#rewarding (from an actors pov). she's ott and grotesque but there's real depth to the role too‚ she delivers with nuance and there's levels

[mariocki]

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

"Jane, did you ever stop to think that... if anything happened to me, I mean anything bad, there wouldn't be any money for you? I wouldn't be here to sign the checks. You wouldn't even have pocket money. Did you ever think of that?"

"Yeah, I've thought about that."

#what ever happened to baby jane? #american cinema #robert aldrich #1962 #joan crawford #bette davis #lukas heller #henry farrell #victor buono #wesley addy #bert freed #maidie norman #anna lee #marjorie bennett #anne barton #dave willock #robert cornthwaite #barbara merrill #julie allred #gina gillespie #frank de vol #revisiting after a long long time. watching this as a teen (too many moons ago) it was Joan that bewitched me; i was deeply taken by her‚ #fell a little in love even. coming back to it now and I'm baffled how i slept on Bette's performance‚ arguably the showier and more #rewarding (from an actors pov). she's ott and grotesque but there's real depth to the role too‚ she delivers with nuance and there's levels #to the character‚ tragedy too (the completely unexpected way she says the line 'You mean all this time we could have been friends?' is #beautiful). also Buono?? I'd honestly kind of forgotten that there was anyone else in this film but Bette and Joan but my god‚ in his first #major film role‚ he's amazing! and funny! easy to forget just how funny this film is‚ in amongst the horror and the sadness and the waste #of it all. beautiful little film‚ i know it has its followers and is appreciated as a high camp classic‚ but it's honestly so much more #than just that too. Aldrich (truly one of The great genre directors) does wonders with sharp‚ unforgiving black and white photography #(beautifully contrasted with the soft warmer footage of younger J and B from their hollywood heyday). masterfully constructed too