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| Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte | 
 enlarge | Director: Robert Aldrich
Actors: Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $5.98
You Save: $9.00 (60%)
New (41) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $3.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  114 reviews
Sales Rank: 5736
Format: Closed-captioned, Black & White, Dubbed, Subtitled
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 133
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2223132D
UPC: 024543131311
EAN: 0024543131311
ASIN: B0009NZ2MO
Theatrical Release Date: December 24, 1964
Release Date: August 9, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** ** Over 1.5 million orders shipped worldwide and more than 500 000 items in stock, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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| Customer Reviews:
 Robert Aldrich and his All-Hag Revue January 5, 2001
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
My initiation into the wonderful world of Bette Davis was at the age of eight, when I begged my father to take me to see "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" at the Center Theater in Sunnyside. I just figured it was a "horror" movie. Well, seeing Bette Davis and company, it was love at first sight! "Charlotte" boasts a cast of "old vets" chewing up the scenery as if their lives depended on it. Miss Davis storms and rages and descends into near-madness as only she could, Olivia DeHavilland, who is a very fine and diversified actress, portrays Bette's sugar-coated rattlesnake of a cousin in a most convincing manner, and Agnes Moorehead-well, what can I say? Her slovenly, white-trash Velma Crother is a sight to behold-the woman was a scene-stealer. Add to this witch's brew an oily Joseph Cotten, the grand Mary Astor, Victor Buono, George Kennedy, and Ellen Corby in a small part, and you're in for a hoot of an evening! The films is a little too long, but with such company, who cares? Nowadays, where "horror" films are populated by 24-years-old and younger performers, I can only think about the "good old days" when the genre boasted seasoned performers whose life experiences didn't take place in shopping malls. "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is an old-fashioned blood-and-thunder melodrama enacted by performers who had years of theater and screen experience under their belts. There are also nods to "Diabolique","Gaslight", and "Eyes Without a Face" in this deep-fried fag-hag extravaganza. Now, how about an all-drag-queen stage recreation of this camp classic?
 NO deleted Joan Crawford scenes April 5, 2008
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is not a review on the movie which I like. But its been widely reported all over the internet that the documentary "Hush Hush Sweet Joan" would include about 10 minutes of Joan Crawford filmed scenes. Unfortunately there are NO deleted Joan Crawford scenes. The documentary is more about the filming in general and goes into the Joan/Bette fued and does show many stills of Joan that I never saw before but no deleted footage. There is behind the scenes footage of filming but again- Nothing with Joan- its Bette and Olivia De Havilland. Just a heads up in case you were running out to buy it for Joan- she is not there. Its interesting Fox called the documentary "Hush Hush Sweet Joan" -when really its not about Joan at all- other then your typical why she left, Bette hated Joan etc..... Hope this helped.
 "What do you think I invited you here for? Comp-ney?" July 19, 2005
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
"Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" is as much a gothic horror story as any told by any true Southerner. While not a direct "sequel" to "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?," HHSC is a true follow-up to the former film. HHSC is absolutely dripping with mood and intensity. You can almost feel the oppressive heat and humidity and smell the crisp night air and the mildewed scent of decaying Spanish moss and rot.
Robert Aldrich should have continued creating films such as these for as long as he could, because he definitely had two hits with WEHBJ and HHSC. He wisely used very tight and unique scripts for both projects, but I have to be honest, I quite prefer "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" to Baby Jane. Part of that is the pervasive mood of Charlotte and part of it is the cast, and the characters that exist in HHSC. Maybe Aldrich managed such a stellar cast for his second outing with Davis because of the sleeper hit status Baby Jane achieved (in fact, it drew Oscar nods for both Davis and Crawford and reinvigorated the careers of both). Regardless, when you have: Bette Davis, Olivia de Haviland (who Davis insisted replace Joan Crawford), Agnes Moorehead, Joseph Cotten, Victor Buono, Mary Astor, and Bruce Dern it is impossible to not have the cast light up the screen.
While a cast such as this was sure to create a box office, "...Charlotte" wouldn't have had the legs it's had all these years if there weren't a good story to go with them - and it certainly has that.
Charlotte Hollis (Davis) is an old spinster who's never been the same since her beau John Mayhew (Dern), who Daddy (Buono) despised was murdered. The townspeople have always believed Charlotte murdered ol' John and though she was never charged with the crime, public opinion long ago convicted her. Living in seclusion in her now decrepit and hauntingly eerie plantation home, Charlotte is desperate for assistance - the once grand southern mansion is scheduled for demolition in order to put in a new highway. Charlotte calls Cousin Miriam (de Havilland) to come down and fix it so that nothing happens to the house. Miriam comes....but she has other plans on her mind - she is going to help Charlotte pack up and get out of the house. She wants to get Charlotte's money...and there's lots of it. Along with her boyfriend, Dr. Bayliss (Cotten), they lay out a plan to have Charlotte committed, as once done, Miriam will be the only Hollis heir left to receive the family fortune.
Weak and fraile, Charlotte would be an easy mark if it were not for her maid Velma (outrageously and stellarly played by Moorehead) and a reporter by the name of Harry Willis (Cecil Kellaway), who seems to have sympathy for the old girl. Regardless, Miriam and Dr. Bayliss are quite determined. How it plays out is what makes this film a tour de force and a nail biting thriller.
As I said, the performances in this film are some of the finest you will ever encounter and it may be because these venerable actors were enjoying the freedom of an independent filmmaker AND because they were all potentially creating a "comeback". However, I don't believe these actors were that selfish in their craft - no, their performances are the creation of a love of their work and the joy they had working with others who were all tops in their field.
With more quotable lines than I can begin to enumerate, HHSC is a film that you must become immersed in. Let the wave of stagnant air and rotting timbers overtake you and you will become a captive of this fine, fine film.
Miss Davis at her BEST! July 20, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Every neighborhood has one. You know what I'm talking about, the seemingly crazy old lady that everyone talks ABOUT but no one bothers to talk TO. Why does she never come out of that house? What is she hiding up there? Is she really crazy?
Miss Bette Davis at her best (but if any other actress were acting at this age would be called a has-been) plays the complex part of the old fashion and just plain old southern bell that has her pit against all her demons and all the town's citizens who'd love to see her succomb to them.
Miss Davis BECOMES Charlotte Hollis who is convinced she killed her young lover. The once beautiful social- deb now keeps herself cooped up in the big old house of the family's and doesn't take very well to change.ie:the government coming through the town and wanting to demolish her house to put a highway through.
Enter her cousin Miriam who comes to town to help Charlotte find a way to keep her house (or so Charlotte thinks) but in all actuality is coniving with long time friend of the family, Dr. Drew, to send Miss Charlotte over the edge, and have her committed, leaving all the family's fortune and handling of the properties to (who else but) Miriam!
The town thinks Charlotte's crazy, Charlotte thinks she's crazy, she must be crazy. Right? Wrong!
Look for a scene-stealing Agnes Moorehead as the devoted maid and friend of Charlotte's, and have fun watching this psyco-thriller Urban-legend like movie! If you like Bette Davis and a good old fashion scare, you'll love this movie!
One Of 5 Films I Would Take To A Deserted Island November 25, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I saw this Bette Davis, Joseph Cotten classic back in 1965 when I was 13 years old, and I've been in love with it ever since. No need to summarize the plot here; however, if you like a creepy dark story set in a decaying plantation mansion, and if you appreciate first-rate acting and direction, by all means purchase the video. In remembering back to when I first saw this, the violence of poor John losing his head and hand in the Hollis summerhouse was so shocking and vivid to me, I could've sworn the film was in color. But alas, it was filmed in beautiful black and white, much to my surprise years later when I purchased the VHS tape. I now await the DVD release with eager anticipation. A plus!
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