Speaking of terrifying performances, how about that Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Baby Jane is one of the scariest villains in the history of cinema. A former child star obsessed with reliving her youth and hating her more beloved older sister, she switches from reminiscing about her one hit song to planning the next round of torture for Blanche, all with the flick of a switch – or a sound from a buzzer. Baby Jane is an overgrown, selfish child that Blanche cannot escape from. After watching this movie, I understand completely why Bette Davis’s performance is beloved and imitated by gay men everywhere.
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It was a gem. Thank you. It’s going on my Netflix list for a return visit.
I feel so bad for her when she sings, at that part of the video she needs a hug, and my heart always melts for people who need a hug, I can’t help it.
Also I know that the buzzer is the only way to communicate that she wants something, and she is dependant on her sister but did the woman in the wheelchair need to use that buzzer so much in such a short space of time? It was giving me a headache just listening to it on youtube, so I can only imagine how irritating it would be if I was in that house at that moment. To clarify I understand who is the villain in this piece and I’m not unsympathetic to the plight of the woman in the chair, that buzzer is just very annoying.
I’m guessing you haven’t seen the movie? Bette Davis’s character Jane is essentially keeping her sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) hostage, and kills her pet parakeet for dinner and also serves her a rat for lunch, so I think a loud buzzer is the least Jane deserved in return 🙂
I’ve read the blog and if I didn’t make it clear in my post I understand that the main character is a horrible person (I didn’t realise she was keeping her hostage though, I thought she was her carer, albeit a very, very bad one) and I understand that she does horrible things to the woman in the wheelchair throughout the movie. My comment wasn’t to suggest that the annoying buzzzing somehow excused her actons or made them any more sympathetic.
I was just complaining that it made my head hurt. I still understand that the woman who played Baby Jane was a monster and her sister was a victim.
Understood. If you haven’t seen the movie, though, you really should. The victim/monster dynamic is not quite as clear as it is in this one clip.