Hush...
Hush, Sweet Charlotte a Delicious Gothic Treat
by
Kristin Battestella
Director
and producer Richard Aldrich capitalized on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with
the chilling
but no less sophisticated Southern Gothic examination of murder,
gossip, and madness in 1964's
Hush...Hush, Sweet
Charlotte.
After
Charlotte Hollis' (Bette Davis) father Big Sam (Victor Buono) insists
she break off her dalliance with the married John Mayhew (Bruce
Dern), Charlotte enters the cotillion covered in blood. Decades
later, Charlotte remains an infamous murderess and recluse, living
alone save for housekeeper Velma Cruther (Agnes Moorehead). The state
of Louisiana plans to tear down the crumbling Hollis House to build a
bridge, and with Doctor Drew Bayliss' (Joseph Cotten) help, cousin
Miriam Deering (Olivia de Havilland) returns to convince Charlotte
she must leave. Unfortunately, ghostly violence terrorizes the women,
blurring past crimes, contemporary suspicions, and deadly delusions.
Happening
jazz, dancing, and 1927 good times hide the illicit schemes, secret
elopements, and vicious murder opening Hush...Hush,
Sweet Charlotte. We
think we've seen a cold hearted kill thanks to intercut chopping,
gruesome slices, and screams, but is this crime all it seems?
Wind chimes and silent shocks lead to 1964 cemeteries and youthful
rhymes detailing the chop chop legend of headless lovers as boys
sneak in the desolate ballroom ruined by passion, scandal, and
insanity. Construction vehicles rumble nearby, yet there's a certain
gentility to the venomous shouts. Everyone says miss or sir, using
full names and regional colloquialisms despite the ten day eviction
notice, paranoid conspiracies, suspicious old enemies, and secrets
coming back to haunt one and all. Talk of an innocent teen girl
having a dirty affair with a married man and calling each other
bitches was shocking dialogue at the time, but there are also
regrets, tears, and wishful thinking of an inheritance that should
have been well spent instead of wasted on the lonely, dilapidated
decades. The dramatically paced conversations are layered with talk
of the past, current states of mind, double entendres, and shade –
creating zingers and story telling comforts before wardrobes that
open by themselves, slashed clothing, crank letters, and unforgiving
threats quicken the pulse. Creaking doors, cleavers, and severed
limbs scare the women – our eponymous character may be a little
mad, but others are experiencing the frights, too. Crimes
of Passion magazine
reporters are excited
that now in the sixties they can play up the murder's sex angle, and
there's no one to trust amid phantom figures strolling the grounds
and ghostly harpsichord playing. Storms, lightning, and winds blowing
across the balcony lead to breaking windows and shattered mirrors.
Today we have crazy versus ghost horrors, but they are often teen
light rather than sophisticated dramas with performances free to
carry the murderous motives behind the frights. Hush...Hush,
Sweet Charlotte provides
superb scenes with
heavyweight talent, and revelations in the final act place the viewer
within the footsteps, physical bouts, and shocking violence. The
southern gentility degrades into cruel intensity as the sense of
dread escalates without any need for in your face jump scares. Deaths
we've seen happen are said to have happened entirely differently, and
the women do what has to be done thanks to the men's messes – be he
builder, destroyer, father, doctor, or lover. Beckoning echoes and
tormenting serenades are twisted, sad, and delicious all at once
thanks to eerie masks, gunshots, headless suitors, and nightmares.
Delusions revisit the original crime while chilling visuals, bitch
slaps, and dead bodies rolled up in the carpet contribute to the
hysteria. These dames won't suffer for the lies, blackmail, and
cruelty anymore, but the can't take it with you and what was it all
for pain serves up a few more frights before the madness is all said
and done.
Is
Bette Davis' (All About Eve)
Charlotte a crazy killer, abused, or just misunderstood? She's mad
one minute pushing planters off the balcony at construction workers
but demure in white, crying, and heartbroken the next. Charlotte's an
unreliable old woman dealing with trespassers and losing her home.
She doesn't need sympathy or company, just help in saving Hollis
House. At times she is very sharp, but she's also caught in the
moment of her lover's murder, dressed up and waiting for a dead beau.
She knows the townsfolk think she got away with murder, however the
audience likes her moxie. We're on her side when the sheriff insists
she only acts loony because it's what's expected of her, and we pity
Charlotte's sobbing sing a longs to their song. She wakes up in the
night, for her fantasies are only real in the dark – Charlotte used
to be positive she wasn't crazy, but now she isn't so sure thanks to
ghostly visions, medication, and nightly damaged she swears she
didn't do. Mad murderess or not, she is certainly scared, and the
family pride, fatal disgrace, gossip, and the irony of letting go
make for a sad vindication. Olivia de Havilland's (The Heiress) cousin Miriam
Deering tries to make it easier for Charlotte to leave, reminiscing
and sharing fond memories of sliding down the banister. She makes
Charlotte laugh, telling her not to pay any attention to trash rags,
old rivals, or nasty letters but come back to reality. Unfortunately,
Miriam can't stop the state's eviction, and she's always looking out
for herself first. Charlotte says her public relations job “sounds
dirty,” and past tattle tales on who was the poor relation or
favored daughter make Miriam wish she had never come back.
Nonetheless, she increasingly takes over the household, packing and
making Charlotte say goodbye to Hollis House whether she is ready or
not.
According
to Joseph Cotten's (Duel in the Sun) Dr. Drew Bayliss,
Charlotte has nothing more than a persecution complex. He insists the
state's condemned order is solely about the bridge construction and
not Charlotte's infamy – although he has looked into committing her
but doesn't have enough evidence. Drew calls himself an old man who
missed out, regretting choosing his career and breaking off his past
romance with Miriam. She, however, insists he's too quick with his
compliments and intentions. He flirts with her as he did in their
youth, preying upon her even as he wants to protect her – giving
her a handgun in case there are any more trespassers. Unfortunately,
only more memories of the past come back, and Drew wonders if
Charlotte isn't creating her own company and reliving her debutante
days with newly fixed delusions. Surprisingly, only Agnes Moorehead
(The Bat)
as loyal housekeeper and sassy defender Velma Cruther received
hardware for her performance in Hush...Hush,
Sweet Charlotte – a
shiny Best supporting Actress Golden Globe contrasting her crusty,
cranky self. Velma dislikes Miriam, mocking her before sulking behind
a column and muttering comebacks between her chores. Although
initially humorous, Velma isn't stupid. She tries phoning for help
and confronts Miriam outright when told she's being dismissed with
the month's wages. Velma only takes her orders from Charlotte, and
the imminent tearing down of Hollis House does not mean she won't be
needed when the manor's gone. Velma sees through Miriam's high and
mighty behavior in several taut confrontations that become
scrumptiously physical. Certainly
there are a few superfluous characters – utility players dispensing
exposition yet detracting from the taught hysteria, but Mary
Astor (The Maltese Falcon)
makes the most of her brief time as Jewel Mayhew, the widow of
Charlotte's mutilated lover. Although Charlotte suspects Jewel is out
to get her, she's not afraid to tell Miriam and her vicious tongue
off in public. Jewel is gravely ill and ready for the truth to be
heard. Victor Buono (King Tut in Batman,
people!)
mostly appears in the prologue as Charlotte's stern father Big Sam,
but his threatening presence lingers throughout the film. He
disapproves of some lothario like the married Bruce Dern (The 'burbs) intending
to elope with Charlotte
and ruin the family legacy he has rebuilt – and his orchestrations
ironically cause exactly what he was trying to prevent in
memorializing the Hollis name. Unfortunately, George Kennedy
(Earthquake)
appears too briefly as the foreman ready to bulldoze the manor
standing in the way of his bridge project. He's tried being kind to
Charlotte and objects to her shooting at his crew. It might have been
interesting to have seen him appear more as a physical reminder of
the ten day requisitions countdown, for at times the need to vacate
for the tear down is almost forgotten in Hush...Hush,
Sweet Charlotte's crazy
horrors.
Art
Direction, Cinematography, and Editing nominations abound for
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
thanks
to excellent gray scale
schemes, symbolic shadows, scary silhouettes, and askew camera angles
that remain sharp on 4K screens. Overhead visuals peer into the scene
with our point of view in tight for the harsh, angry faces or panning
wide to capture the empty, stage-like mansion interiors. Choice
zooms, distorted up shots, and foreboding down angles accent the
spinning ceiling fans – we feel the congested southern heat despite
breezy lace curtains, open windows, wispy willows, and dangling moss.
Trees and balconies are high, but Hollis House is dimly lit with few
candles at the dinner table and dark strolls on the veranda leaving
room for those disturbing severed heads, phantom hands, and great
horror effects. The expansive locales mean every scene takes its
time, laid back with people made small in the Louisiana inside out
lifestyle. There's no rush to walk down the long corridors as mishaps
belie the grand staircase and grandfather clocks tick tock. Barking
dogs and silent pauses add to the atmosphere alongside the nominated
Score with its angry crescendos, sad melodies, and bittersweet
lyrics. Hush...Hush, Sweet
Charlotte has
ye olde big newspapers
with thick headlines, flashbulb cameras, and $2.50 for a cab drive
after which he's told to keep the change! There's a firmly sixties
mood thanks to the big cruising cars, hats, gloves, white suits, and
cigarettes – however the grandeur is also trapped in time with tall
columns, wallpaper, tea in the garden, chandeliers, telegrams,
leather libraries, and looming large family portraits. And bench car
seats mean we see some good old fashioned slide across!
Hush...Hush,
Sweet Charlotte has
always seemed a little
less beloved than it's exceptional predecessor Whatever
Happened to Baby Jane? and
video options remain slightly elusive thanks to unavailability on
Netlix and a limited edition blu-ray. Some audiences may find the
psycho biddy style too camp – at times there's certainly over the
top inducing laughter to the scary. At two hours and fifteen minutes,
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
may also be too long and not all out horror enough for viewers
accustomed to contemporary, formulaic slashers. For others there may
not be full rewatch value once one knows how it ends, but
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
is
worth repeat viewings for all the graceful clues and nuances amid the
Southern Gothic terror – remaining
a gripping, can't look away
master class of chilling moments and staple performances.
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