Actors - Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte

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	Actors - Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 1964 20th Century Fox gothic horror/thriller motion picture starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and Joseph Cotten. Others in the cast include Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor, Bruce Dern, George Kennedy, and William Campbell.

Directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, it was adapted for the screen by Henry Farrell and Lukas Heller, based on the short story Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte? by Henry Farrell.

The movie reunited two of the stars from Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Davis and Victor Buono. Joan Crawford was cast to play the de Havilland role, but dropped out (see: "Trivia" below).

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Agnes Moorehead); Best Art Direction (Black-and-White) (William Glasgow Art Direction, Raphael Bretton Set Decoration); Best Black-and-White Cinematography (Joseph Biroc); Best Costume Design Black-and-White (Norma Koch); Best Film Editing (Michael Luciano); Best Original Score (Frank DeVol); and Best Song ("Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" Frank DeVol (Music), Mack David (Lyrics).

At the time, Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte received more Oscar nominations than any other horror movie ever. The record was broken in 1991 by Silence of the Lambs.

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte probably stands as the finest achievement in the psycho-biddy genre, concerning murder, guilt, family rivalry, and the apparent ghosts of the dead.

U.S. release: December 15, 1964

133 mins.; English; Black-and-White

Synopsis

Charlotte Hollis (played by Davis), a middle aged, wealthy spinster lives in a big house on a rural Louisiana plantation that has been in her family since the days of the antebellum South. The parish intends to demolish her plantation house and build a new highway through the property. This decision is met with opposition from Charlotte, who, ignoring the eviction notice and refusing to leave, keeps the foreman (played by Kennedy), his demolition crew and bulldozer, away with her rifle as she shoots at them. They finally give up and leave for the time being.

In 1927, Charlotte was in love with a married man, John Mayhew (played by Dern). Her father, Big Sam Hollis (played by Buono), found out they were planning to run away and spoke to John. During a large social party at the Hollis plantation, John and Charlotte had words in a small out building. He told her he was breaking off their relationship and she ran from him crying. He was then murdered in a grizzly fashion with a cleaver, his hand and head chopped off. The scene includes a shot of the severed hand, and bloody stump of an arm. The decapitation is not shown, but there is blood splashed on the surroundings. Charlotte then came to the ballroom with blood on her dress and everyone froze. Her father held out his hand and began telling her to come with him, as she backed away, saying, "No, Papa. I don't want to, Papa."

Sam Hollis, a local big shot, the town is even named after the family, paid to get her a good defense. Though everyone believed she murdered Mayhew, and she was the most likely suspect, her guilt was never proven.

These many years later, she has become a recluse in her plantation house. People pretty much look on her as a murderer who got away with it. She is even taunted by a cruel children's rhyme. She has a weird servant, Velma Cruther (played by Moorehead), who is loyal and takes care of Charlotte's needs and the house.

In the meantime, Charlotte wrote to her cousin, Miriam Deering (played by de Havilland), who has been living in Europe for years, and asked her to come and help her. Miriam is Charlotte's next of kin, and stands to inherit the Hollis fortune. When she arrives, it turns out that this sweet-faced, smiling, refined lady does not intend to help Charlotte save the place; she merely wants to help her pack up and vacate.

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