Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte: A Photo Review

I've decided to attempt another photo review and after much thought I chose Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

I had only seen this film once as a child and it was after my parents took me to visit the house where the movie was filmed in Louisiana, the Houmas House.  After watching it again this week it reminded me of so many films I saw as a kid that really scared me but when revisiting that same film as an adult I found myself laughing during the "scary" scenes. That doesn't take away from the fact that I still like it or I can see the appeal it had when released or even now as a classic thriller.  (This review has spoilers).

The movie was released in 1964 with director Robert Aldrich at the helm.
CAST:
Bette Davis as Charlotte
Olivia de Havilland as Miriam
Agnes Moorhead as Velma
Joseph Cotton as Dr. Drew
Mary Astor as Jewel Mayhew
Bruce Dern as John Mayhew

We open to a cold looking plantation in 1927

Inside a young man is being lectured and blackmailed into leaving pops daughter alone. (He's married to someone else named Jewel) Dirtbag!

Since thats not "Laura" I assume she's the daughter who's being led astray and not a ghost

OMG! It's a young Bruce Dern! The last time I saw him he was getting whacked by Marnie. Please stick around awhile young BD.

We next get a glimpse of the same plantation at night and theres a celebration, dancing and gigantic party lanterns. (This should be a fun night)!

In the summer house young Bruce Dern (John) is breaking up with a girl but she's not taking it so well.  We soon find out it's Charlotte.

 The director makes sure we see a meat cleaver.

Which seems to be missing all while everyone is still dancing

Young Bruce Dern is trying to suffocate himself with a corsage! He's all weepy and sad which someone observes from the shadows.

Even a cherub looks down upon him with shame and judgement.

N00000! Young Bruce Dern has lost his corsage

He's in bad shape and I'm guessing he gets whacked AGAIN! (Sorry and see you around when you can behave).

We get a glimpse of a young Miriam as she notices a not so happy party guest.

Theres Charlotte who has gone and ruined her party dress and everyone's evening.

Daddy looks real mad! (Hopefully he's learned his lesson about blackmail and threats)

It's now 1964 and these boys are up to mischief as they pass a cemetery

They meet up outside the old plantation and scare themselves silly with ghost stories and tall tales from years past.

Of course just like any good story the runt of the litter gets picked to snoop around.

Don't look so pleased with yourselves, I have a feeling you'll be running for your lives shortly.

Pip squeak has run right in to old Charlotte who seems harmless.

But he runs for his life as we get a glimpse of that face and the creepy painting! (It reminds me of those paintings where the eyes follow you around but Robert Aldrich doesn't agree and I'm left to my imagination).

The next morning all seems okay except for the fact that structures are being bulldozed all over the plantation. 

After a late night of scaring children Charlotte has her slumber interrupted

Charlotte gets her crazy on and starts shooting willy nilly at everyone. Luckily she's as good a shot as she is at drawing her eyebrows on so nobody gets injured today.

Nope! She still can't hit anything.

George Kennedy has no time for the crazy and lets her know she needs to be vacated in a week plus he's running to tell the sheriff!

 We meet the sheriff who already has a visitor. A big city reporter who's interested in the events that took place in 1927.  (Somehow I doubt any of it will ever make since to him).

The Sheriff comes calling and gives Charlotte her notice to vacate.  (And I'm still wondering who allowed her to live there after that party with death and mayhem).

I hope nothing happens on those stairs! They make me dizzy.

We get our first glimpse of Velma, the trusted housekeeper. She's looney tunes and I love her.

Charlotte has reached out to her cousin Miriam who looks thrilled to be visiting. (Apparently all of Louisiana has amnesia and has forgotten the events of 1927).

Miriam gets her first glimpse of Velma who's acting all crazy on the porch! Any normal person would run but I have a feeling she's up to something herself so I'll leave her be.

Eyebrows is peeking from behind a giant planter which somehow feels normal

We get our first glimpse of Dr. Drew who seems drunk as he waves a lit cigar around flammable blankets. (Young Bruce Dern is lucky he got the heck out of there early)

Dr. Feeling Good greets Miriam with groping and inappropriate kissing which she doesn't mind. (These two are just bizarre)!

Poor Velma gets ignored outside as she goes postal on the luggage. 

Fresh from her make-out session Miriam gets her first look at Charlotte in years.  We know Charlotte is thrilled because she's doing that weird hand emoting. (Yes, we've all seen Bette Davis and her acting methods before). 

Everyone's all dressed up for a strange dinner party and all it's missing is Norma Desmond!

YEP! It's getting creepy, queue the monkey funeral.

For some strange reason Miriam ups the awkward by letting Charlotte know a few things about that night way back in 1927.  John's wife Jewel knew about the affair and apparently she's been writing Charlotte nasty letters for years. 

Charlotte gives the evil eye as Dr.Feeling Good stands around amused then theres Velma who's wondering around like the Mad Hatter! (Possessed paintings would really add something special right now).

Another party ends and Dr. Drew finally stumbles out into the night after another kiss and a gun exchange. Because another firearm won't spell disaster around these people. (I have my suspicions that he's not a real doctor).

Miriam starts wandering around a dark house and stumbles onto her old party dress thats been torn to shreds.

The next day we get a glimpse of newspapers after the events of 1927.  The reporter wants to know what happened to John's missing head and hand. (I want to know why young Bette looks like the Queen of Tarts).

Scandal!

Miriam runs into an elderly Jewel, who's still the grieving widow.  

Velma's at home amusing herself with a comic book. 

She's quickly interrupted by Charlotte having a tantrum so she has one herself. (Agnes Moorehead is at her best in this film).

Bette Davis is upstairs trying her damnedest to get her final Oscar!  Sadly I can't take my eyes off of that ugly bird who's dying to escape the madness and the overacting all around him.

Because there are no normal nights in this house Charlotte starts hearing music and finds her way downstairs only to see things at the delight of Miriam.

Charlotte is having a really bad night! Luckily things quickly disappear and we are left wondering if she's seeing things.  Miriam convinces her that theres nothing there which has Charlotte on the verge of madness.

Charlotte calms herself in the cemetery the next day which seems to be the only place thats not haunted.  She runs into the reporter who's still trying to find body parts.

Everyone seems normal for about 5 seconds until Charlotte has another meltdown over a music box.  Plus she shows 100's of letters supposedly sent by Jewel that cause Charlotte grief and guilt.

Later that night theres a storm which oddly makes Bette Davis look 30 years younger.

We get a glimpse of creepy shadows and I hope those pesky kids aren't back again. 

Charlotte's desperate for company so she runs outside. The only thing there is a wind machine. Go to bed Charlotte!

Ironically Velma thinks things seem a bit crazy with Miriam around. She gets gussied up and finds her way to the police station to report her suspicions.  

Later that night Charlotte's greeted by a rolling head during her nightly stroll around the house.

It's Young Bruce Dern who looks oddly fresh after 30 plus years.

Surprise! Dr. Feeling Good is back and they're having a good laugh over young BD's head. Apparently it's a fake and it's sole purpose is to drive Charlotte mad and out of the house. The estate is worth money and these two have plans.  Dysfunction Palooza!

Velma sneaks back and realizes Charlotte has been sedated and conned. She may be crazy but she's loyal. 

Velma lets Charlotte in on everything then tries to get her out of the house. (Somehow I doubt these two can sneak quietly anywhere).

The escape plan is interrupted by Miriam which leads to a fight on those dang stairs.

Miriam has turned into a real B****!

Dr. Drew is drunk and Miriam is seeing dollar signs so Velma's body ends up at her house in a tidy accidental death.  Charlotte is missing so I'm guessing she's upstairs chatting up the stuffed bird.

The next night more antics as Dr. Drew calls out to Charlotte, plays the piano then hides. (If they put people in jail who lopped off heads none of this would have been necessary).  

Charlotte finds her way downstairs and into a dream state right on queue.

Zombie Bruce Dern has one last dance.  (I'm really starting to feel bad for Charlotte).

Daddy shows up again and the guests have all lost their faces but Aldrich couldn't give me one haunted painting!

Charlotte shoots a headless Young BD! (If this movie only had Gloria Swanson it wouldn't be weird and over the top at all! Just PERFECT).

Back to reality and it appears young BD was actually Dr. Drew who was shot dead.  Oops! Miriam is freaking out.

It's the doorbell and the reporter! For people who have a history of murder and strange happenings people sure do enjoy stopping by all hours. 

A very awkward drive to the latest body dump.

Sayonara Dr. Drew!

Because Charlotte hasn't been through enough trauma to last a lifetime Miriam decides to berate her all the way home.

Because nobody stays dead in this film Dr. Drew makes another house call fresh from the pond. (I can't take my eyes off of the lily pad that was so imperative to attach to his face).

Poor Charlotte! I wish these two would leave her alone already. She's past the bend by a mile.

Once Charlotte is drugged these two start planning how they'll spend their money. We now know that the letters were sent by Miriam and not Jewel. Charlotte didn't kill Young BD but Jewel did in a jealous rage! Miriam has always known but covered for Jewel.  They better not get away with this! 

BLECH! Enough of these two and the awkward drunken groping.

Apparently Charlotte heard everything and sacrificed her favorite flower pot for a good cause!

In the end Charlotte's name is cleared as she leaves her beloved home which is surrounded by reporters and nosy neighbors.  Jewel dies after hearing the news so all is right again.  Well as right as it will ever be for poor Charlotte.  

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Facts:

You can read more about the Houmas house where the interior and exterior scenes were shot HERE.

The young painting of Charlotte is of Bette Davis as Julie for her role in "Jezebel" 1938.  (My favorite Davis film).

Joan Crawford was originally cast as the older Miriam after her and Bette's success in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane". Unfortunately for Joan she took ill after filming started which led to a hospitalization, an issue with insurance coverage, many arguments with director Aldrich then her eventual replacement.  Of course all of Joan's footage was useless and re-shot but there is one scene when Olivia first arrives by taxi where Joan is seen in the car instead.  She's wearing a dark hat and glasses.

After Crawford left the film her role was offered to Kate Hepburn, Vivien Leigh and Loretta Young. The role would eventually go to Olivia de Havilland. Each leading lady either didn't want to star in a horror film or work alongside Bette Davis.  

Joan Crawford had it written in her contract that her trailer be placed so many yards from Bette's. Her trailer was placed in back of the house with a golf cart provided to take her back and forth for filming.

Agnes Moorehead was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the film. She did win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

This would be Mary Astor's last film. Barbara Stanwyck was originally considered for her role.

After all of the delays and re-shoots caused by Joan's replacement one last dig at her can be seen in the film. Since Joan was married to the head of Pepsi and she herself was on it's board of directors at the time. Joan had demanded Pepsi product placement in all of her films.  Aldrich has a Coca Cola truck appear in one scene when Olivia's character is walking in town.

Before Joan was finally replaced her and Aldrich's working relationship had dissolved to the point where they did not speak directly but through lawyers.  In confidence Aldrich told Bette that Joan was replaced by Olivia but Bette being her spiteful self contacted the media so Joan found out through a radio announcement.  (I'll be doing posts on Bette, Joan and Mary Astor but you can read more about Bette and Joan's long standing feud in my Franchot Tone post).

Robert Aldrich had to take a plane, train and a taxi up a goat trail to get to Olivia de Havilland's home in the Swiss Mountains. Once there it took him four days to convince her to take Joan's place in the film.

Thanks for revisiting this classic with me and please share your opinions on the film, characters etc in comments.  (Oh and Velma shredded the party dress. Nobody's perfect)!

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