Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
(B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
1964's 'Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte' is director Robert Aldrich's southern gothic murder mystery follow-up to his surprising box office smash, Grand Guignol camp classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? from 1962. Joan Crawford bowed out of this movie at the 11th hour, enraging Bette Davis {who already didn't care for her fellow thespian}, so it didn't light the box office in the same way. However, they quickly got Bette's good friend Olivia de Havilland aboard, it still made good $$, and it even received 7 Academy Award nominations. Believe it or not, the story in this movie is actually loonier than the 1962 offering.
Davis plays Charlotte Hollis, an aging, reclusive Southern belle living in an old Louisiana plantation mansion where, 37 yrs. prior, Charlotte's married lover, John Mayhew (Bruce Dern) was murdered - hacked up by an axe - and Charlotte always thought her father (Victor Buono) did it because of his married status. Her father would soon thereafter commit suicide. Charlotte has kept her thoughts secret all these long years so as not to soil her father's name; though, gossiping locals have always suspected HER to be the killer. Charlotte has lived alone in the declining mansion with her loyal housekeeper, Velma (Agnes Moorehead) through the years.
An issue Charlotte now faces is that the Louisiana Highway Commission plans to build a road straight through the property and, she resists by holding them off with a shotgun. ... naturally. Tormented by a state of early dementia, Charlotte, who frequently mistakes the present for the past, relies on her cousin Miriam (de Havilland) to fight the Highway Commission. Miriam has moved back to the mansion after having lived in a nearby southern town; she had bolted when her lover, Dr. Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotten) cast her aside after the murder. Now, Drew rekindles his affair with eager Miriam.
All the while, Charlotte is getting crazier yet - hearing voices from the dead - and Velma is suspicious that Miriam & Drew are conspiring to make Charlotte nutty enough to send her to a loony bin & take over the estate. The idea is to help Charlotte in her waning days of mental clarity, but Velma confides her suspicions to an insurance investigator who is re-opening the Mayhew case. Furthermore, Charlotte learns that cousin Miriam had admitted to blackmailing Jewel Mayhem (Mary Astor), John's wife, about an incident long ago. From here on out, menacing and then outright sinister events occur.
Fun movie! And it is executed with real style. Joseph F. Biroc's brilliant black-&-white cinematography sets the mood. William Glasgow's decadent mansion set is a character in & of itself. And I enjoyed Frank De Vol's moody music. Bette Davis plays a crazed character again, but in a completely different way than Baby Jane Hudson; she's quite vulnerable & touching, here. Olivia de Havilland gets the rare chance to spit venomous dialogue & take a bite out of a spite-laden role. Mary Astor is superb as old Jewel Mayhem. And Agnes Moorehead, who won the Golden Globe, should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as well. The film is a bit too long, I love the film for its large cast, stellar filmmaking & 'smart trash' entertainment.
Davis plays Charlotte Hollis, an aging, reclusive Southern belle living in an old Louisiana plantation mansion where, 37 yrs. prior, Charlotte's married lover, John Mayhew (Bruce Dern) was murdered - hacked up by an axe - and Charlotte always thought her father (Victor Buono) did it because of his married status. Her father would soon thereafter commit suicide. Charlotte has kept her thoughts secret all these long years so as not to soil her father's name; though, gossiping locals have always suspected HER to be the killer. Charlotte has lived alone in the declining mansion with her loyal housekeeper, Velma (Agnes Moorehead) through the years.
An issue Charlotte now faces is that the Louisiana Highway Commission plans to build a road straight through the property and, she resists by holding them off with a shotgun. ... naturally. Tormented by a state of early dementia, Charlotte, who frequently mistakes the present for the past, relies on her cousin Miriam (de Havilland) to fight the Highway Commission. Miriam has moved back to the mansion after having lived in a nearby southern town; she had bolted when her lover, Dr. Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotten) cast her aside after the murder. Now, Drew rekindles his affair with eager Miriam.
All the while, Charlotte is getting crazier yet - hearing voices from the dead - and Velma is suspicious that Miriam & Drew are conspiring to make Charlotte nutty enough to send her to a loony bin & take over the estate. The idea is to help Charlotte in her waning days of mental clarity, but Velma confides her suspicions to an insurance investigator who is re-opening the Mayhew case. Furthermore, Charlotte learns that cousin Miriam had admitted to blackmailing Jewel Mayhem (Mary Astor), John's wife, about an incident long ago. From here on out, menacing and then outright sinister events occur.
Fun movie! And it is executed with real style. Joseph F. Biroc's brilliant black-&-white cinematography sets the mood. William Glasgow's decadent mansion set is a character in & of itself. And I enjoyed Frank De Vol's moody music. Bette Davis plays a crazed character again, but in a completely different way than Baby Jane Hudson; she's quite vulnerable & touching, here. Olivia de Havilland gets the rare chance to spit venomous dialogue & take a bite out of a spite-laden role. Mary Astor is superb as old Jewel Mayhem. And Agnes Moorehead, who won the Golden Globe, should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as well. The film is a bit too long, I love the film for its large cast, stellar filmmaking & 'smart trash' entertainment.