What Ever Happened to...

In the 1940s, "Baby" Jane Hudson is a world-famous child star. Jane dominates her shy sister Blanche, who, as Jane's understudy and stunt double, longs to have an acting career of her own. It is implied that Jane tends to become jealous when their father shows affection to Blanche. By the 1960s, Blanche has become a serious and celebrated actress, while Jane's career fades into obscurity as she proves unable to transition to adult acting. She appears in smaller roles in Blanche's films, where her scenes usually get edited out. Blanche's career is ultimately cut short by a car accident that paralyzes her from the waist down, after which Jane was committed to a psychiatric hospital. Everyone believes that Jane, jealous of her sister's popularity, had run her over with her car and then gone insane with guilt.

In the present day, the aging sisters live together in a crumbling Brentwood mansion, where a somewhat unstable Jane, who still dresses herself in her old Baby Jane clothes and makeup, cares for the paraplegic Blanche. Blanche's films have recently become available on home video and television, launching her into a modest comeback. Jane resents both her sister's enduring popularity and her own role as caretaker and takes out her resentment on Blanche with vicious, childlike pranks, such as putting worms in Blanche's food and cutting all of her hair off. Jane also intercepts all of the mail addressed to her sister, particularly fan letters, and constantly belittles Blanche by reminding her that she never would have had a career if it wasn't for Jane's success. Blanche and her physical therapist, Dominick, worry that Jane's old mental problems are returning and that her pranks might turn violent if she finds out Blanche is selling the house without her knowledge.

Hoping that she can also stage a comeback, Jane goes to a video store to see which of her old films are available on tape. Billy Korn, the store's owner, recognizes her as Baby Jane, much to her delight. Believing that the Hudson sisters must be extremely wealthy, Billy offers to manage her comeback and promises to arrange a spot in a talent show for $1,000. Jane is thrilled by his attention and agrees without really considering the offer. She doesn't realize that Billy Korn is a shady second-rate con artist who is only after her money. He knows that she'd never succeed in a comeback, and he sees her only as a meal ticket he can use to pay off a pair of underage hustlers who are after him daily for money.

Back at home, Blanche tries to call her sister's psychiatrist, only to have Jane overhear the conversation and then physically attack her. As Jane calls the doctor back and flawlessly mimics her voice to convince him that all is well, Blanche realizes that her sister is becoming increasingly unhinged and probably wishes her dead. She tries to escape, but Jane locks her in her upstairs bedroom with no means of communication. After being starved for days, Blanche rummages through Jane's bedroom drawers for food and discovers that she has been forging her signature on checks to steal her money. Dominick arrives for his physical therapy session and discovers that Jane has bound and gagged her sister with duct tape. As he is attempting to cut her loose, Jane stabs Dominick to death with a pair of scissors and hides his body in the basement screening room before leaving for the performance Billy has arranged for her.

Jane is shocked to learn that the "talent show" Billy arranged is actually a drag revue, complete with Billy himself dressed as Blanche. When they try to perform a duet from their childhood, the audience ridicules Jane's appearance and her poor singing voice, leading her to suffer a mental breakdown and be forced offstage. Still dressed as Blanche, Billy follows, arriving back at the mansion ahead of Jane. Searching through the house for her, he comes upon Blanche, bound and gagged, near death. Horrified, he starts down the steps to contact law enforcement. He is stopped by Jane, violently on the brink of insanity and wielding a broken trophy. At first believing that he is somehow Blanche, but then understanding that he is going to bring the authorities, she stabs him to death with her trophy.

Finally coming to her senses and realizing that soon law enforcement would be closing in on her, Jane puts Blanche in her car and drives to the beach, where their fondest memories took place during their childhood. Severely dehydrated and weak from starvation, Blanche admits she had been driving the car on the night of the accident but had allowed Jane, who had been too incapacitated with drugs and alcohol to remember, to take the blame. She apologizes for never telling Jane the truth, and they are momentarily reconciled. The police arrive to find Blanche unconscious and near death. As they radio for help for Blanche, Jane realizes what is happening and walks into the sea, attempting suicide before a police officer drags her out. At first, she resists, but then she wraps her arms around him and calls him "Papa". The last shot is of Jane's smiling face as she goes willingly with the police.

• Vanessa Redgrave as Blanche Hudson
• Lynn Redgrave as Baby Jane Hudson
• Bruce A. Young as Dominick
• Amy Steel as Connie Trotter
• John Scott Clough as Frank Trotter
• John Glover as Billy Korn
• Vinny Argiro as Abe
• Pat Skipper as Director
• Barry Dennen as Stage Manager
• Samantha Jordan as Young Baby Jane Hudson
• J. Michael Flynn as Ray Hudson
• Erinn Canavan as Young Blanche Hudson
• Beans Morocco as Drag Queen
• Roy Fegan as Police Officer

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is an American suspense novel by Henry Farrell published in 1960 by Rinehart & Company.[1] The novel has earned a cult following.

Being set during the 1990s as opposed to the 1960s in the original story, the film takes a modern overtone including Baby Jane being a film actress instead of a vaudevillian, and Blanche's use of the stairlift and cassette tape. Characters Elvira Stitt the cleaning lady and Edwin Flagg are replaced with Dominick the physical therapist and Billy Korn. The film also features scenes depicting the 1990s downtown district of Hollywood.

• What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? at IMDb
• What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? at AllMovie