What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Old Hollywood divas and bitter rivals Bette Davis and Joan Crawford delightfully go head-to-head in Robert Aldrich's 1962 baroque thriller, adapted from Henry Farrell's novel. Davis is the demented Jane, a grotesque caricature who snarls her every line as she torments her bedridden sister, Blanche (Crawford), a former star who's now a helpless victim of sibling rivalry. The actresses do their damnedest to upstage one another and in the process elevate this gothic shocker to freak-show cult classic level, thanks largely to Davis's willingness to look like a gargoyle as Jane, who tries to recapture her childhood glory under blonde curls and a frilly baby-doll dress. Victor Buono costars as Edwin Flagg, a hack accompanist hired by Jane to rehearse her comeback in a scene of self-delusion almost as horrific as the meals she serves Blanche. But for all the camp value of this bizarre melodrama, the film is also a real psychological horror story as Jane's demented cruelty becomes more vicious and Blanche's helplessness more dire. Davis earned her 10th Academy Award nomination for her fearless performance—which only added fuel to the real-life feud—and the film spawned a whole subgenre featuring old Hollywood stars as demented senior citizens. Presented in a remastered anniversary edition for DVD and a Blu-ray debut, extras include an audio commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette, vintage TV documentaries on Davis and Crawford, and a 1962 appearance by Davis on The Andy Williams Show. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)