Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte

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Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Promotional Poster for Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Directed by	Robert Aldrich
Produced by	Robert Aldrich
Written by	Henry Farrell (story & screenplay), Lukas Heller (screenplay)
Starring	Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead
Music by	Frank De Vol
Cinematography	Joseph F. Biroc
Editing by	Michael Luciano
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 15, 1964
Running time	133 min
Country	USA
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (also known as Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?) is a 1964 20th Century Fox gothic horror/thriller motion picture starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and Joseph Cotten. Others in the cast include Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor, Bruce Dern, George Kennedy, and William Campbell. The film's title song was performed by Italian-American singer Al Martino.

Directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, it was adapted for the screen by Henry Farrell and Lukas Heller, based on the short story Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte? by Henry Farrell.

Contents 1 Production 2 Synopsis 3 Trivia 4 Movie goofs 5 DVD 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Production

The movie reunited two of the stars from Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Davis and Victor Buono. Joan Crawford was cast to play the de Havilland role, but dropped out (see: "Trivia" below).

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Agnes Moorehead); Best Art Direction (Black-and-White) (William Glasgow Art Direction, Raphael Bretton Set Decoration); Best Black-and-White Cinematography (Joseph Biroc); Best Costume Design Black-and-White (Norma Koch); Best Film Editing (Michael Luciano); Best Original Score (Frank DeVol); and Best Song ("Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" Frank DeVol (Music), Mack David (Lyrics). Farrell and Heller won a 1965 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. The song became a hit for Patti Page, who took it to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

At the time, Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte received more Oscar nominations than any other horror movie ever. The record was broken in 1991 by The Silence of the Lambs.

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte probably stands as the finest achievement in the psycho-biddy genre (also known as Grande Dame Guignol ), concerning murder, guilt, family rivalry, and the apparent ghosts of the dead. Although sometimes overshadowed in memory by What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, in many ways, Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte was the more atmospheric, hauntingly macabre film, somehow managing to tap into many of most exquisite back-of-the-dark-closet horror clichés superbly as perhaps only a picture produced in the Cold War peak of the early-1960s could. Today, in fact, even the title, "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is a phrase considered metaphorical for, and synonymous with, skeletons-in-the-closets, sordid family secrets, and shrouded Southern Gothic small-town mystique.

[edit] Synopsis

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Charlotte Hollis (played by Davis), a middle aged, wealthy spinster lives in a big house on a rural Louisiana plantation in Ascension Parish that has been in her family since the days of the antebellum South. The parish intends to demolish her plantation house and build a new highway through the property. This decision is met with opposition from Charlotte, who, ignoring the eviction notice and refusing to leave, keeps the foreman (played by Kennedy), his demolition crew and bulldozer, away with her rifle as she shoots at them. They finally give up and leave for the time being.

In 1927, Charlotte was in love with a married man, John Mayhew (played by Dern). Her father, Big Sam Hollis (played by Buono), found out they were planning to run away and spoke to John. During a large social party at the Hollis plantation, John and Charlotte had words in a small summerhouse. He told her he was breaking off their relationship and she ran from him crying. He was then murdered in a grisly fashion with a cleaver, his hand and head chopped off. The scene includes a shot of the severed hand, and bloody stump of an arm. The decapitation is not shown, but there is blood splashed on the surroundings. Charlotte then came to the ballroom with blood on her dress and everyone froze. Her father held out his hand and began telling her to come with him, as she backed away, saying, "No, Papa. I don't want to, Papa."

Sam Hollis, a local big shot, the town is even named after the family, paid to get her a good defence. Though everyone believed she murdered Mayhew, and she was the most likely suspect, her guilt was never proven.

These many years later, she has become a recluse in her plantation house. People pretty much look on her as a murderer who got away with it. She is even taunted by a cruel children's rhyme. She has a weird servant, Velma Cruther (played by Moorehead), who is loyal and takes care of Charlotte's needs and the house.

In the meantime, Charlotte wrote to her cousin, Miriam Deering (played by Olivia de Havilland), who has been living in Europe for years, and asked her to come and help her. Miriam is Charlotte's next of kin, and stands to inherit the Hollis fortune. When she arrives, it turns out that this sweet-faced, smiling, refined lady does not intend to help Charlotte save the place; she merely wants to help her pack up and vacate.

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Charlotte is naturally upset by this and has heated words with her cousin, who still behaves in a well-mannered, classy and eloquent fashion. The focus of the movie is primarily on Charlotte and Miriam and their relationship as both go through a wide range of emotions.

It seems that Charlotte's bizarre and reclusive behaviour and the fact that she wants to keep the old and decaying plantation is because she is hiding something, that she believes her father committed the murder. Dr. Drew Bayliss (played by Cotten) is concerned with her mental state. Strange things begin happening that threaten to drive her over the edge. It appears the house is haunted as she thinks she sees things... including the ghost of John Mayhew.

A British insurance investigator from Lloyds of London (masquerading as a reporter from a "true crime" publication), Harry Willis (played by Kellaway), shows up. He is interested in the old case and wants to talk to the people who were there when the murder occurred. While Miriam is in town she sees the once rich, but now poor, widow, Jewel Mayhew (played by Astor), and greets her beside Jewel's old car in a friendly and gracious manner. Jewel acts as if she has been approached by the devil himself. Miriam acts as if she cannot understand such a strange reaction. Harry visits Jewel and they have a long talk. She asks him to do something for her in the event of her death.

Charlotte has several strange experiences including seeing the murder weapon and a severed hand in the house. All the while, Miriam and Drew are helping her pack her things up in boxes until, by chance, Mirisam drops one of the boxes and a severed head resembling John Mayhew's falls out and rolls to Charlotte's feet, causing her to faint in terror. At this point it is revealved that Miriam and Drew are conspiring to scare Charlotte into a mental home in order to help themselves to the Hollis fortune.

While Charlotte is in bed heavily medicated, Velma arrives. She is trying to get Charlotte up when Miriam catches her. They have words out on the landing. Though poor Velma is an exaggerated oddball, her devotion for "Miss Charlotte" is sincere. Believing Miriam has been drugging Charlotte, she is going for help. Miriam catches her in Charlotte's room and threatens her, but Velma shows Miriam the drugs bottle she has found and sayes she is taking it to the sheriff. At this, Miriam grabs a chair and smashes it over Velma, casuing her to fall down the stairs to her death. Miriam retrives the bottle from Velma's corpse before reporting her death as an accident.

A few days after Velma's funeral, Charlotte wakes thinking she hears John singing in the ballroom. She sees his ghost through the window. By this point, Miriam and Drew are clearly seen faking the so-called haunting. There is a brief fantasy sequence during which she picks up a gun, but thinks it's a bouquet. She imagines dressing up and dancing with John, but then her father approaches and John withdraws, looking fearful. When he returns he's missing his head and arm, and she panics and shoots him. Miriam comes down from her room, turns on the lights, and discovers it is Dr. Bayliss. She turns on Charlotte and tells her "He's dead, and you killed him." She wants to call the sheriff; Charlotte tries to explain how it happened, and offers to give Miriam all her money if she'll help hide the body.

As they are taking away the body, with Miriam driving, Charlotte fears she won't be able to help get rid of the body because she just can't touch it. She does help Miriam throw it in the river, but becomes badly hysterical on the way home. Miriam finally snaps. She stops the car and slaps Charlotte's face multiple times. Her hatred, disgust, and resentment, is revealed, as well as the fact that she always felt like the poor relation.

When the pair arrive back at the house Charlotte runs inside only to be confronted by the soaking wet corpse of Drew Bayliss standing on the staits, grinning at her. She screams and falls into some kind of hysterical statse of shock. Miriam takes her upstairs.

That evening, Charlotte awakens. She hears talk and laughter coming from the patio below as she walks out on the terrace. It is Miriam and Dr. Bayliss drinking cocktails and discussing with satisfaction how they have faked his death by giving Charlotte a gun loaded with blanks, driven Charlotte insane and will get her money when Miriam has her committed. Charlotte is suddenly filled with wrath and shoves a large, heavy flower pot from the edge of the balcony. They look up and scream just before it strikes and kills them.

The following day, Charlotte is dressed in a nice suit and looks rather attractive as she is led out of the house to the Sheriff's car. Nearly the entire population of the town is there to gawp at her. Three of the town gossips (one of whom is played by Ellen Corby) huddle together and dispense the news that when Jewel Mayhew heard what happened, she dropped dead.

Harry Willis is there with a note from Jewel to Charlotte. Though she apparently did not reveal the truth to Harry when she talked to him, he found out later that Jewel had no more money because she paid blackmail for years to Miriam, who saw her leaving the summerhouse the night of the murder and guessed correctly that she was the killer. This was why Jewel didn't collect on her husband's insurance, it might have made her look guilty. Charlotte has suffered all her life defending her father's honour when she needn't have. With her source of income gone, Miriam really returned with the sole intention all along of getting the Hollis fortune.

Charlotte prepares to leave, carrying her music box, but at the last minute leaves it behind. Harry gives Charlotte the note just as the car is leaving. She reads it; we don't see it, but may presume it's Jewel's confession. Her expression reveals that a great weight has been lifted form her at last. She waves at Harry, and he smiles fondly back as the car drives her away from the house for the last time.

[edit] Trivia

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• Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte was intended to reunite What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, but Davis bullied and tormented Crawford, who had actively campaigned against her when she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Jane Hudson, until Crawford, claiming she was ill, went into a hospital shortly after production began to get out of having to do the movie. Scenes were shot around her. To Davis's glee, it finally became evident to Aldrich that Crawford would have to be replaced.
• Katharine Hepburn was offered the role of Miriam Deering, but never returned the call.^{[citation needed]}
• Vivien Leigh was also offered the role, but declined, saying, "No, thank you. I could just about stand looking at Joan Crawford's face at six o'clock in the morning, but not Bette Davis's."^[1]
• Loretta Young was also offered the role, but turned it down, saying it was totally wrong for her.
• Aldrich flew to Olivia de Havilland's home in Switzerland and persuaded her to step in and play the role.
• There is a long shot in the beginning of the movie, when Miriam gets out of the taxi upon her arrival at the Hollis plantation, that actually shows the back of Joan Crawford's head and not de Havilland's.
• Barbara Stanwyck was originally offered the small role of Jewel Mayhew, which eventually went to Mary Astor.
• The movie was filmed at the historic Houmas House Plantation and Gardens outside the town of Darrow, Louisiana, just outside of Gonzales, Louisiana, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. There are tours of the home and grounds, including the bedroom Davis used while filming, which has been preserved. The tour guide also points out the spot where Charlotte pushes the flower pot from the balcony.

• Until his death in 1959, Joan Crawford had been married to Alfred Steele, the president of Pepsi-Cola. To spite her co-star, Bette Davis installed a Coca-Cola machine on the set.

[edit] Movie goofs

• Though it is set in Louisiana, which is the only state or commonwealth in the United States to have parishes instead of counties, the town's undertaker, while talking with Harry Willis, refers to the "County Commissioner." (Note though that Louisiana is not the only state not to use counties: Alaska has boroughs.)
• While Willis is waiting outside the Hollis plantation house with the note for Charlotte, he licks and seals the envelope. It is unsealed, however, when she opens it.
• The carnation in Big Sam Hollis's lapel switches sides in the scenes just prior to the murder.
• The 1927 dance scene features 1960s hairstyles and dresses.

[edit] DVD

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[edit] External links

• Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte at All Movie Guide
• Louisiana Plantation: Houmas House Plantation and Gardens
• Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Review

[edit] References

1. ^ "Bette & Joan - The Divine Feud" (Shaun Considine), page 377