Cecil Kellaway

Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte

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Bette Davis screaming

Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte tries to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle that was What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? And fails. It’s not even a valiant fail, instead director Robert Aldrich and co cynically re-run the same basic idea – two vintage dames doing battle most foul – but this time around one essential ingredient is lakcing. Joan Crawford. Bette Davis is here, though, the other half of the duelling duo who’d made Baby Jane‘s so memorable. Crawford walked off the production of this follow-up claiming to be ill. Eventually the insurers demanded she be let go. Or that’s how the story goes. It’s just as likely that Bette Davis orchestrated her exit. If you remember … Read more

The Postman Always Rings Twice

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Frank and Cora

Talking of twice, there are two good reasons why reviews of the movie The Postman Always Rings Twice almost invariably mention the book’s author, James M Cain. Cain’s name has no real resonance today, but his book was Fifty Shades of Grey shade of famous in 1934 and made a celebrity of the author. As a sentient member of the public you had to have a position on the book – you’d read it, you’d read a review of it, or you’d ostentatiously decided not to read it. Love it or loathe it, it could not be ignored. The second is the opening credits to this 1946 screen version, which go very large on … Read more