Product Details

• Actors: Bette Davis
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Brothers Home Video
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 2000
• Run Time: 134 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009IOEIM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,153 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A cultish horror favorite, 1962's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? will make you think twice before hungrily unveiling a covered plate of food. Bette Davis stars as Jane Hudson, a onetime child actress and singer. As an elderly woman, she wishes to revive her vaudevillian career, but she has become a grotesque caricature of her former self. Over the years as her star faded, the star of her older sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) rose, outshining the career of the has-been Baby Jane. Jane was relegated to minor roles, which she only won when Blanche demanded that she be awarded them. 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. Both Buono and Davis were nominated for Oscars for their roles in this suspenseful and somewhat sick thriller that exploited well the real-life antagonism between Davis and Crawford, while at the same time rejuvenated both their careers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The movie classic, March 7, 2011

By 

Earl - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a movie that every house hold should have. It's well made and has the two Actresses many of us are so fond of. It's the kind of movie that doesn't have a boring moment and is so well acted by Bette Davis that it seems real when you watch it. Earl

5.0 out of 5 stars Original thriller at it's best !!!, June 24, 2005

By 

Danielle P. Bilton "Shortyroc96" (Lakewood, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie was funny as hell although full of suspense. A story about an aged child star who has become resentful at the progress & attention her older sister & only sibling has received by Hollywood as an up an coming actress, as the 2 are growing up. Baby Jane Hudson, played by Betty Davis, was always used to getting her way as a child actress. Kind of like puts you in the mind of the worldwide acclaim Shirley Temple received for being such a young, talented entertainer, but unlike Temple, as Baby Jane began to grow up, her talent fizzled and she was no longer in demand. A true daddy's little girl, her and her father shared a very close relationship as he had a hand in her career, and treated his other daughter, Blanche Hudson, coldly. After their parents passed away, Blanche became an actress, a more mature actress & took Hollywood by storm, but her career was abruptly halted by a car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down and left her in a wheel chair. With no other relatives to care for her, she and Baby Jane ended up living together, with Blanche, though older, forced to have the resentful & sassy Jane take care of her. This is where the story becomes funny as hell. Betty Davis was hilarious in her actions, sabotaging things in the house, creating dangerous dishes for her older sister, knowing Blanche couldn't cook for herself. Jane even made it impossible for Blanche to get outside assistance ( i.e from neighbors, doctors, etc ). You will find yourself on the edge of you seat, wondering just what the hell this crazy lunatic ( Baby Jane ) was going to do to her invalid sister next. The highlight to me, was Jane's attire once she got old. She tried to retain her childhood appearance even over the age of 60, I'm talking ring curls, bows, & baby-doll dresses, which in some way, would freak some people out, especially with her heavy clown makeup she wore, which she over-did it on. Though the title of the movie will leave some wondering, it ends up being very fitting because it leaves you actually wondering "just what the hell DID happen to Baby Jane" to make her turn out so evil and crazy. Joan Crawford as Blanche, also did a good job, playing the punk sister who can't stand up for herself, afraid to eat her dinner and what not. This was a classic. I give it 2 thumbs up !!!