Rating: 
Summary: Chilling!!!!
Review: All I can say about this film is wow! I first watched this movie about a year or so ago, and I was thoroughly chilled by the characters and storyline! Bette Davis and Joan Crawford gave excellent performances as dualing sisters. Due to a horrible accident many years prior, Joan Crawford's character is forced to be taken care of by her unstable sister who has regressed in dress and personality to when she was the popular vaudeville child star "Baby Jane." The performances given by Davis and Crawford are even that much better because these two legends could not stand each other offscreen! Not only were they portraying women who fight and argue constantly, but they were also living it. I would highly recommend this film to anyone, regardless of age. It will keep you watching right until the twist at the end. Believe me, it will leave you shocked!
Rating:
Summary: A great movie by two film legends
Review: I thought this movie was very good. The shocking twist at the end of the movie is very unexpected. My only complaint is that ever since "Mommie Dearest" was released, it has been somewhat taboo to say anything good about Joan Crawford. While I do not want to downplay the abuse in the slightest, much of it has been disputed by Crawford's other children, and it must also be pointed out that Bette Davis was accused of abuse by her children as well, yet nobody seems to worry about singing Davis' praises. I believe Joan Crawford's subdued performance in this movie is what gave it credibility as a serious film rather than just a horror flick by 2 old broads. A true test of talent is the restraint and true emotion that Crawford showed throughout this movie. Both Bette and Joan deserved Oscars for their performances, no doubt. But Miss Crawford especially does not get the credit she deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Sisterly Love
Review: This picture is so well done from beginning to end. No blood and guts, just a good ole fashioned creepy character study about 2 sisters struggling for fame & recognition. Bette Davis'portrayal as the child-like never made it in show-business, mean, nasty, & very jealous caretaker of the invalid wheelchair-bound sister Joan Crawford is amazing. Everything about this film is creepy. The performances are truly wonderful and even though it's an older film (60's era) it definitely stands the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: REPULSIVELY BRILLIANT.
Review: Jane Hudson, an eccentric recluse, who was once a popular child star in Vaudeville, lives in isolation with her sister Blanche in their decaying Los Angeles Hancock Park home. A once-popular Hollywood movie star of the 193O's, Blanche has been wheelchair-bound for 25 years due to an accident which rendered her crippled for life. And that's all you're gonna get from me plot-wise. It must be admitted that Bette Davis was indeed a fearless and brilliantly versatile performer. I really can't think of any other actress of her stature who would allow herself to look so blantantly ugly in order to please her multitude of fans as Davis did for this film back in 1962. When Bette made ALL ABOUT EVE, a dozen years prior, the critics were not only astonished by her performance, but by her sheer willingness to look every day of her then 42 years. At the age of 54, Davis made herself up to look like hell, but she again stunned the critics (for the most part, anyway) and the public alike. For Baby Jane, Davis did her own make-up. The wig Davis wore was an ancient bleached-out Mary Pickford-type which was literally falling apart: it dated back to the mid-twenties. It was rumored that Crawford once wore it in a silent! Ironic, eh? Davis used kohl around her eyes, painted on a greasy bow-tie mouth & applied white calcimine & rice powder for Jane's "shut-in" complextion. Davis adapted her sister Bobby's shuffle when walking. As Blanche, Crawford acknowleged HER legion of fans by not looking particularly unkempt: she was very conscious performance-wise: it is one of her finest and definitely most unusual performances. A little-known fact is that it was entirely Crawford's idea to work with Davis. Joan come into Bette's dressing room with the idea doing Baby Jane during the run of NIGHT OF THE IGUANA in which Davis starred as Maxine Faulk. Davis wasn't exactly enamoured of the idea at first (she was not a Crawford devotee at all). Davis later pondered: "Crazy Bette and phoney Joan? - it might just work". No fears, it did.
Rating:
Summary: I'm sending a letter to daddy...
Review: This is a great movie that I think everyone in the world should see. It really is too bad that it gets pushed aside as a camp film. I think the only reason for that is the amazing careers both stars had built for themselves as melodramatic actresses. These roles and this story were a departure for them, but by no means is this movie a joke. It's fun to laugh at, that goes without saying, but the performances are sincere, I'd be hard-pressed to find a more developed portrayal of insane jealousy. The visual quality of the DVD is top-notch, far superior to any of the previous VHS releases.
Rating:
Summary: A GENUINE CLASSIC & CULT FILM.....
Review: Now that this film has been made into a musical (ye Gods!) I had to finally put my say in. This is not a "black comedy". This is not a "camp classic". This is a study in madness and delusion of the first order. Bette Davis should have won the Oscar for her portrayal of Baby Jane Hudson. Her characterization is still macabre after all these years. Her victimization of sister Blanche (a subdued Joan Crawford) is still disturbing in it's demented ferociousness. This is a Hollywood Horror Story. To call it a "horror movie" isn't fair. It's a psychological thriller if you need to place it in a genre. It's a classic film any way you look at it. The TV remake was abysmally unnecessary. And now a musical? Well that should up the sales of the DVD anyway. But "Baby Jane" is too serious subject matter to be called "camp". Blanche is handicapped. She is tormented by her crazed sister over grudges developed years before. The starvation, the physical abuse, the mental torture---these are all too seriously played out to be dismissed as just "camp". These scenes are gripping and squirmish to watch. The movie is too well made to be taken that lightly by cultists and newcomers to it. And the acting is too serious to elicit chuckles instead of shivers. Maybe people need to sit down and watch this again....alone. Maybe it won't seem that campy to them then.
Rating:
Summary: exceptional
Review: Classic psycho-drama from director Robert Aldrich.Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are both on top form in this riveting film.
Davis especially, delivers one of her finest performances ever as faded child star Jane Hudson.The clever script keeps you hooked right to the amazing ending and the crisp black and white photography looks superb.
Rating:
Summary: "But 'cha are Blanch, ya are."
Review: The Best campy film of all times. A wonderful classic with the two most powerful women of old Hollywood. This is also probably the most "quoted" movie every made and has had numerious drag costumes for Halloween every year since the movie was made.Besides all the camp and fun of watching this movie are also the greatest performances of Bette and Joan. The two women who had such extreme hate for each other in real life and extreme hate for each other playing the Hudson sisters in this wonderful film.Even though the film is really surpose to be serious for it's day, it makes for great nastolgia and great laughs of the most unforgetable lines ever written for the screen and the black & white makes all the more fun.I Just LOVE this movie from beginning to end. Great entertainment, great costumes, great make-up, great acting and great music. You'll have such a great time watching this wonderful film.
Rating:
Summary: Golden Girls on Uppers...
Review: I saw this film in its first release, back in '62. I was only in high school and it was cool to see dead rats, etc., and lots of vicious crime. Nowadays, those of my age (when I saw the film) don't blink at slasher films. What happened?...This film scared the pants off me at the time. It's a genuine account of jealousy, delusional grandeur, and a slow descent into madness, a popular theme today but not often done as well. (I also saw the TV remake with the Redgraves, and didn't think it as smarmy as the critics, though not as good as the original.) This is the film that launched a deluge of "grand guignol" flicks using grand old dames of yesteryear...Tallulah Bankhead (Die! Die! My Darling!), Olivia de Havilland (Lady in a Cage), Joan Crawford (Strait-Jacket). Bette Davis (Dead Ringer); and others that don't immediately come to mind. The DVD has been around for a while, but I just got it, and was impressed, especially with the (printed) backgroud info. The legendary feud of Davis & Crawford was apparentlty fabricated; they wanted very much to work together. Davis was quoted as saying that "women were too smart to have feuds"... Indeed, the extras weren't live, but the DVD has crisp photography in a good 1.85:1 letterbox. It's not necessary to go into the plot and storyline, because if you're reading this, you already know this is a classic. Davis is, indeed, brilliant, and I think Crawford matches her every step of the way, in her own descent into despair. There are a lot of illogical plot points, such as why Crawford, with all her money, didn't get herself one of those wheel-chair staircase elevator-type things (like in Wm Castle's "Homicidal"), or an in-house elevator ("Lady in a Cage"). Also, Crawford's always alone in her room...why didn't she yell at the neighbors to say "hello"? This was Victor Buono's first film, and though he didn't play a bad guy (well, not really) he was subsequently cast as bad guys. Too bad. I thought he showed great promise in "Baby Jane" and wonder why his career went to hell. Robert Aldrich, a great and underrated director, used Davis and, briefly, Buono, in "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte", another "grand guignol" type film, which I thought was great. He brought another old great actress, Agnes Moorehead, to an Oscar nomination. When will this be released on DVD? When classic actresses are so involved in making themselves look ugly to produce such a positive and overpowering effect..this, to me, is CLASS! Much of the credit goes to Aldrich, though he admits that Davis created her own ugly make-up, and was glad he didn't have to ask her to do so. See this on DVD, a really fine transfer. And let's rally for a DVD version of "Hush...Charlotte"; another misconception was that Crawford wanted to do "Hush" but was ill, so Bette suggested her good friend de Havilland. I guess the press starts stories because they sound interesting. That garbage isn't as interesting as the films themselves.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Psychological Thriller - Truly Sick!
Review: This is the ultimate is psychological thrillers starring two of the greatest "top-billed turned has-been" movie actresses in history. Betty Davis as Jane Hudson and real life nemesis Joan Crawford as sister Blanche Hudson make for comic and scary thrills. Quick retread: Jane was "Baby Jane Hudson", a child star who lost her popularity after puberty. Blanche Hudson was jealous as a child but becomes a top rated adult movie actress. Jane, of course, becomes an increasingly insane alcoholic. Trouble ensues when Blanche is mysteriously crippled in a car wreck forcing 'whack-job' case sister Jane to care for her. The plot thickens as quickly as Jane loses her mind. It's hilarious. But the sadistic scenes Jane carries out on Blanche are both scary and hilarious, making this film a true cult classic. The ending is a masterpiece of plot twists! I can't get into more details other than to tell you that every time I've shown someone this movie, they goes nuts over it! It's frightening and comedic simultaneously. It's no wonder these two characters have been Halloween favorites for years! Quality of 'black & white' is okay and sound is what you would expect from an early 60's nightmare, but it's worth it. Before you pick up your main course covered dinner plate, remember what Jane said to Blanche - "By the way Blanche, did you know we have rats in the cellar?!"
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