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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Initially conceived as a
follow up to his macabre "Whatever Happened to
Baby Jane" Robert Aldrich's Hush, Hush Sweet
Charlotte (1964) is a far more sinister, dark, and
psychotic excursion on all levels. It begins in
earnest in 1927 on an old southern plantation run
by Big Sam Hollis (Victor Buono). Seems Big Sam is
dead set against studly John Mayhew (Bruce Dern)
proposing to his teenage daughter, Charlotte
(Bette Davis). And for good reason… Johnny's
already married to Jewel (Mary Astor). But could
Sam really be responsible for the bloody night
that follows?
From a thoroughly gruesome scene of carnage in
which Johnny gets the axe -- literally -- we fast
track to 1964. Sam is dead and Charlotte is living
in seclusion and near mental derangement on the
plantation with her equally nutty housekeeper,
Velma Cruther (Agnes Moorehead). But the plot
takes an unexpected turn for the worst with the
return of Charlotte's cousin, Miriam Deering
(Olivia DeHavilland) and her clever and close
association with Charlotte's family physician, Dr.
Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotten). From here the plot
only gets more severe, brooding, maniacal and
disturbing. Far be it from this reviewer to give
away the store for those not yet introduced to
this wicked and diabolically effective bit of
bleak entertainment.
Davis is grandly amusing as the mentally unstable
Charlotte. She's more touched, yet poignantly
touching than in 'Baby Jane.' Working against
their congenial goodie-goodie on-screen types,
Olivia DeHavilland and Joseph Cotten are effective
as throbbing evil incarnate. The whole cast has a
sort of 'damned' quality that looms large and
foreboding and is greatly enhanced by the
evocative black and white cinematography. Famous
for his delayed main title sequences, director
Aldrich introduces us to a truly repugnant lyric
under the image of a broken hearted Charlotte,
still clutching her music box and weeping, as a
troupe of sadistic children chant; "Chop chop,
sweet Charlotte, Chop chop till he's dead, Chop
chop, sweet Charlotte, Chop off his hand and
head."
The film also contains two great 'movie mistakes'
that are worth noting. They both occur during the
1927 prologue. The first mistake is a two shot,
showing Big Sam searching for Charlotte. In the
first shot his carnation is in the left lapel of
his tuxedo, in the second shot the carnation has
migrated over to his right side. The other mistake
has to do with the staging of the 20s in general.
Though the band is playing a Charleston, no one in
the room seems to know how to dance it. Instead
guests simply bob up and down or gyrate as though
they were in a 60s disco-tech. Also, their hair is
uncharacteristically 60s mod for the 20s. There's
not a single bob or crimp to be had.
The DVD transfer from Fox is generally marvelous.
Though there are several instances where the image
falters in clarity and stability, overall this is
a very solid, clean and extremely well contrasted
picture element that is free of age-related
artifacts. Blacks are velvety deep and rich.
Whites are overall clean. There is some minor edge
enhancement in several scenes but nothing that
will distract. The audio has been remixed to
stereo. The original mono is also provided. Aside
from several trailers and TV spots, the one extra
worth noting is the audio commentary by John
Erikson. |
