Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Short description
Charlotte Hollis is an aging Southern recluse living alone in a large Louisiana mansion, attended mainly by her housekeeper, Velma. Years earlier, her lover John Mayhew was killed at the estate, and local suspicion fell on Charlotte, who has carried the memory and the town's contempt ever since. When the property is slated for demolition to make way for a new road, Charlotte refuses to leave and asks her cousin Miriam Deering to come and help her. Miriam's arrival coincides with unsettling occurrences in the house, and Charlotte's already fragile state worsens.
Robert Aldrich directed the film, his ninth of seventeen features, following 4 for Texas and preceding The Flight of the Phoenix. Lukas Heller and Henry Farrell wrote the screenplay, and Aldrich produced it for 20th Century Fox and The Associates & Aldrich Company. Bette Davis plays Charlotte, with Olivia de Havilland as Miriam, Joseph Cotten as Drew Bayliss, Agnes Moorehead as Velma Cruther, Cecil Kellaway as Harry Willis and Victor Buono as Big Sam Hollis among a credited cast of thirty-two. Made for about two million dollars, it returned roughly seven million worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 7.5/10 from around 17,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.3/10 from 294 votes. A critics' rating of 7.3/10 from 31 reviews places professional assessment close to the audience scores. The film runs 133 minutes and mixes drama, horror, mystery and thriller elements.
What's left behind the scenes
- Director Robert Aldrich (1918-1983) cast Joan Crawford (1904-1977) and Bette Davis (1908-1989) hoping to replicate the success of his 1962 thriller "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (in which both actresses starred). Davis did everything she could to make Crawford’s life difficult, with whom she was feuding, and Crawford eventually developed health problems so severe she had to leave the project, and was replaced by Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020). Crawford only learned of this through news reports on the radio after Davis's agent "leaked" the information.
- When Olivia de Havilland agreed to star in the film, director Robert Aldrich called to inform Bette Davis, but asked her to keep it quiet for a couple of days until he could send an official written notice to Joan Crawford and her lawyer. Davis immediately informed her agent, Rupert Alan, who then spread the word to the newspapers.
- Robert Aldrich traveled to Olivia de Havilland’s home in the Swiss mountains by three planes, train, and taxi. It took him four days to persuade her to replace Joan Crawford.
- As there was no time to adjust Miriam’s dresses for Olivia de Havilland, the actress used outfits from her personal wardrobe.
- A film adaptation of the unpublished short story “What Happened to Cousin Charlotte?” by Henry Farrell (1920-2006). Actress Bette Davis (1908-1989) insisted on changing the title, believing it was too similar to the title of the author's other work, “What Happened to Baby Jane?” (1960).
- Director Robert Aldrich cast Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in the hopes of repeating the success of his thriller “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” (in which both actresses starred). Davis did everything she could to make life difficult for Crawford, with whom she feuded, and Crawford eventually began to experience such health problems that she had to leave the project, replaced by Olivia de Havilland, which Crawford learned about from the news.
- Actress Bette Davis insisted on changing the title from 'What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?' because she felt it was too similar to the title of the sensational film based on a work by the same author, 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'.
- Director Robert Aldrich cast Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in the film, hoping to repeat the success of his thriller 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'. The actresses feuded, and Crawford had to leave the project, being replaced by Olivia de Havilland.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
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