History of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (film) in Timeline

1917

In 1917, "Baby Jane" Hudson is a spoiled and capricious child actress who performs in vaudeville theaters 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 lives in her shadow and is treated with contempt by the haughty Jane, with cruelty by her father, and given only weak apologies by her mother.

1935

As the sisters reach adulthood, 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.

1960

During filming in September 1962, Hedda Hopper mentioned hosting Crawford and Davis at her home for "an interview dinner." Crawford dismissed rumors of a feud between herself and Davis, expressing her desire to collaborate with her co-star since 1944 when they were both under contract to Warner Bros. Producer William Frye had recommended the source novel to Davis in 1960 but could not secure the rights. Davis then offered the story to Alfred Hitchcock, who had prior commitments. Variety quoted Davis from a television interview, stating that the two women had "too much pride to quarrel." Another report from Variety in August 1962 confirmed the friendly atmosphere on set. As a Pepsi-Cola Company board member, Crawford supplied the soft drink to the cast and crew throughout the shoot, although Aldrich occasionally brought bottles of Coca-Cola as a prank.

March 03, 1960

Henry Farrell's novel, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was announced for publication on March 3, 1960. Three weeks later, producer Richard Rush was in talks to acquire the film rights, intending to cast Hugh O'Brian, Agnes Moorehead, and Jennifer West. However, the project stalled until September 1961, when Robert Aldrich came on board as director for producer Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures. Funding was secured through Seven Arts Productions, with Warner Bros. Pictures handling distribution.

October 04, 1961

Joan Crawford discussed with Aldrich the idea of starring in a movie with Bette Davis. The two struggled to find a suitable project until they agreed on an adaptation of Farrell's novel. Aldrich commissioned Lukas Heller to write the script, and Crawford met with Aldrich on October 4, 1961, to discuss her role, which would mark her return to the screen after several years, her last appearance having been in Aldrich's 1956 film Autumn Leaves. Davis was cast in January 1962 and departed the cast of the Broadway show Night of the Iguana in March, taking a brief hiatus before rehearsals began in Los Angeles. Davis was reportedly "apprehensive" about the project as she disliked horror films, but she decided to take the role because "she loved the script and needed the money."

1962

In the United Kingdom, the film was given an X certificate by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in 1962, with a few minor cuts. These cuts were waived for a video submission, which was given an 18 certificate in 1988, meaning no one under 18 years of age could purchase a copy of the film. However, in 2004, the film was re-submitted for a theatrical re-release, and it was given a 12A certificate, now meaning persons under 12 years of age could view it if accompanied by an adult. It remains at this category to this day.

July 09, 1962

Filming occurred at the Producers Studio, later renamed Raleigh Studios, in Los Angeles, beginning on July 9, 1962. Originally budgeted at $600,000 and slated for completion within thirty days, the production's costs eventually rose to approximately $800,000. By the end of the film's production, Aldrich indicated the final cost was $1,025,000. On July 21, 1962, studio head Jack L. Warner hosted a press luncheon to celebrate Davis and Crawford and to publicize the start of production.

August 1962

In August 1962, the Theatre Owners of America, concerned by the scarcity of Hollywood films outside holiday seasons, established a committee to organize "guaranteed bookings" and preview screenings. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? became the first release to benefit from the program. By October, the National Screen Service began distributing "special theatre accessories" for the preview screenings.

September 12, 1962

Filming ran behind schedule, with completion expected in September. Despite this, Warner Bros. moved the release date from December to November 1962. Principal photography was completed on September 12, 1962. The Writers Guild of America rejected writer Harry Essex's request for screenplay credit, as he argued that his stage play, also adapted from the novel, influenced Heller. In 1963, it was noted that Warner executive vice-president Benjamin Kalmenson recommended releasing the film after it was rejected by other studios. Ken Hyman of Seven Arts also claimed credit, stating that he threatened to resign unless his company financed the project. Seven Arts recouped the production expenses within the initial eleven days of the film's premiere in New York City.

October 31, 1962

The film was shot in Los Angeles in the summer of 1962 on a budget of approximately $1 million. The production was noted for rumors of on-set feuds between Davis and Crawford, though the actresses would later deny this. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? premiered in Cincinnati October 31, 1962, and opened the following week in various U.S. cities. The film was met with critical acclaim and was a box office success. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and won one for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White, with Davis receiving her tenth and final nomination for Best Actress.

November 06, 1962

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? had its first official screening in Cincinnati on Halloween 1962. It opened in numerous cities the following week, including New York City on November 6, 1962, and Los Angeles on November 7, 1962. Davis embarked on a three-day tour of New York City that week, participating in seventeen screenings, one of which featured a children's marching band welcoming her with "When the Saints Go Marching In." She expressed her preference for film over live theater to reporters and humorously advertised her availability to Hollywood studios in trade publications. She worked with singer Debbie Burton to record the song "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane," which appeared among the week's top singles in Variety. Davis later credited the film with "resuscitating" her film career.

November 18, 1962

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was a box-office hit. During the week of November 21, 1962, it was the second-highest earning film release in the United States, and had fully recouped its production cost by November 18, 1962. By February 1963, the film had earned gross receipts of $4 million. It ultimately went on to gross a total of $9 million in theatrical rentals in North America, giving both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford their biggest hit in over a decade.

1983

Warner Home Video released What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? on VHS in a clamshell package in 1983.

1991

In 1991, the film was remade as a television film starring real-life sisters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave.

1997

Warner first released the film on DVD in 1997, followed by a two-disc special edition DVD in 2006. The film was reissued on DVD and Blu-ray on October 9, 2012, in celebration of its fiftieth anniversary. The Warner Archive Collection reissued the film on Blu-ray on July 30, 2019.

2000

In 2000, Episode 20 of season 1 of Popular parodied the film in a dream, titling it "What Even Happened to Sam McPherson?".

2003

In 2003, the character of Baby Jane Hudson was ranked no. 44 on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Villains of American Cinema. In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

2006

In 2006, Christina Aguilera adopted a new alter ego called Baby Jane after Bette Davis' character in the film.

2017

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? has been noted in the years since its release for its camp appeal. Steffen Hantke writes in Horror Film: Creating and Marketing Fear (2004) notes that the film's "camp effect of the film derives from the ways that the performances of Davis and Crawford are so intertwined with a specifically Hollywood brand of glamour. These two recognizable women are performing with the hyperbole of 1940s stars in a 1960s film." Judy Berman of Vice Media commented on the film's association with camp in 2017: "That Baby Jane is so often treated as pure camp while films with just as many goofy elements—like Hitchcock’s Psycho—end up on lists of the all-time greatest horror flicks probably comes down to sexism... Few films blur the line between “cult classic” and “canonical masterpiece” as thoroughly as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?."

2021

In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."