Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

This past year a limited series ran called FEUD, this time around focusing on the behind the scenes feud between actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, a long standing personal battle that resulted in flaring tempers as the two tried to resuscitate their careers with the film WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE. In the case of Crawford the result found her in some terrible movies while Davis went on to star in roles on TV and films. At the end of the series it discussed their reteaming under the same director, Robert Aldrich, for the film HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE. Their battle of wills resulted in Crawford being dismissed from the film and replaced by Olivia de Havilland and the film being completed. Why mention this? Because it provides an interesting backdrop when looking at the film now on blu-ray from Twilight Time.The movie opens in 1927 in the antebellum south with a party being held by Charlotte Hollis father (Victor Buono). Charlotte has made plans to elope with her lover John (Bruce Dern) but before this takes place her father confronts John with the fact that he knows he is already married. Realizing he can't leave with Charlotte he breaks off with her. That same night someone takes a meat cleaver to John and Charlotte is thought to be behind the killing.The story moves forward to 1964. The grand old house is in ruins and Charlotte lives their almost alone, an aging spinster with only Velma (Agnes Moorehead) there to keep her company. Times are worse than Charlotte realizes with the house set for demolition since a new highway is to be built here. Charlotte confronts the construction crew armed and after the sheriff intervenes is given days to move out.Seeking help Charlotte has convinced her cousin Miriam (de Havilland) to return and help her. Arriving from New York Miriam does her best, renewing her romance with local doctor Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotton) and trying to help. But as the days pass it seems that Charlotte may have gone mad over the ensuing years since Miriam left. She sees images of John at night and fears that her father, the man she thought murdered John all those years ago, is back as well.Something isn't quite right here and we as viewers know it. Velma does her best to keep Charlotte calm and suspects that something is amiss. But just who is behind it we're not sure. Was John really murdered all those years ago? Did Charlotte actually do it and now is racked with guilt over her actions? Or is there some other mystery long buried over the years that is only now playing out? The film offers a solid Gothic style mystery, one where a number of potential solutions are presented. Davis performance would seem a bit on the hammy side if it weren't for the fact that the method she employs here adds credulity to the character of Charlotte and her eccentric ways. Aldrich, who moved on to bigger and better films like THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, THE DIRTY DOZEN and THE LONGEST YARD does a great job of bringing his cast together to offer performances that are among their best.If you read my reviews you may tire of hearing me saying this but yes, Twilight Time has brought a great looking offering here with a fantastic looking print. They've done a great job with extras this time around as well which include an isolated score track, audio commentary track with film historians David Del Vale and Steven Peros, audio commentary track with film historian Glenn Erickson, HUSH…HUSH, SWEET JOAN: THE MAKING OF CHARLOTTE, BRUCE DERN REMEMBERS, Wizard Work, TV spots and the original theatrical trailers. As always it's limited to just 3,000 copies so if you want one order today.

HUSH...HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE is a mysterious horror drama which, in addition to the general madness on the surface, has a great deception designed in the background. This is a film about a mysterious murder, deceptions and torture. A gruesome and grotesque secret is hidden behind the walls of a luxurious mansion. „What ever happened to Baby Jane?" the second part...A Southern belle Charlotte is lonely in her house. She is haunted by personal tragedy of the past, which includes the murder of her lover. When a distant relative comes to stay at her mansion, tensions and conspiracy beginning to boil in a pot, in which the truths take human lives...The plot is a somewhat vague, and the procedures of the antagonists are predictable. Mr. Aldrich has offered, again, an array of shocking twists and turns, which include a harsh truth, but he, this time, did not take into account the probabilities. The truth in this story is something like waking up from a horrible nightmare. Mr. Aldrich has relied too much on the relationships between the characters, emotional turmoil and hidden intents.Bette Davis as Charlotte Hollis is a strange combination between a crazy old woman and confused lady. A melodramatic tone in her character is mixed with horror that surrounds her. Nevertheless, Ms. Davis has offered a great performance. Olivia de Havilland as Miriam Deering is a hidden devil under a curtain of goodness. The face of Ms. de Havilland is the embodiment of compassion and kindness. She can be a strong and shrewd woman, but a villain .... Joseph Cotten (Doctor Drew Bayliss) is too theatrical. Agnes Moorehead (Velma Cruther) is energetic and exciting as a loyal servant. Cecil Kellaway (Harry Willis) and Mary Astor (Jewel Mayhew) are pale appearance as a homing pigeon and an eternal enemy.This is not bad ... not at all.

A demented slice of Southern Gothic from top director Robert Aldrich, this was made as a follow-up to the successful WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, only lacking Joan Crawford's return as one of the leads. Instead she was replaced by Olivia de Havilland in a piece of unusual casting which really pays off come the finale. Basically this is an overbaked melodrama dealing with themes of nostalgia, madness, regret and loneliness, which mixes in family secrets, hidden skeletons, murders, and even a few severed body parts for good measure into its running time. As is per usual with these psychological thrillers from the period (just check out PSYCHO or STRAIT-JACKET to see what I mean), there's a genuinely thrilling twist in the tale which turns things on their head and is very well done. Crisp black and white photography adds to the atmospheric proceedings and the film succeeds in creating some memorable dream-like chilling moments such as the faceless dance. There are even a few gory shocks like the opening hatchet murder which liven up the proceedings no end.Although the film is definitely overlong and could have easily lost half an hour or so, the excellent casting keeps one watching throughout. First up is Bette Davis, chewing the scenery and fitting well into her somewhat stereotyped (after Jane?) caricature of "sad, lonely, mad old woman", providing a nice focus piece for the movie. However, her thunder is stolen by Olivia de Havilland as Miriam, a sweet and nice lady who turns out to have some dark secrets of her own - definitely she gives the best performance in the film. Joseph Cotten also puts in a nice, shady turn as the family doctor out to make a profit for himself. The only role that doesn't fit for me is Agnes Moorehead as irritating housekeeper Velma; her unwanted over-the-top comic relief recalls the annoying humour of James Whale's movies three decades previously. A number of up-and-coming stars such as Bruce Dern, George Kennedy, and even Victor Buono put in small but important parts. HUSH...HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE is an exceptional example of a heated melodrama/horror film at its finest, and if you can get over the slow middle, then the dramatic finale is well worth a watch.

Released in 1964 - Hush-Hush, Sweet Charlotte is just one of those "damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't" movies where you seem to already know what's going to happen about 10 minutes before it actually does.Yes. There were a few surprises awaiting the viewer, but this "Let's-Drive-Charlotte-Insane" picture should have been, literally, loaded to the rafters with shocks & shivers galore.Upon checking this film's ratings & reviews here on IMDb I noticed that plenty of people have given high praise to both actresses Bette Davis and Agnes Moorehead for their decidedly over-the-top, scenery-chewing performances.And even though the character portrayals of these 2 women did have a compelling edge to them at the start, their exaggerated, overly-excitable histrionics quickly became quite annoying and, worse yet, something of a repugnantly twisted parody, which did not ring with any sort of essential humour.The one actress who I thought was a notable standout was Olivia De Havilland who played a very effective villainess as Charlotte's cousin, Mariam Deering. I thought that it was one of the film's biggest highlights when Mariam's sweet, chirpy facade was finally stripped away to expose the truly vicious and calculating bitch that lurked within.Now, don't get me wrong here. I wouldn't exactly say that "Hush-Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was a lousy movie, but, then again, it certainly wasn't great, either.The one thing that this film had going against it was its 132-minute running time. Had a good half-hour been skillfully edited from this picture, I think that that would have done wonders in helping to sustain this film's dragged-out suspense and, thus, keep the viewer continually interested throughout the story.While I patiently watched this 1964 Horror/Thriller it clearly donned on me how much "bargain-basement" director Robert Aldrich was (seemingly) trying to emulate the likes of Alfred Hitchcock.But, alas, Aldrich was not in Hitchcock's league and so, as a result, this film's story was very uneven, badly-paced and its cast delivered performances that could only be described as being somewhat mechanical.P.S. - I quite liked singer Al Martino's rendition of this film's title song, which was nicely timed and was appropriately sung during the final sequence of this picture's sad, guilt-ridden story.