October 31, 1962: “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” Premieres

Davis (left) and Crawford.

At the time, they were, respectively, 54 and 58 years old.

October 31, 1962: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? premieres. Halloween was a good choice for a premiere date for this film.

Directed by Robert Aldrich, it starred Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Davis played Jane Hudson, once a child vaudeville star known as Baby Jane, favored by both parents over her older sister, Blanche, played as an adult by Crawford.

But as sound films come along, Blanche becomes a film star, and the now-grown Jane seems like a 20-year-old relic, and she becomes an alcoholic. Blanche promised their mother that she would help Jane's career recover, talking producers into casting her. But in 1935, Blanche is paralyzed in a car accident, which everyone presumes to be Jane's fault, although she is not criminally charged.

By 1962, Blanche and Jane are living together in a mansion purchased with Blanche's film earnings. Blanche's mobility is limited due to her reliance on a wheelchair and the lack of an elevator to her upstairs bedroom. Jane has become a grotesque, mentally unstable alcoholic who regularly abuses Blanche.

When Blanche's old films begin airing on television, renewing her popularity among her fans, Jane becomes increasingly jealous and resentful. She fixates on the success and adoration she once had as a child star, and decides to revive her old act with hired pianist Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono).

When Blanche informs Jane she intends to sell the house, Jane correctly 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.

During Jane's absence, Blanche desperately drags herself down the stairs and calls her doctor for help. Jane returns to find Blanche on the phone and beats her unconscious before mimicking Blanche's voice to dismiss the doctor. After tying Blanche to her bed and locking her in her room, Jane abruptly fires their housekeeper, Elvira (Maidie Norman), when she comes to work. While Jane is away, the suspicious Elvira sneaks into the house and attempts to access Blanche's room. Jane kills her, using Blanche's wheelchair to move Elvira's body to her car.

A few days later, the police call to tell Jane that Elvira's cousin has reported her missing. Jane panics and prepares to leave, taking Blanche with her. Before they can go, a drunk Edwin is escorted to the house by police, who leave him there. Upon discovering Blanche bound to her bed, Edwin flees and notifies the authorities. Jane, in a fit of infantile regression, takes Blanche to a beach where she sang as a child.

The next morning, the news of Elvira's murder and Blanche's condition is on the radio, and the police are on the lookout. Weakened and near death, Blanche confesses to Jane that she caused her own accident. On the night in question, Blanche tried to run Jane over because she was angry at her drunken sister for mocking her at a party. Blanche's spine broke when her car struck the gates outside their mansion, and she dragged herself in front of the car's hood to stage the accident and frame Jane. Blanche took advantage of Jane's shock and subsequent bender, concealing the real cause of the accident from her, which subjected Jane to a life of guilt, loneliness, and servitude.

Now aware of the truth, a saddened Jane responds, "You mean, all this time, we could have been friends?" When Jane gets ice cream for herself and Blanche from a nearby refreshment stand, she is recognized by two police officers, who ask her to lead them to Blanche, attracting the attention of nearby beachgoers. Jane dodges the officers' inquiry and dances before the crowd of curious onlookers. The officers find Blanche nearby and rush to save her.

In 1991, this film was remade, with the Redgrave sisters: Vanessa played Jane, and Lynn played Blanche. In 2021, the comedy team of Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders did a sketch, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen?"

Davis and Crawford hated each other in real life, too, to the point where a miniseries was made about it in 2017, titled Feud. Susan Sarandon played Bette, Jessica Lange played Joan, and Catherine Zeta-Jones played Olivia de Havilland.

Lucille Fay LeSueur, a.k.a. Joan Crawford, died in 1977. Ruth Elizabeth Davis, a.k.a. Bette Davis, died in 1989.

Also on October 31, 1962, Girls! Girls! Girls! premiered. I don’t know if this is still true, or if it ever was, but I once read that, of all of Elvis Presley’s movies, it was the one that had been shown on television the most.

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October 31, 1962 was a Thursday. Baseball season had ended 15 days earlier, when the New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-95 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Jerry West scored 35 points.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 115-100 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* And the Syracuse Nationals beat the St. Louis Hawks, 126-108 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

And there was 1 game in the NHL: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.