Buddy B and Baby J

I recently purchased the deluxe edition of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane on video. Movie on one disc, extras on the other. The extras include "Bette & Joan: Blind Ambition", "All About Bette" and "Film Profie: Joan Crawford." Best, however, are videos of Bette singing the rarely heard "twisting" song to promo the film on the Andy Williams Show and the Behind the Scenes making of the movie (though not too revealing).

I've seen this film a million times. it seems, by now and know every line by heart. "I was cleanin' out the bird cage and he just... flew out the winda!" And "But ya are, Blanche! Ya are in that chair!"

When I was a kid, I made a super-8 short with my brother, Bobby, and cousin, Patrick, that I entitled
"Whatever Happened to Bobby Jane."  I was nuts about this film since I first saw it at the US movie theater on Main Street in Paterson, NJ. My grandmother, a big Bette and Joan fan, took me. After the film, I remember her sighing, "Oh, they used to be so glamorous!" But she did enjoy the storyline. She covered my eyes (too late) during the rat on a tray scene.

Baby Jane is the ultimate sibling rivalry film that everyone (except, maybe sibling-free "only" children) can relate to. Did you know it was loosely based on the true-life story of Gypsy Rose Lee and Baby June? If you watch Gypsy, you'll see the similarity in a vague way.

Jane, a child star, fades as her sister, Blanche, becomes a movie star. There is an accident in which Blanche is crippled for life and an increasingly crazy and alcoholic Jane becomes her abusive "care-giver"

Much drama ensues from this premise and there's lots of suspense. Most of it over-the-top! I saw Baby Jane once at the free outdoor summer screenings in Bryant Park. It was so much fun to see it with a packed park, on the lawn with a picnic basket and wine. There were obviously a number of newbies in the crowd who gasped and groaned at every twist and turn. Big applause for Elvira when she decides not to get on the bus and heads back to the house. Big gasp when she comes to a bad end.

This film cannot be remade because it's perfect already, as demonstrated by the mediocre tv-movie with the Redgrave sisters. A recent rumor on Facebook stated that Jerry Seinfeld would produce a musical spoof of Baby Jane on Broadway to star Bette Midler as Baby Jane and Barbra Streisand as Blanche. Unfortunately, it was all a lie. What a shame.

Beaverhausen Book Nook: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Recently, I saw a woman on the subway reading this book. It seems Grand Central Publishing sneaked it into bookstores last Halloween.

I bought the book earlier in the week at a local Barnes & Noble (available also at Amazon.com).

I had a paperback edition of this in the '90s, lent it to someone and never had it returned. As I recalled, it's a well-written book though no literary classic by any means. It serves as a good blueprint for the iconic 1962 movie starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

The film, though, was certainly not slavishly adopted from the book though it  respectfully was faithful to it. The Elvira character is named Mrs Stitt, for one thing. but most events occur pretty much in keeping with Farrell's novel. Jane is a brunette but I think director Henry Aldrich wanted the character to suggest Shirley Temple.

The most fabulous things about this new edition of the book, which is a handsome trade paperback, are the revealing foreword and the six previously unpublished Farrell short stories included. One of them is "What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?" The basis for Hush, Hush....

Mitch Douglas wrote the intro. He was Farrell's literary agent (as well as one for Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and many other prominent authors). As Douglas explains, the movie idea was first endorsed by Joan Crawford who saw the commercial potential, especially if pitted against Hollywood rival Bette Davis, whom she recommended. Crawford saw herself as the less talented/ more beautiful Blanche against the more-talented but less comely Jane, which is interesting.

The "Divine Feud," of course, spilled on to the set with many examples described, entertainingly, in the foreword.

Favorite story from Douglas, who, right after Crawford's death, met Davis with a reporter from The National Enquirer. He asked Davis how she felt about Crawford's death.

Davis shot from the hip: "She was a cunt!"

Douglas explained the man with him was from the Enquirer.

"But she was always on time," Davis added.

And so is this book for the still-growing legion of fans for this film.

Baby Jane, Lady Gaga, Blanche & Beyonce on My 2013 Halloween Countdown

A Halloween special: Lady Gaga & Beyonce & Blanche & Baby Jane Hudson. That's who! A different mix from something I posted in 2011 [http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-halloween-countdown-revisits-baby_13.html] Enjoy, my wicked trick-or-treaters! EeeeeeHeeeHeeeeeeeee!! And beware the telephone!

Lost Pop Found: What Ever Happened to the Baby Jane Song?

For the 1962 release of "Baby Jane," Warner Bros. put out a limited edition promo 45 rpm of Bette Davis singing rock'n'roll with the tween who played Jane as a child in the film. It's twistin' music, in honor of the dance fad of the time. Debbie Burton had a pop career of her own around this time and, if you've seen the film, you'll recall her powerful, throaty voice. This duet has long been out of print and hard to find (I bought a copy years ago on Ebay), but here it is thanks to a Canadian friend on YouTube. The song is not used in the film, though you may recall the instrumental as the annoying song on the radio next-door belonging to the brooding teen played by Bette Davis' real-life daughter. This is the music being blasted out so that a desperate Joan Crawford cannot be heard from her window. She therefor resorts to throwing a message on a piece of paper from her second-story bedroom/torture chamber. I hope you all enjoy this rare pop gem and have fun twisting to Bette Davis.