What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?
by Bernard Girard, Lee H. Katzin
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Actor: Geraldine Page, Mildred Dunnock, Robert Fuller, Rosemary Forsyth, Ruth GordonDirector: Bernard Girard, Lee H. Katzin
Brand: PAGE,GERALDINE
Cinematographer: Joseph F. Biroc
Producer: Peter Nelson
Producer: Robert Aldrich
Producer: William Aldrich
Writer: Theodore Apstein
Writer: Ursula Curtiss
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Spanish (Published)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-02
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?
DVD Review: Fun and intrigue
Summary: 3 Stars
An elderly widow finds herself left nothing in her husband's will, so she takes to employing housekeepers and murdering them for their life savings. She meets her match when one comes along who is not as meek as she looks, but is actually investigating the disappearance of the last housekeeper, who was her friend. The scene is set for a little old lady showdown!
I agree with most other reviewers in that "Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice" is a black comedy rather than a thriller, and it succeeds thanks to the bravura performances of Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon, particularly Page as the villain Claire Marrabel, who really carries the whole film. Her very first scene shows us just the sort of woman she is, when her barely concealed excitement at the reading of her late husband's will turns to rage and bitterness when it turns out he had sunk all their assets into huge debts without ever telling her. Page plays the role magnificently, really throwing herself into the part, and continues in a vein of scarcely controlled wildness throughout the rest of the film. Two scenes stood out for me; firstly when she commits her very first murder, she is required to bury the body in a hole and plant a sapling pine tree over the top of this (this ever growing row of new trees becomes a visual gag for the rest of the movie). Page launches herself into the task with vigour, seemingly doing the full job while the camera and credits roll over the top of the scene. The second great moment is much later on in the movie when Claire has drugged two potential victims and tries to set their house on fire. It is Page we see (not a stand-in) crazily flinging a lighted cushion around the house trying to get the rest of the furniture to catch on fire. It looks quite dangerous, and my admiration went out to the actress for doing this scene herself. But even in the more sedate scenes, Page fills the character of Claire Marrabel with seething greed and madness, and she's always a joy to watch.
In contrast to this, Ruth Gordon takes on a far more subtle turn as Alice Dimmock, the housekeeper that fights back. Playing much of the film as a meek doormat to her employer, she really shines in scenes when she confers with an accomplice she has helping her on the outside, and the spunky character of Miss Dimmock finally comes out, and her feisty words made me feel that here was a worthy opponent for the evil Mrs Marrabel. And it's here that the meat of the film lies. Gradually, both women start to snoop into each others business and, entertainingly, both become suspicious of the other at about the same time. This leads to the best section of the movie: when both women are just starting to square up to each other over their suspicions, and every kline of dialogue contains a barbed hint or a subtle accusation. Sadly this tension cannot last, as all too soon the gloves come off and it becomes a battle for survival. After a great chase and even a physical battle inside Marrabel's house has ensued, the audience is totally rooting for poor Alice to make her getaway and expose the true murderous nature of her employer.
I won't reveal what happens, but I did find the final climax of the film slightly disappointing, so see what you think. But the film does work, despite very unnecessary support and subplots involving all manner of forgettable side characters. Not one of the rest of the cast comes close to holding your attention in the way that Page and Gordon can, in fact the film could easily have been made as a two-hander, although I suppose this would have made it less marketable. Mind you the terrible publicity images on the DVD releases don't do a very good job either - there are no visible dead bodies in the film - why can't the sleeve designers repect the fans and package the film with it's stars on the front? Just because they are too far over 25 years of age, I suppose.All in all, great fun, thanks to the efforts of it's two stars.
Description of What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?
The battle of wits is on! OscarĀ(r) winners* Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon 'sharpen their claws on each other (Boxoffice) in this enjoyable piece of jolly horror (Los Angeles Times) about a lost fortune, a mad heiress and a housekeeper hellbent on digging up the truth! Mrs. Marrable (Page) is a society matron who's had some shocking news. Her late husband left her only a stamp collection! Determined to maintain her extravagant lifestyle, she takes advantage of an unlikely new source of incomeher housekeepers by robbing them not only out of their life savings, but also their lives! The turnover rate for help speeds faster than a revolving door until Mrs. Marrable's latest hire (Gordon) develops a drive to unearth the terrible secret buried in the front yard! * Page: Actress, The Trip to Bountiful (1985); Gordon: Supporting Actress, Rosemary's Baby (1968)Bestsellers in DVD
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