Bette Davis plays the titular Jane - a washed up, deranged former child star who looks after her paraplegic sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) who achieved much greater success as an adult in the movie business than Jane did. Confined to her upstair quarters, Blanche is at the mercy of her crazy sister who kills her parakeet, cuts off her phone line, and handcuffs her to the bed, and starves her. The nurse, Elvira, discovers Blanche in a starved, dehydrated state but before she can tell anyone, Jane kills her. Jane is also a dipsomaniac who believes she can relive the 'Baby Jane' era and she hires a pianist called Edwin to assist her in her very grotesque come back. Jane is severely beaten by Blanche when she makes a break for it to phone the police. The police are actually circling Jane over the disappearance of Elvira. Jane gathers up a dilapidated Blanche, brings her to the beach and when the cops approach her, she starts singing and dancing, pleased she has an audience at last. 'Baby Jane' is a fantastic mad woman. She has lost touch with reality, but she is also dreadfully conniving at the same time - a feature which makes her downright evil in her manipulation of the people around her. Bette Davis gives a laudable performance as Jane, making her very cruel and depraved, chronically drunk and in possession of a bizarre belief that people will want to see the withered up old hag act, sing and dance like a little girl. Her performances as 'Baby Jane' are so hideously warped, you will want to scrub your eyeballs with bleach after watching her.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!