Barnes & Noble

Hoping to make lightning strike twice in the same place, director Robert Aldrich re-teamed legendary screen divas Bette Davis and Joan Crawford -- whom he had paired two years earlier in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? -- in this similarly themed 1964 shocker. Crawford became ill, forcing Aldrich to replace her with Olivia de Havilland, but the substitution didn't hurt the film, a profoundly creepy entry in the Southern Gothic subgenre. Davis stars as the mentally ill mistress of a decaying Louisiana plantation, a woman still haunted by the bizarre and brutal murder of her married lover many years before. De Havilland portrays her levelheaded cousin, a forward-thinking woman who tries to soothe her relative's pain. The superb supporting cast, made up almost entirely of veterans of Hollywood's Golden Age, includes Joseph Cotten (as de Havilland's gentleman friend), Agnes Moorehead, Mary Astor, and Cecil Kellaway. But acting honors go to La Davis for her characterization of the erstwhile southern belle, now a haggard harridan in overdone makeup and outlandish attire. She doesn't just chew the scenery -- she swallows it whole. Her over-the-top histrionics, in fact, make de Havilland's carefully modulated performance all the more effective. Contributing immeasurably to the atmosphere is Joseph Biroc's starkly lit camerawork, which immediately establishes a mood of unease that Aldrich's direction helps sustain throughout. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

An unusually long pre-credits sequence establishes the roots of faded Southern belle Charlotte's (Bette Davis) insanity; she'd been witness to the dismemberment murder of her fiance (Bruce Dern) and the suicide of the murderer, her own father (Victor Buono). Years later, Charlotte remains a recluse in her decaying southern mansion, zealously guarding the secret of her father's guilt; she is cared for by her slatternly housekeeper (Agnes Moorehead). When her house is targeted for demolition, Charlotte fears that this will uncover her lover's body parts and thus confirm that her father was a murderer. She desperately summons her seemingly sweet-tempered cousin Miriam (Olivia De Havilland) to help her fight off the house's destruction. Miriam brings along the family doctor (Joseph Cotten) to calm Charlotte's frayed nerves. When Charlotte begins to be plagued by horrific visions of the homicide/suicide of so long ago, it appears that she has gone completely insane. But soon we learn who is behind these delusions...and why. Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte was intended by director Robert Aldrich as a follow-up to the successful Joan Crawford/Bette Davis horror piece Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962). Ms. Crawford was originally slated to play Miriam, but became seriously ill shortly before filming started. Davis, who disliked Crawford intensely, suggested that the role of Miriam be filled by her best friend, De Havilland. On the first day of shooting, Davis and DeHavilland pulled a "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" routine by toasting one another with Coca-Cola--a catty observation of the fact that Joan Crawford's husband was an executive with the Pepsi Cola company! Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 024543131311
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Vistavision (1.66:1)
• Presentation: B&W, Wide Screen
• Sound: stereo, monaural
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 2:12:00
• Sales Rank: 7,526

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• The Bette Davis Collection
• Inmates Running the Asylum Triple Feature

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