Review of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) by Cris B — 04 May 2008

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, arguably two of the most talented actresses ever to grace the screen, portray rival sisters (not a far-cry from reality, giving their real-life feud), in this disturbing psychological thriller about decaying minds, degenerating bodies, and jealousy that only festers through time. Crawford plays a disabled but beloved and talented former actress; Davis is the eponymous "Baby Jane," who, chillingly, does't seem to think time has changed her or people's love for her. Davis makes tainting food, forging checks, and stringing Crawford up like a prisoner in a medieval torture chamber run-of-the-mill games. Her combination of childlike naivette and mastermind deviant is startlingly realistic. Crawford's pluck and determination to make her imprisonment known to the outer world is admirable, as is the physical strength she exerts in her daily struggle to endure, but Davis is, frustratingly, always a step ahead. A misunderstanding at the center of the sisters' feud makes things ring even more tragically when, all the time, as Davis suggests to her sister, "we could've been friends." By the time the final scenes arrive [SPOILER!],.

With a disheveled Crawford clinging to life and delusional Davis dancing on the beach with ice cream cones in hand, we are disturbed by the grotesqueness and absurdity of reality and haunted by the implications this story has in reality.