What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (novel)

Plot summary

This gothic story deals with two aging sisters, Jane and Blanche Hudson, who are living alone together in a decaying Hollywood mansion. Jane, a former child star of early Vaudeville known as "Baby Jane," was spoiled, pampered and doted upon by her father due to her success on the stage; her ignored older sister, Blanche, lived in Jane's shadow.

However, their roles were reversed after the death of their parents due to influenza, when both children moved to Los Angeles to live with an aunt. Blanche was favored for her brown hair and regal beauty, and was even encouraged to pursue a film career. Blanche became a star while Jane, whose films were failures, languished in her shadow. Blanche had a clause in her contract stipulating that Jane have a role in every film in which Blanche appeared.

Years later, Jane, a slatternly alcoholic who still dresses as if she were 10 years old, and Blanche, disabled after a mysterious car accident involving Jane, continue to live together in the same mansion in a declining neighborhood. Jane resents having to live in the shadow of her sister (who became more famous than she ever was, and who is now being remembered because of a revival of her films on television), and hates having to cook, clean and care for Blanche. Although stuck upstairs in her bedroom, Blanche has nevertheless managed to keep her good looks, while Jane's appearance is ravaged by alcoholism and neglect.

Blanche, whose only other contact with the outside world is cleaning woman Elvira Stitt and her telephone conversations with her doctor and attorney, realizes that Jane is becoming increasingly unstable. She calls her lawyer and tells him she is planning to sell. She hears the extension downstairs click.

Jane, who eavesdrops on her sister's calls, believes that Blanche wants to sell the house and have her committed to a mental hospital. When Blanche sees Jane's sinister mood swings beginning, she tries to talk to her sister about her decision. Jane does not listen, however. Jane begins to get even crazier, taking Blanche's phone and making her afraid to eat by serving, first, her dead pet bird on a salad and, later, a large rat from the cellar.

In a drunken daze, Jane decides to revive her childhood singing and dancing act of Baby Jane, reasoning that Fanny Brice had success with Baby Snooks. She then hires a musical accompanist, Edwin Flagg, through a want ad.

As reality topples crazily into eerie fantasy, Jane abuses her sister with monstrous cruelty while embezzling her money to buy liquor and revive her childhood act as "Baby Jane Hudson". Elvira comes to find out why Blanche can't be reached on the phone and why Jane won't let her go upstairs to Blanche's room. Opening the door and finding Blanche tied to the bed with her mouth taped shut, she tries to help, but Jane sneaks up and kills Elvira with a hammer. That night, Jane dumps the body. A day or two later police officers come questioning Jane about Elvira's disappearance. Jane panics, grabs her barely conscious sister, and heads for the location of some of her happiest childhood memories, the beach. It was there some fifty years before that crowds used to gather around and watch Baby Jane practice her songs and dances while Daddy played the banjo. Jane plays in the sand while Blanche lies weak and on the verge of death from her ordeal.

Realizing that she may be dying, Blanche reveals to Jane that it was actually she, not Jane, who had driven the car on the fateful night. Jane had spent the evening humiliating Blanche at a party. As Jane unlocked the gates, Blanche tried to run her down with the car, but Jane moved out of the way. The car then slammed into the metal gate, snapping Blanche's spine. She managed to crawl out of the car to the gates while Jane, frightened, hid inside the house, where she passed out. When the police arrived, they assumed Jane had been driving. Jane had been too drunk to know what had happened and could not refute the accusations. Blanche later realized that the event had driven her sister insane, but refused to allow her to seek psychiatric help for fear that Jane might recover enough to remember what really happened. Blanche accepts responsibility for Jane's psychosis and blames herself for Edna's death. Realizing that all the years of hatred, guilt, and resentment between the sisters could have been avoided, Jane forgives Blanche.

The revelation causes Jane to somewhat return to reality and see that Blanche is dying. At once she rushes to phone for help, only to be stopped by a police officer questioning her about her car. She tries to lead the officer back to her sister, but is paralyzed with terror when a crowd of curious onlookers surrounds her. Disoriented by the attention and the cruel remarks about her haggard appearance, Jane retreats back into her fog of delusion. Believing that she is a child again and that the strangers are her admirers, she begins to perform one of her childhood dances for the crowd. It is not revealed if Blanche gets help in time to save her life.

1962 film

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological thriller-horror film film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, about an aging actress who holds her paraplegic sister captive in an old Hollywood mansion. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. Upon the film's release, it was met with widespread critical and box office acclaim and was later nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design, Black and White.

The intensely bitter Hollywood rivalry between the film's two stars, Davis and Crawford, was heavily important to the film's initial success. This in part led to the revitalization of the then-waning careers of the two stars. In the years after release, critics continued to acclaim the film for its psychologically driven black comedy, camp, and creation of the psycho-biddy subgenre. The film's then unheard of and controversial plot meant that it originally received an X rating in the UK.

1991 Made-for-TV-Movie

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1991 American made-for-television thriller drama film directed by David Greene and adapted for the small screen by Brian Taggert, based on the novel What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell and the 1962 theatrical film of the same name. It stars real-life sisters Lynn Redgrave as Baby Jane Hudson and Vanessa Redgrave as Blanche Hudson, in the roles previously played by Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in the 1962 adaptation.

The film was adapted to contemporary times, with Blanche's film success taking place in the 1960s instead of the 1930s. Her films were being rediscovered on home video instead of television reruns. Jane had been a child film star (replacing the original's vaudeville success), though her films were unavailable, leading to her jealousy.