Interference Movie Club - Round 1 - "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane"

[LMP]

Right off of the bat, I can tell you what happened to Baby Jane:

Spoiler

She turned into a real runt. Yes, that.

More thoughts later.

 

[the tourist]

And the piano player was King Tut on Batman.

That's where I knew him from. Thanks. I was too lazy to go to the imdb.

 

[bono_212]

As soon as I saw that maid I instantly knew two things: 1) She was my favorite character in the movie and 2) She was gon' die.

 

[bono_212]

You know, one thing I've been reading a lot here and other places is about how much more Bette Davis gave to the picture, and while it's true that there was a lot more to her role, I don't think any bit of Joan Crawford's should be overlooked. It was understated, but I think it was well-done, excellently pulled off.

 

[Lancemc]

I kind of couldn't take my eyes of Crawford whenever she was on screen. Always liked her more than Davis anyway, but yeah, I think she was pretty fantastic in her limited role here.

 

[lazarus]

If you haven't seen Davis in The Letter, and in Jezebel, then you haven't really seen her. Granted she's great in All About Eve but I wouldn't consider it her best work.

 

[LMP]

I kind of couldn't take my eyes of Crawford whenever she was on screen. Always liked her more than Davis anyway, but yeah, I think she was pretty fantastic in her limited role here.

She was the biggest surprise for me here as well. There was an earnestness and sadness to her performance that grounded the more histrionic moments you'd see in the interactions between her and Davis. It's about all you'd want from a supporting performance.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I just wanted to say that I've been trying to get my hands on this movie, but am not having much luck I'm not intentionally not participating in the discussion. I found a orrent-tay, but it stopped half way through. My wallet was stolen last week and I've yet to get a replacement credit card, so I cant pay for anything online either. bah

 

[Jive Turkey]

Alright, just finished watching it (thanks bono_212 and LemonMelon), so I'll give a few quick thoughts. First off, Joan Crawford is a fox! damn. I'm not one to go in for older women, but she was hot.
I was surprised by how much Misery borrowed from this film. Aside from the obvious helpless-person-in-a-wheelchair theme, there were some more subtle things. The way Blanche would take her legs out of the wheelchair to close the foot pedals, the way she had to dragged herself up against the wall by the telephone, the typewriter, even the way that the first person to realize what was going on and was in a position to help was suddenly and violently killed from behind; All very reminiscent of Misery.
The director also, as mentioned by someone else, seemed to borrow heavily from Hitchcock. If I'm not mistaken, one of the reasons this film got made was because of the success of Psycho. One scene in particular that caught my eye was right after Blanche realized that Jane had given her a dead rat for din dins. As Blanche is manically wheeling around the room, the camera switches to an overhead angle very much like the scene in Psycho near the end when Bates, dressed in his mothers clothes, runs across the upstairs hallway to stab Arbogast. Anyone else notice that?
I found the set design to be very well done. Blanche's room had a very airy, bright, clean feeling. The rest of the house, especially the area at the bottom of the stairs, being Jane's 'domain' so to speak, had a very cluttered, contrasty, almost crypt like atmosphere. I thought it was a nice touch.
Apart from that, I'd agree that it was a bit on the long side and was starting to lose me by the end. I did like the Edwin character; a charming jackass

 

[lazarus]

The guy who played Edwin, Victor Buono, was actually nominated for an Oscar for this film.

He was good, but that's a little surprising.

Nice observations, JT.