The film's title is a reference to the 1962 horror film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, which was also produced by Robert Aldrich. Both films are considered part of the psycho-biddy subgenre, in which a formerly glamorous and now older woman has become psychotic.[3]
Claire Marrable, the vainglorious aging widow of a prominent businessman, is distraught upon discovering that her husband's estate has been stripped of all assets, leaving her in debt and with nowhere to live. His only personal effects include a briefcase, a butterfly collection, two antique daggers and a stamp collection.
Claire relocates to Tucson, Arizona to be close to her nephew, George, and his wife Julia. Late one evening, Claire lures her live-in housekeeper, Rose Hull, outside to plant a pine tree, and clobbers her to death with a rock before burying her in a shallow grave. She hires the timid Edna Tinsley as a replacement housekeeper shortly after. Edna invests money in stocks Claire claims to have gained significant capital on; when she inquires about them, Claire murders her in the same fashion as the last housekeeper, burying her in the yard beneath a new pine tree. She burns all of Edna's belongings except for her Bible, though she disposes of the front page which bears Edna's name.
At one of George and Julia's dinner parties, Claire is introduced to Harriet Vaughn, a young widow from the East Coast whose husband was a stock broker. Harriet and her young nephew, Jim, rent a cottage from George, much to Claire's displeasure as the cottage neighbors her property. Harriet subsequently begins a romance with Mike Darrah, a car restorationist from Phoenix. Meanwhile, Claire hires retired nurse Alice Dimmock as her new housekeeper. Alice discovers Edna's Bible in Claire's library and is visibly perturbed, and later retrieves pieces of Edna's mail; the letters enquire about Edna's whereabouts. Claire claims Edna was a drunk and she fired her, but Alice appears skeptical of her story.
One afternoon, a stray Labrador Retriever named Chloe continues to bark viciously outside Clarie's house. Claire grows worried that the dog will unearth the bodies and makes several attempts to get rid of her. She reveals to Alice that Chloe is a tramp and that her former housekeeper, Rose Hull, used to feed and care for Chloe.
Mike stops by one day to visit Alice; he is, in fact, Alice's nephew. It is revealed that Alice is posing as a housekeeper to investigate her good friend Edna's disappearance. Mike uncovers Edna's bank account, which has been almost entirely drained of funds. Claire plans an impromptu trip to attend a music festival in New Mexico the next morning. Alice asks if she can drive into town, claiming that she needs to buy toothpaste and stockings for the trip; while she is gone, Claire finds a full tube of toothpaste in Alice's bathroom. Suspicious, she investigates further, and finds a new box of stockings in Alice's dresser. Claire finds a letter to Alice from Mike regarding Edna's bank account, confirming her suspicion that Alice is on to her.
Claire confronts Alice, who admits that she is searching for Edna, and demands to know where she is before accusing her of murder. The women begin fighting, and Claire chases Alice through the house. Claire beats Alice over the head with a phone receiver, rendering her unconscious. The next morning, Harriet stops by to tell Claire that George has been attempting to call, but has been unable to reach her. Inside, Claire tells her that Alice injured her head on a falling tree branch during a windstorm the night before and pretends, within Harriet's earshot, to talk to an incapacitated Alice in her bedroom.
That afternoon, Claire dresses herself in Alice's clothes and wig, and drives the incapacitated Alice to a nearby lake and sinks the car. Shortly after, George and Julia arrive at the same time as a telephone repairman. George asks where Alice is, and Claire claims that she went to the drugstore to retrieve allergy medication. Mike and Harriet arrive moments later, inquiring about Alice's whereabouts. George answers a phone call notifying that Alice was found dead in her car, which crashed off the road into the lake. That night, Claire invites Harriet and Jim over for dinner and serves them drugged egg nog. Jim is fascinated by Claire's husband's stamp collection, and Claire offers to give it to him. Once Harriet and Jim are unconscious, she drags their bodies into their cottage and lights the home on fire, trapping Chloe in the process.
In the morning, Claire finds the pine trees in her yard upturned and the graves exposed. She is confronted by the sheriff, George and Julia, as well as Harriet, Jim, and Mike; Mike saved them the night before and stopped the fire. Jim returns the stamp collection to Claire, which she learns is, in fact, worth over $100,000. Claire looks over her pine trees and laughs hysterically; stating that, perhaps it's time that she, herself, should offer her services as a live-in companion.
The Forbidden Garden by Ursula Curtiss was published in 1962. The New York Times called it "chilling".[4]The Guardian said it was one of the author's best and should be "read in one sitting".[5]
In September 1967, Aldrich announced he would make the film under the title What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? It would be made by his production company, The Associates & Aldrich.[7] In October Aldrich announced the film would be part of a four-picture deal his company signed with ABC Pictures, the others being The Killing of Sister George (1968), (then uncompleted) The Greatest Mother of 'em All (1970), and Too Late the Hero (also 1970).[8]William Inge was signed to write the script.[9]
Aldrich did not direct What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?, but he did produce it. Bernard Girard was the original director.
By August, Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon had signed to play the leads and the script was written by Theodore Apstein.[10][11][12] "It's a wonderful part and a wonderful script", said Gordon.[13]
Geraldine Page's character, Claire Marrable, portrayed an aging woman, when in fact, Page was only 43–44 years old at the time during the film's production and release.[14]
Filming for What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? began on October 23, 1968 on location in Tucson, Arizona, with additional photography taking place at Aldrich Studios in Los Angeles.[1] Principal photographing was completed on January 5, 1969.[1]
Robert Fuller, who had a supporting role, had been signed to a three-picture contract with the Associates & Aldrich.[15]
In November, it was announced that Bernard Girard, who was directing the film, "has withdrawn due to differences in interpretation" and would be replaced by Lee Katzin.[16]
Release
Theatrical
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? premiered theatrically in New York City on July 23, 1969[1] in 48 theatres and grossed $540,000 in its first week, placing number one at the box office in the United States.[17] It was subsequently given a wide release on August 20, 1969.[18] The film opened the 1969 Cork Film Festival in Ireland,[19] and received its European premiere in London on September 21, 1969.[18]
Critical reception
The Los Angeles Times called the film a "thoroughly enjoyably romp of jolly horror".[20]Vincent Canby of The New York Times deemed the film "an amusingly baroque horror story told by a master misogynist", and praised Page as an "affecting" actress.[6]Variety similarly praised the acting, noting: "Page as a high and mighty wealthy eccentric delivers a bravura performance. Gordon, working crisply, offers a remarkable portrait of a brave woman. The two ladies play off each other relentlessly and audience reaps the rewards."[21]
Donald Guarisco of AllMovie wrote: "This Robert Aldrich production is a second-tier version of the thrills he pioneered in his self-directed film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The problem is simple: What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? has the stars right, but the material is underdeveloped. The script has an engaging premise that would be a perfect vehicle for all sorts of creepy thrills, but the story never capitalizes on the possibilities of its memorable lead character duo."[22]
Box office
The film earned rentals of $2,025,000 in North America and $1.2 million in other countries. After all costs were deducted, it recorded a loss of $860,000.[2]
On January 17, 2018, Kino Lorber announced they would be releasing the film on Blu-ray and DVD featuring a 4K restoration.[26] It was finally confirmed on October 31, 2018, that the film would receive its Blu-ray and DVD release on January 8, 2019.[27]
Proposed follow-up
In October 1969, Aldrich announced that he would make a third What Ever Happened to... film, What Ever Happened to Dear Elva? based on the novel Goodbye, Aunt Elva by Elizabeth Fenwick. However, the film was never made.[28]
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is an American psychological horror novel by Henry Farrell published in 1960 by Rinehart & Company. The novel has earned a cult following, and has been adapted for the screen twice, in 1962 and 1991.
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for four Tony Awards.
Robert Burgess Aldrich was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. An iconoclastic and maverick auteur working in many genres during the Golden Age of Hollywood, he directed mainly films noir, war movies, westerns and dark melodramas with Gothic overtones. His most notable credits include Vera Cruz (1954), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), The Big Knife (1955), Autumn Leaves (1956), Attack (1956), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and The Longest Yard (1974).
Too Late the Hero is a 1970 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Michael Caine, Cliff Robertson, Ian Bannen and Harry Andrews.
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 1964 American psychological horror thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, and starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead and Mary Astor in her final film role. It follows a middle-aged Southern woman, suspected in the unsolved murder of her lover from decades before, who is plagued by bizarre occurrences after summoning her cousin to help challenge the local government's impending demolition of her home. The screenplay was adapted by Henry Farrell and Lukas Heller, from Farrell's unpublished short story "What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?"
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological horror thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, from a screenplay by Lukas Heller, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. The film stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and features the major film debut of Victor Buono. It follows an aging former child star tormenting her paraplegic sister, a former film star, in an old Hollywood mansion.
Alice, Sweet Alice is a 1976 American psychological slasher film co-written and directed by Alfred Sole, and starring Linda Miller, Paula Sheppard, and Brooke Shields in her film debut. Set in 1961 New Jersey, the film focuses on a troubled adolescent girl who becomes a suspect in the brutal murder of her younger sister at her First Communion, as well as in a series of unsolved stabbings that follow.
Burnt Offerings is a 1976 American supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, and Lee H. Montgomery, with Eileen Heckart, Burgess Meredith and Anthony James in supporting roles. It is based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Robert Marasco. The plot follows a family who begins to interpersonally dissolve under supernatural forces in a large estate they have rented for the summer.
Berserk! is a 1967 British horror-thriller film directed by Jim O'Connolly and starring Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors and Judy Geeson. The screenplay was written by Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel.
Private Parts is a 1972 American horror film directed by Paul Bartel in his feature film debut, and starring Ayn Ruymen, Lucille Benson, and John Ventantonio. Its plot follows a troubled young woman who suspects a deviant serial killer is living in her aunt's dilapidated hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The film has been noted for its stylistic mixture of horror, dark comedy, and psychological thriller elements.
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is a 1971 horror-thriller film directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Shelley Winters, Mark Lester, and Sir Ralph Richardson. Based partly on the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel", the film focuses on a demented American widow living in her husband's English manor who becomes obsessed with a young orphan girl who resembles her dead daughter.
The Grissom Gang is a 1971 American crime neo noir directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by Leon Griffiths. The film is the second adaptation of the 1939 novel No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase; a previous version had been made in Britain in 1948. The cast includes Kim Darby, Scott Wilson, Tony Musante, Robert Lansing, Irene Dailey, Connie Stevens, Wesley Addy, Joey Faye and Ralph Waite.
Rosemary Forsyth is a Canadian-born American actress. She made her big screen debut in the 1965 Western film Shenandoah, for which she received Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year – Actress. Forsyth later starred in films The War Lord (1965), Texas Across the River (1966), Where It's At (1969), What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969), Some Kind of a Nut (1969), How Do I Love Thee? (1970), Black Eye (1974) and Gray Lady Down (1978).
The Hearse is a 1980 American supernatural horror film directed by George Bowers and starring Trish Van Devere and Joseph Cotten. It follows a schoolteacher from San Francisco who relocates to a small town in northern California to spend the summer in a house she inherited from her deceased aunt, only to uncover her aunt's past as a devil worshipper, which seems to trigger a series of supernatural occurrences.
Take a Girl Like You is a 1970 British romantic comedy drama film directed by Jonathan Miller and starring Hayley Mills, Oliver Reed and Noel Harrison. Based on the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis, it was adapted by George Melly.
The Legend of Lylah Clare is a 1968 American drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Robert Aldrich. The film stars Peter Finch, Kim Novak, Ernest Borgnine, Michael Murphy, and Valentina Cortese. The film was based on a 1963 DuPont Show of the Week TV drama of the same name co-written by Wild in the Streets creator Robert Thom.
Olive Blakeney was an American actress.
Bernard Girard was an American screenwriter, producer and film director.
The Killing of Sister George is a 1968 American film directed by Robert Aldrich and filmed at his Aldrich Studios in Los Angeles. It is based on the 1964 play by British playwright Frank Marcus. In the film, an ageing lesbian television actress, June "George" Buckridge, simultaneously faces the loss of her popular television role and the breakdown of her long-term relationship with a younger woman. Although Marcus's play was a black comedy, the film version was marketed as a "shocking drama"; it added explicit lesbian content that was not in the original play, and was presented as a serious treatment of lesbianism.
The Greatest Mother of 'em All is a 1969 short film made by Robert Aldrich.
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