LUDLOW, Vt. – FOLA will present the classic drama, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”, on Saturday, June 17, at 7 p.m., in the Heald Auditorium of Ludlow’s Town Hall.
The film features the starring legends of Hollywood, famous for their rivalry and dislike of one another, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, in a psychological horror film.
In 1917, “Baby Jane” Hudson (Bette Davis) is a spoiled and capricious child actress who performs in vaudeville theatres across the country with her father, who acts as her manager and accompanies her on stage on the piano. Her success is such that a line of porcelain dolls is made in her image. Meanwhile, her shy older sister Blanche (Joan Crawford) lives in her shadow, and is treated with contempt by the haughty Jane.
As the sisters pass adolescence, their situations undergo a reversal; Jane’s style of performing falls out of fashion, and her career declines as she descends into alcoholism, while Blanche becomes an acclaimed Hollywood actress. Mindful of a promise made to their mother, Blanche attempts to maintain a semblance of a career for Jane, going as far as to prevail on producers to guarantee acting roles for her. One evening in 1935, Blanche’s career is cut short when she is paralyzed from the waist down in a mysterious car accident that is unofficially blamed on Jane, who is found three days later in a drunken stupor.
By 1962, Blanche and Jane are living together in a mansion purchased with Blanche’s movie earnings. Blanche’s mobility is limited due to her reliance on a wheelchair and the lack of an elevator to her upstairs bedroom. Jane, psychotic and resentful of Blanche’s success, regularly mistreats Blanche and prepares to revive her old act with hired pianist Edwin Flagg. When Blanche informs Jane she intends to sell the house, Jane rightly suspects Blanche will commit her to a psychiatric hospital once the house is sold. She removes the telephone from Blanche’s bedroom, cutting her off from the outside world.
What follows is the hectic battle between the two, as Jane tries to cut off Blanche from the outside world while Blanche, battling both Jane and her paralysis, seeks to counter Jane’s actions to prevent Blanche from contacting anyone.
The movie is open to everyone and is free. Donations are appreciated. The United Church of Ludlow will provide water. For information, call 802-228-3238, or visit www.fola.us. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.