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Absolutely brilliant

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Revisited this film on a DVD recently. This film was director Robert Aldrich's follow-up to his previous hit What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. So of course the expectations were high. The film is about Charlotte (Bette Davis) who lives with her maid (Agnes Moorehead) in a decaying southern mansion, shunned by the townsfolk after the mysterious murder of her late lover some 37 years earlier. She is acquitted due to lack of evidence. When she is threatened that her house will b demolished, she is reluctant to vacate n calls her cousin for help. This is when the past starts haunting her. The direction and settings are perfect and the story features some terrific twists and turns. The atmosphere is brooding n tense n the acting is splendid by Bette Davis but it was Agnes Moorehead who was terrific. Her acting, specially her mannerisms were so perfect like that of a maid. Found the movie creepy n scary when i first saw this as a kid.

Originally a star vehicle to reunite Bette Davis and Joan Crawford after the runaway success of WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962), HUSH…HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE intended to continue cashing in on projecting their backstage rivalry onto the theatrical canvas of a grueling tale with a similar theme, with Robert Aldrich staying in the director's chair. But when the personal collision between Ms. Crawford and Ms. Davis escalates (as Aldrich, the intermediary, failed to juggle with these two high-maintenance divas this time), also for fear of being upstaged again by Ms. Davis, who insinuates herself into gaining an upper hand during the production for a showier role, Ms. Crawford bowed out completely from the picture by feigning illness, and Ms. de Havilland, a long-time friend of Ms. Davis, was brought to fill her shoes in the eleventh hour. Whereas the legendary off-camera feuding is still of great interest up to a point (Ryan Murphy has an upcoming series named FEUD, starring Susan Sarandon as Davis and Jessica Lange as Crawford, to chronicle the infamous anecdotes for today's audience), the movie per se is a marvel of its own. A prelude sets in Ascension Parish, Louisiana in 1927, effectively tampers its Dixieland gaiety with a grisly tinge when John Mayhew (Dern), a married man, is brutally butchered after his elopement plan with Charlotte has been thwarted by the latter's father Big Sam Hollis (Buono, in a brief but menacing performance bolstered by a heavy make-up to play a character nearly doubles his real age). Then, the story fast-forwards to 1964, 37 years later, Charlotte (Davis), now a faded southern belle, presumably the murderer of her beau, never gets married and lives alone in her father's mansion like a demented recluse, her sole accompanies are the housekeeper Velma Cruther (Moorehead) and Dr. Drew Bayliss (Cotten), who occasionally comes to attend to her well-being. When the estate is on the risk of being torn down by the government in favor of building a bridge, Charlotte seeks help from her cousin Miriam Deering (de Havilland), the only family member she has presently, invites her to stay under the same roof first time after the horrific happening, but many many strange things ensue to drive her further down into lunacy. The intriguing whodunit has been brilliantly contrived as a collision course of no-holds-barred collision course between two leads, and is fraught with pathos and suspense through its full- throttle noir atmosphere, actually, the picture must represent the apotheosis of chiaroscuro cinematography, captured to a mesmerizing effect by DP Joseph Biroc, lights, shades, shadows and facial close-ups all being flawlessly framed against the haunting tableaux where threats and secrets skulking insidiously in the darkness, just like Charlotte's disconcerting confession "It's only real when it's dark". The sequences blurring the line of reality and imagination are extraordinarily conceived and executed, sublimate its pulpy material to cinematic surrealism. But do viewers ever question Charlotte's sanity or regard her as a heartless murderer? No, not when Ms. Davis is is her absolutely most vulnerable state, unlike in BABY JANE, here she switches to the victimized party, tormented and devilled by a past trauma and can never let it go (and someone with an ulterior motive doesn't want her to do that either), battles solitude with delusion and paranoia, marvellously, even in such a passive position, she still obstinately hams it up whenever she feels apt, which injects a perverse defiance into Charlotte's fragile persona, and when she finally gets that vindication, Bette Davis raises again, in her immutably triumphant flair. As great as Ms. Davis in her utmost fearless attempt, it is Ms. de Havilland's sinister turn hits a more rewarding mark for my money, ever so rare, she sloughs off her front of elegance, benignancy and deference, to demonstrate how deceitful, nefarious and hell-bent she could be if given the chance, it is extremely tempting to envision what Ms. Crawford could've improved from her contrasting shifting. Dishearteningly, both these two-time Oscar-winners were snubbed in the Oscar race whilst the movie surprisingly racked up seven nominations (compared with BABY JANE's five but a win for Black & White costume design), so were Mary Astor as the widow Jewel Mayhew, the splendid two- scenes stealer (also it is her final appearance on the silver screen) and Cecil Kellaway, who even- temperedly portrays the reporter Harry Willis from London, introduces a pleasant scent of well- adjusted phlegm to counterpoise the heady melodrama. Only the protean Ms. Moorehead got her fourth and final Oscar nomination in her ostentatiously uncompromising appearance as the muttering caretaker of Ms. Charlotte, but her loyalty is cunningly motivated by the vested interest, she is feisty enough to fight for what she wants against all odds, only too gormless to reveal her intention too early when standing in a perilous position, which is the same fatal mistake the villains eventually make - celebrate too soon when they still have one more show to play, a slightly bathetic feeling transpires when everything is said and done, that swell sensation from the finale of BABY JANE is seemingly nowhere to be found this time.

In 1927, Big Sam Hallis threatens John Mayhew (Bruce Dern) who is planning to elope with his daughter Charlotte Hollis (Bette Davis). Big Sam knows John is already married and John breaks it off with Charlotte. Someone murders John and it's assumed to be Charlotte. Big Sam dies in 28. In 1964, Charlotte is a neighborhood bogeyman for the kids. Velma (Agnes Moorehead) is her housekeeper. The State has claimed her estate to build a bridge and roadway. Mr. Willis arrives in town to investigate the Mayhew murder for the insurance company. Charlotte calls in cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland) who used to live in the mansion. Dr. Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotten) is treating Charlotte.Bette Davis plays another crazy old hag. The cast is stacked. The plot gets a few too many twists and turns. It becomes a bit too convoluted. The story has too much going on. It's not as great as Bette's other masterpieces and lives in their shadows. Of course, the contemporary audience would see this movie with full knowledge of the epic battle between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford during the production. They may find extra juice out of that real life soap opera.

Directed by Robert Aldrich, "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" finds the inimitable Bette Davis stuck in a silly Southern Gothic plot. She plays Charlotte Hollis, a hysterical woman who refuses to leave her dilapidated mansion in Louisiana. The film was written by Lukas Heller, who scripted "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", a better Bette Davis flick.At the heart of "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is the mysterious death of Charlotte's lover. Charlotte is accused of this crime, but local law enforcement can't prove her guilt. This leads to decades of isolation, and Charlotte's slow crawl into insanity. The film co-stars Agnes Moorehead, who steals the show as Charlote's protective servant. Joan Crawford was originally expected to star in the film, but dropped out.Incidenally, Aldrich directed a number of bizarre, bombastic "women's pictures" late in his career, most notably "Autumn Leaves", "The Legend of Lylah Clare", "The Killing of Sister George" and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?".4/10 – Worth no viewings.