Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
by Robert Aldrich
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Actor: Agnes Moorehead, Bette Davis, Cecil Kellaway, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de HavillandDirector: Robert Aldrich
Brand: DAVIS,BETTE
Cinematographer: Joseph F. Biroc
Producer: Robert Aldrich
Editor: Michael Luciano
Producer: Walter Blake
Writer: Henry Farrell
Writer: Lukas Heller
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 133 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-08-09
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
DVD Review: "She just acts that way because people seem to expect it of her"
Summary: 4 Stars
Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte is sort of a mixed bag. The film, a campy Southern Gothic Thriller, was supposed to be yet another vehicle for Ms. Davis to cash in on her success in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? And while the film isn't quite as good as its predecessor, it's certainly worth taking a look at, mostly for the screwy and wacky performances of Bette and Olivia de Havilland, as the film's "other" leading lady.
Hush Hush...lacks the much of the suspense and insane creepiness of Bette's other post-Baby Jane gothic outing; the more tightly plotted and cleverly executed Dead Ringer. This doesn't mean that Hush Hush...isn't good, because it has many memorable moments; it's just that I didn't think it came across as dramatically effective and as entertaining as Davis' other gothic thrillers.
Most of Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte takes place in a ramshackle, dilapidated mansion where Charlotte Hollis (Davis) has for years been living as a part reclusive, decrepit, and slightly insane Southern lady. Rumor has it that 30 years earlier, she murdered boyfriend John Mayhew (Bruce Dern) with a meat cleaver. But did she really commit the horrible crime?
Over the years, Charlotte has convinced herself that she had at least something to do with the incident and by now seems quite removed from reality. Half the time she believes her lover is still alive, and half the time she believes she probably did kill him. Certainly, the community believes she's a murder, with the local children making up cruel song lyrics and occasionally terrorizing her in her home.
The plot thickens when Charlotte is told that she has only a few weeks to vacate her house because the State has requisition it for demolition in order to build a new bridge and road through her property. Charlotte refuses to leave and even threatens the construction foreman (George Kennedy), with a gun. With no where to turn Charlotte calls upon her only kin, her well-meaning cousin Miriam Dearing (de Havilland) and her friendly doctor, Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotton).
But no sooner does dear cousin Miriam move in than weird and frightening things begin to happen in the old house and Charlotte seems to become even crazier. She starts to hear voices and thinks it's John's voice, she sees strange figures at night through the window, and the harpsichord plays in the dead of night when nobody's at it. She also has scary visions - a severed hand and a bloody cleaver lies on the floor in front of her; a severed head falls down the stairs, and wall mirrors are inexplicably broken.
Is Charlotte really going mad, or is someone deliberately trying to drive her insane? Are Miriam and the good doctor really as kindly and helpful as they first seemed? Charlotte's trusty and loyal housekeeper Velma Cruther (Agnes Moorehead) knows the secrets of the strange and dark house and is determined to help Charlotte. A letter delivered by Jewel Mayhew (Mary Astor), the wronged widow of so long ago, to Harry Willis (Cecil Kellaway) a snooping insurance investigator, finally reveals the truth and perhaps will give Charlotte the redemption that she seems to need.
The best scenes are when de Havilland and Davis are together on the screen. But Davis is often shrill and her constant shouting and histrionics tend to get a bit much. By now we already know she's the greatest screen actress of all time, so she doesn't have to prove it any more by playing a role so over the top, that seems to scream out for people to notice her.
Complete with pigtails and a wearing girlish party dress, Davis is made up to look as old and as drab as possible, a severe contrast to the enduring beauty, class, and sophistication of good cousin Miriam, whose radiant splendor doesn't seem to have succumbed to the same ravages of time as Charlotte's has. de Havilland, to her credit, plays it all very cool; she's a lady through and through, and thus, we are never sure what her true motivations are, or where her true loyalties really lie.
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte remains a good example of early 60's film noir and director Robert Aldrich fills his story, with shadowy passageways, ghostly rooms, and stormy, windswept nights. There are also enough plot twists and enigmatic characters to keep the viewer guessing for most of the movie's running time.
However, clocking in at almost 133 minutes, the film is a little too long - the prologue alone is almost fifteen minutes before the opening titles even roll. And there are also a number of plot elements that, rather than complement, just end up convoluting and confusing the proceedings. Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte is really only dressed-up, gothic schlock, but even with its problems, it's still entertaining schlock, and ultimately provides a view of Bette Davis at her bombastic and grandiloquent best. Mike Leonard August 05
Description of Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
A reclusive spinster is tormented by memories of her fianc?e's murder forty years ago.Genre: Horror
Rating: NR
Release Date: 9-AUG-2005
Media Type: DVD
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