Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell

It was an old movie, but for me, I loved old films, even as a very little kid. There was a trailer for the film played during a kid's movie she had gone to see by accident when she was 7, and the imagery of a doll's broken face really stuck with her. (YES, I feel ancient just saying that sentence.) My mother was hesitant, she used to have nightmares as a kid about that film even without ever having seen it.

I had heard of the title and asked my mother if we could see if it was available at Blockbuster to rent. Hush, Sweet Charlotte, round out the volume.Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is a horror film I remembering being introduced too at the age of 11. Three short stories, including the wryly entertaining 'What Ever Happened to Charlotte?,' which inspired the film Hush. A foreword by Farrell's literary agent, Mitch Douglas, features gossipy tidbits about the Davis-Crawford rivalry. Farrell delves into Baby Jane's psyche, showing a woman mourning her childhood success and stymied by her inability to act on her emotional needs. As readers can see from this reissue, the original 1960 novel about a former vaudevillian child star, Baby Jane Hudson, who torments her wheelchair-bound sister, Blanche, who was once a glamorous movie star has a deep layer of psychological suspense that's obscured in the campy film. Now with three short stories available for the first time in print, including What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte, the basis for the film Hush.Hush, Sweet Charlotte.īefore this tale of two sisters locked in the ultimate sibling rivalry became the hit 1962 movie starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, it was a novel by Farrell (1920 2006) written because he needed a commercial success to pay for his wife's medical bills. But as the lines begin to blur between fantasy and reality, past resentments become dangerous-and the sisters' long-kept secrets threaten to destroy them. Even now, years later, Jane dreams of reviving her act. A fixture of early vaudeville, Baby Jane Hudson performed her song and dance routines for adoring crowds until a move to Hollywood thrust her sister into the spotlight. Nobody remembers that Jane was once a star herself. They say that's why she looks after Blanche now, because of the guilt. They say it was her sister, Jane, who did it-that she crashed the car because she was drunk. Such a shame her career ended so early, all because of that accident. The Blanche Hudson, who starred in big Hollywood films all those years ago. The neighbors all whisper about the two sisters who live on the hill: It's Blanche Hudson who lives in that house, you know. The chilling novel that inspired the iconic film starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.Īs seen on the FX series Feud: Bette and Joan, which chronicles the rivalry between the Hollywood stars during their filming of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell