Rating: 
Summary: This is a classic....
Review: Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were two over the hill actresses by the time they made this movie. It was so brave of them to make this lurid shocker; it revied their sagging careers and made moviegoers line up at the box offcie. The movie is lurid, outrageous and one of my all time favorites. Bette Davis goes over the top (and that's saying alot for Bette) as a former child star gone to seed. She slouches around her home in a fright wig, bedroom slippers, and makeup that looks like she put it on with a putty knife. She stays drunk and bitter while she tries to revive her stage show from about 50 years ago. Meanwhile, her wheelchair bound sister is trapped upstairs. As Bette goes mad, her poor sister becomes a victem of torture and abuse. The whole show is shocking and outrageous and not to be missed. The DVD is a nice widescreen presentation; the picture and sound are great. Unfortunaely, there are no extras worth mentioning (would have loved a making of docutmentary); not even an original theatrical trailer.
Rating:
Summary: Question
Review: Does anybody know if this is based on the actress from the 1930's
Juanita Quigley aka Baby Jane?
Rating:
Summary: Campy But Good!
Review: I saw this movie on TCM and it's very good and it's both creepy and also kind of unintentionally funny with campy humor! I recommend Whatever Happend To Bbay Jane? It's a campy cult Classic that is so worth watching!
Rating: 
Summary: Quite funny.
Review: I think this was trying to be scary but it wasn't at all. I found that this movie is best viewed as a dark comedy. The film opens years after a calamitous car accident leaves Blanche in a wheelchair, with no one to care for her except the increasingly insane and sadistic Jane and their servant, Norman. Trying to punish Blanche for her years of success, Jane tortures the housebound woman, slowly trying to starve her to death, all the while attempting to recapture the fame of her youth. This dark drama also stars Victor Buono as the hefty pianist who answers Jane's ad for an accompanist, hoping to milk some money off the demented old woman. I think it was trying to capitilize on the success of Psycho. Oh well get some bud together and enjoy this cooky comedy.
Rating:
Summary: Unexpected gem
Review: I was knocked over by how fantastic this film is. I had hardly seen any Bette Davis film's before this, but "WHTBJ" showcases her talents. And what about Joan Crawford? Often referred to as an over-the-top campy actress, she proves otherwise in this film. Joan definitely deserved an Oscar nomination too for her performance. I had heard that the film was quite scary, but before seeing it thought "it can't be by today's standards because the film was made in 1963". Well, let me say when I finally saw the film this year for the first time, I was actually scared in parts. Bette Davis was ultimate as the lunatic sister, hell-bent on making her sister's (played by Joan) life a misery. The film effectively tackles loneliness, as well as dependency on other people. I've read that there is an alternate ending to the film. That ending was canned by test audiences but still exists somewhere out there. Hopefully Warners will see fit to re-issue the DVD one day with the alternate ending included as a bonus. The ending that did get used is acceptable but has the happy Hollywood ending tag!
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT UNDERRATED PERFORMANCE
Review: Some critics carped that Davis went over the top in her portrait of Baby Jane Hudson. Excuse me but it seems to me that an alcoholic, demented ,ex-child star probably would'nt be a subtle creature.And as a nurse with first hand experience let me tell you reality is a lot more melodramatic than these critics realize. Davis is brilliant-painting a brutal portrait of a lost mind.One of my all time faves.
Rating:
Summary: Talent galore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Another reviewer has said it all perfectly, and I couldn't agree with you more Mark Novell. Those who think this is a 'black comedy' or a 'camp horror flick' don't know how to look into a film too far and wouldn't know talent if it came up and hit them!
The talent is obvious in the writers and whoever dreamed up this story. Robert Aldrich did brilliant direction (as he did on Hush...Hush... Sweet Charlotte also showcasing Davis losing her mind). And speaking of Bette Davis, in those days there weren't too many actresses willing to look frumpy and ugly. She relished it until she saw herself on screen for the first time when she ran out crying.
It was criminal that the Queen of Hollywood didn't get the Academy Award for her performance. Joan Crawford was a bit restricted in her role simply because of the character she played. Victor Buono, in his first feature role I think, was nominated for an Oscar and you'll see why. He was talented enough to show so many emotions and be comedic at the right times without overdoing it.
Get this DVD and be marvelled at the talent.
Good viewing!
Rating:
Summary: Answer: she became a psycho!
Review: Bette Davis is Jane Hudson, who in 1917 was her family's breadwinner as "Baby Jane Hudson", a popular vaudeville act which I found frankly cloying. Little blonde perky Jane sang songs like "I've Written a Letter to Daddy" (in the song the dad is dead -- how macabre) while her father accompanied her on piano. She even has lifesize baby Jane dolls which the audience can't wait to buy -- even though they cost $3.25 (an extravagance for those days.) This divides the family, as the mother emotionally supported the older brunette daughter Blanche, to whom the father and sister were so mean. In the 1930s, grown-up Blanche is now the movie star, and Jane only has a minor film career because Blanche asked the studio to stipulate that in her contract. Jane is aware that Blanche is who the studio and public really want, and there is a terrible car accident that leaves Blanche crippled for life and under Jane's care. In the 1960s, Jane is grotesque -- she still wears the baby doll dresses and sausage curls that were so cute when she was 10. She wants to revive her career, even though she is living in Blanche's house while Blanche controls the money from her investments. Jane is determined to get rid of her sister and deters all visitors while she does so -- their maid Elvira is fired, their neighbors the Bates are rebuffed (they are big fans of Blanche's work.) It cracks me up that, when this flick was made in the 1960s, the teenages Bates daughter is supposed to be so "mod and groovy" but in retrospect she looks like Samantha Stevens from "Bewitched". And that "Austin Powers" music they play whenever they denote the scene involves modern day young people is a hoot! Jane hires Edwin to accompany her on piano and she wants to have her career exactly as it was when she was 10. As Elvira points out, she needs to grow up. She wants to sing the "Letter to Daddy" song but now Daddy actually is dead (and Jane only misses him, she doesn't mention the equally-demised Mommy.) I had to laugh when Edwin drapes himself in a blanket and rides Blanche's wheelchair with the lifesize Baby Jane doll. He was nominated for an Oscar for this role, and the sad humor and pathos he injects into his character are very good. It's chilling and scary, and you can't think for whom you should feel sorry, even though you know Blanche does not deserve what the psychotic Jane is doing to her. You don't know if you like Blanche, but you do know you want her to live.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: This was my first time watching this movie and loved it! Both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford did an excellent job that it's no wonder they were both nominated for academy awards. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A very cool movie that you shouldn't miss!!...
Review: ...this movie is not for the squeamish, but nothing bad really happens. The acting is UNDOUBTEDLY one of Crawford and Davis' best performances (Davis got nominated). The plot will keep you on the edge of your seat, and you'll be dying for MORE!! this film was really really worth seeing, and it was GREAT!! SEE IT!! Disgustingly captivating and spine-tingling scenes will leave you dying for more of this film. Bette Davis plays the demented "Baby" Jane Hudson, a former child-star of Vaudeville. Playing her younger sister Blanche is Joan Crawford. Blanche was always forced to stand in the shadow of her sister, who was really the money-maker in the family. But all that changes when Vaudeville becomes passe, and Jane's career is over before she's twelve. Then Blanche bursts through and becomes one of the era's most popular screen actresses. Now Jane is the minor and Blanche the major; roles have been reversed. But in a freak car accident, Blanche is crippled. For the rest of her life, she is confined to a wheelchair. So who's left to "take care" of her, watch over her, and do everything she asks for? Jane. Insanely jealous and wickedly minded, Jane tortures Blanche almost daily. Every minute is like a living hell as Blanche tries to make up excuses for Jane's behavior...until she finally goes over the edge. I repeat: the acting in this film is incredible, and the off-screen hatred between Crawford and Davis is extremely palpable, giving the movie an even more twisted aspect. SEE THIS!!
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