraplegic and her mentally deranged sister, Jane, has been tasked to take care of her. Jane’s terrorization of wheelchair-bound Blanche becomes increasingly horrific as the film progresses. The movie concludes in a monstrously twisted “day at the beach,” like none other.
Audiences were excited to see the legendary rivals in their first on-screen performance together, especially since there were incessant rumors of an intense off-screen rivalry. Even though they were inextricably associated as archetypal enemies, both actresses had a lot in common: an alleged vain obsession with fame and daughters who painstakingly chronicled their respective mother’s cruelty in books. The famous rival was also played out in the 2017 FX series, “Feud: Bette and Joan.”
Despite the actresses receiving equal praise for their performances in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” Davis ultimately upstaged Crawford when she received her eleventh Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Davis went on to make a pseudo-sequel to the film, called “Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte,” and often referred to Jane as one of her all-time favorite performances.
Crawford had been slated to co-star in “Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte,” but she was replaced by Olivia de Havilland when Davis and Crawford realized they could not work together again. According to fellow actor Burt Reynolds, when Davis learned of Crawford’s death in 1977, Davis said, “Well, the bitch died today,” paused and then added, “She was always on time.” Davis outlived Crawford by twelve years and passed away in 1989.
Although the film fueled their already existing animosity, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” not only revived the actress’ careers, but its success inspired a whole new type of horror movie, often called the “grande dame” horror film. Although the film is over 50 years old, the iconic roles played by Davis and Crawford are still as hauntingly chilling as ever.