Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

"Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" was intended as a follow-up to the highly successful Bette Davis/Joan Crawford/Robert Aldrich success, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962). However, after filming had begun, Crawford began causing lengthy delays through her frequent "illnesses" and hissy fits. She was subsequently removed from the project and replaced by Olivia DeHavilland.The story opens in a 1927 prologue where rich and powerful southerner Big Sam Hollis (Victor Buono) is confronting his daughter Charlotte's illicit lover, the married John Mayhew (Bruce Dern). He cajoles the man into breaking up the affair just as the couple were about to run off together. That same evening, Mayhew is brutally murdered and Charlotte is assumed to have committed the act.Fast forward to 1964 where we find Charlotte (Bette Davis) living as a recluse in the Hollis mansion with her creepy servant Velma (Agnes Moorehead, Big Sam having died several years earlier. The mansion however, is slated for demolition and Charlotte is being forced to abandon her home. In the meantime she is being comforted by Dr. Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotton) her family doctor. Charlotte sends for her cousin Miriam (De-Havilland) to help her face this crisis.A British journalist, Harry Willis (Cecil Kellaway) arrives on the scene to investigate the original unsolved crime of 37 years earlier. He interviews the murdered man's widow Jewel Mayhew (Mary Astor) who provides some insight. She gives him an envelope to be opened only upon her death.Meanwhile back at the mansion, we learn of a plot between Dr. Drew and Miriam to drive Charlotte insane in order to get their hands on Charlotte's considerable fortune. As they proceed with their plans, things go awry and.............................................Bette Davis was becoming adept at playing slightly off their rocker middle aged ladies. Charlotte was no exception. She moves from sanity to unstable moments quite convincingly. The moment that she finally literally scared out of her wits is mesmerizing. DeHavilland, still showing bits of her "Melanie Wilkes" character form "Gone With the Wind", makes her nasty side seem more believable. Cotton as always, is excellent as the two faced doctor.Victor Buono, who is billed as a guest star, impresses as Big Sam. Buono, who never got the recognition he deserved, was only 26 years old at the time of this film. Agnes Moorehead almost steals the film as the mysterious housekeeper. Also in the cast are George Kennedy as the demolition foreman, William Campbell as a reporter for a crime magazine, Frank Ferguson as the newspaper editor and Dave Willock as a taxi driver.I wonder how the film would have been received had Joan Crawford not been fired?

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.

Bette Davis is holding forth on an old mansion in the South. She is a sort of Miss Havisham, having faced the death of her fiancée years before. It was likely her father killed her lover, but over time people started to blame her--she was simply weird. The mansion becomes the obstruction in an eminent domain case which would put Bette on the street. She call for her cousin to help her (Olivia de Havilland) but she turns out to be an adversary with her own motivations. Soon awful things begin to happen at the house with a series of efforts to put the old lady over the edge. In addition to a wonderful score, this film works quite well. There are also performances by some terrific actors, including Agnes Moorehead. Quite fun with lots of surprises along the way.

An aging, reclusive southern belle, plagued by a horrifying family secret, descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.Following the unexpected box-office success of "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962), director Robert Aldrich wanted to reunite stars Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. After Crawford worked a week in Baton Rouge and only four days in Hollywood, she quit the film, claiming she was ill.Time Out London says, "Over the top, of course, and not a lot to it, but it's efficiently directed, beautifully shot, and contains enough scary sequences amid the brooding, tense atmosphere. Splendid performances from Davis and Moorehead, too." While I do not disagree with this, I feel the film runs too long and could be trimmed. Far too much dragged out, which slowed the pace and made it a bit of a snoozer.I am all for slow burns, but I think this one burns out.