What Happened To Baby Jane? – When Hatred Becomes Art

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: Two famous actors, a lot of talent, and a lifelong sweep. But why did they hate each other so much if they were not so different deep down? They both had bad relationships with their daughters, their romantic relationship fell apart, and they both often turned to the bottle. There is no doubt that this is the Hollywood feud that has been most talked about through the ages. The kind who, even with all the rebellion, gave us a movie treasure: What happened to Baby Jane?

The truth is that these actors’ lives seemed like they were taken straight out of a movie. Baby Jane was a huge success, and people still see it as a classic . Today, the film has all its old honors due to the series: FEUD: Bette and Joan . The series recreates the feud between the two actresses. And also the problems they had during the filming of the movie.

It is a fact that young people do not like to watch movies in black and white. It almost seems like we are allergic to them. As if it requires too much effort from us to watch movies that are completely in black and white. But some of the magic in these movies actually comes from the fact that they are not in color.

Hatred and terror

When we think of horror movies, images of demonic obsession, special effects, cursed houses and gore appear in our heads. Everything that started in the 70’s, when films like Eksorsisten came out and changed horror films forever.

Until then, the absolute master of horror films was Alfred Hitchcock. Most of his films were shot in black and white, and people became accustomed to a different kind of horror. It was more subtle, more psychological, and almost everything depended on the actors, the music and the hint without showing things directly.

Is Baby Jane Hate or Horror?

Now all this has changed, and most of us would not think of Baby Jane as a horror movie. But it was people who saw it as when it first came out. And the truth is that there is not much need for special effects for Bette Davis to torture you with her eyes, or for you to feel nervous when Blanche (Joan Crawford), chained to a wheelchair, desperately tries to get the neighbor’s attention or pick up phone to call for help.

Is there anything as terrible as hatred? If someone hates you, they will be capable of anything, and this is especially true if they lose their minds, as in the movie. The fear and anxiety in the film falls back on that hatred, that bitterness and the eternal rivalry. When you hate someone, you can become irrational. You do not care about the damage you can cause, and you probably do not want to think about the consequences.

Baby Jane : two sisters and two actresses

Baby Jane tells the story of two sisters whose glory days are over. People have forgotten them. One of them, Blanche, is chained to a wheelchair and is completely dependent on her younger sister, Jane (Bette Davis). Not long ago, Jane lost her mind over all the guilt she felt for having paralyzed her sister. She spends her time reliving her glory days in her head, and feels she can go back to being a girl again. As if she can sing and dance with her father while the audience admires her.

The hatred between them, along with bitterness and selfishness, are the main characters in the film. Almost like in real life. Baby Jane opens with Jane, an egocentric child star who is pampered by her father who abuses everyone around him, including his own family. Then there’s her older sister, Blanche. She stands by her mother’s side and looks at Jane, rarely speaks, and feels pushed aside. But the film shows how Jane’s beneficial treatment makes Blanche a strong woman who is able to overshadow her sister. She ends up being a real movie star.

Jane, on the other hand, is forgotten by just about everyone. She has no talent, and she hates her sister for stealing all her attention. Blanche and Jane are two eternal rivals. Although Blanche seems to show some compassion for his sister, the film shows that this was not always the case. It leaves you with extremely disturbing scenes as the food Jane prepares for her sister. Or the song “I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy”.

Feelings of hatred

You can feel the excitement and hatred through the screen. This may be because Jane and Blanche’s story is not that different from Bette and Joans. Hatred, transformed into art, becomes something worth admiring when watching movies. And it’s a hatred that was completely real. Much has been said about what happened on Baby Jane’s set . It was the Coca Cola machine put in by Davis to compete with Crawford’s Pepsi. It was Davis who really hit Crawford during a scene. And that was even the time when Crawford decided to add weights to his costume for the scene where Davis had to drag her.

The rivalry was so intense that Crawford fixed things so that Anne Bancroft won the Oscar for best actress. Davis was nominated for the same award that year for Baby Jane . Crawford did it to take the limelight from her.

FEUD: Bette and Joan, bring the story back

Their rivalry recently came on TV through the series, FEUD: Bette and Joan. The experienced actors Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lane play them. Ryan Murphy directed the series. It takes you back to the filming of the movie and shows you another side of the story. How the media and the Hollywood industry were at the time. It was an industry where women played second fiddle and barely had opportunities. And especially not when their beauty and youth dried up.

In the series, you see how the press actually nurtured during their rivalry. It was more interested in the insults they hurled at each other than their skills as actresses. Maybe if things had gone differently, they would not have ended up being such bitter rivals. The sad truth is that Hollywood wanted them to be. It was the perfect commercial for a movie that did not have a very high budget or a very famous director (Bob Aldrich).

The FEUD series has captured some of the most interesting moments from the lives of these two stars. And in that way, it has brought Baby Jane back into the public eye. But beyond just bringing back Davis and Crawford, it also has a fantastic crew. The two that stand out here are Sarandon and Lange. They are approaching old age, just like the actors they play. But that does not stop them from showing that they still have their talent.

Clever by Baby Jane

Baby Jane tried to reintroduce two actresses who did not lead to any interest in the younger audience. They were up for years and their careers had stagnated. Therefore, Baby Jane was a risky idea, and was why they needed to sell it to people with something else. In this case, it was by nurturing the rivalry between the two stars and then putting the light on them.

Hatred, like love, can make you an irrational person. Both things are capable of changing your perception. You see what you want instead of what is really in front of you. Hollywood did not care about happiness or morality. What was important in that industry, just like in most large companies, was selling a product.