Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

When Robert Aldrich went on to produce and direct the psychological thriller HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE in 1964 it was meant to be some kind of follow-up to his success from two years earlier, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?
Just like its predecessor, HUSH HUSH was to feature the talents of feuding divas Bette Davis and Joan Crawford but the continuous spat between the two stars spun out of control to such an extend that Crawford was replaced with Davis’ friend and colleague Olivia de Havilland… not that it did the result any harm, for HUSH HUSH received seven Academy Award nominations.

Once again, Bette Davis plays an ageing and deranged Southern Belle, this time driven into madness by the brutal murder of her lover 37 years earlier. Thus the story begins in Louisiana in 1927 where young Charlotte Hollis (Bette Davis) and her lover John Mayhew (Bruce Dern) plan to run away during a big party thrown by Charlotte’s family. Unfortunately, her father ‘Big Sam’ (Victor Buono) received an unexpected visitor the previous night in the form of Jewel (Mary Astor), John’s wife! Furious that his daughter’s lover is already married, Sam forces John to end the relationship and John sees no other alternative than to lie to Charlotte by pretending he no longer loves her. Shortly after, John meets his grisly end when he is brutally hacked to pieces with a cleaver in the nearby summerhouse. When Charlotte finds his decapitated body she returns to the family party in a traumatized haze, blood spattered all over her dress. Given the circumstances, most party guests immediately assume that Charlotte is the murderer though she points the finger at her father.
The story then jumps forward to the present (1964) and Charlotte now lives as a crazed recluse and wealthy spinster on the family plantation. The real culprit in the Mayhew murder case was never found and since Charlotte’s father Sam died one year after the murder, the case remained unsolved due to lack of evidence. However, Charlotte always believed it was her father who killed John whereas the locals continue to believe it was Charlotte.

As if her tormented and fragile state of mind wasn’t enough to push her ever more to the brink of insanity, Charlotte encounters mighty trouble with the Louisiana Highway Commission which intend to demolish the family home to make place for a new highway. Ignoring the eviction notice and holding the demolition crew, including the foreman (George Kennedy) at bay with a rifle, Charlotte’s only ‘ally’ seems to be her long-suffering and equally eccentric housekeeper Velma (Agnes Moorehead). Cue to call upon additional help from Miriam (Oliva de Havilland), an impoverished cousin who used to live with Charlotte’s family as a young girl but has since re-located to New York where she found considerable wealth. Contrary to expectations, Charlotte’s mental condition worsens with Miriam’s arrival and stranger still, even the presence of Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotton) – the local doctor who now rekindles his relationship with Miriam after having jilted her years ago following the Mayhew murder, doesn’t seem to be able to help Charlotte. Far from it, the apparent ‘sedatives’ he injects into her arm only seem to bring on hallucinations and further paranoia. Only housekeeper Velma soon realises the true and utterly dastardly plan that Miriam and Dr. Bayliss hatch against poor Charlotte and seeks help from Mr. Willis (Cecil Kellaway), an insurance investigator who recently visited ailing widow Jewel Mayhew. Indeed, does Jewel hold the answer as to what really happened on the Hollis plantation 37 years ago?

Based on Henry Farrell’s unpublished story What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte? this ‘Southern gothic’ thriller has it all: excellent performances (Davis almost repeating her Baby Jane Hudson character), an atmospheric setting (and set), a sinister plot and madness and mayhem galore! Shame though that Victor Buono, who delivered such a superb performance as the ageing Baby Jane’s musical accompanist Edwin Flagg, has hardly any scenes in HUSH HUSH!

The Blu-ray release furthermore offers some interesting bonus material.