Watch: Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Horror • Mystery • Thriller
Theatrical Release (US)
~ The years will soon erase a lover's lies...the blood on his face! ~
Overview:
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
Director:
Robert Aldrich
Status:
Released
Language:
English
Buget:
$2,200,000.00
Revenue:
$4,000,000.00
Key words:
Cast
Bette Davis
~ as ~
Charlotte Hollis
Olivia de Havilland
Miriam Deering
Joseph Cotten
Drew Bayliss
Agnes Moorehead
Velma Cruther
Cecil Kellaway
Harry Willis
Victor Buono
Big Sam Hollis
Mary Astor
Jewel Mayhew
Wesley Addy
Sheriff Standish
William Campbell
Paul Marchand
Bruce Dern
John Mayhew
John Chard
Written 11 year(s) ago
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Glorious Southern Gothic Delirium.
Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte is directed by Robert Aldrich and written by Henry Farrell and Lukas Heller. It stars Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway and Mary Astor. Music is by Frank De Vol and cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc.
It’s 1927, the Louisiana plantation home of Sam Hollis (Victor Buono), and Charlotte Hollis (Davis) is having an affair with a married man, John Mayhew (Bruce Dern). After a heated argument between Sam and John, John is brutally slain by an unseen assailant, only Charlotte appears on the scene covered in blood. Then it’s the present day and just Charlotte and her house keeper, Velma (Moorehead) live at the Hollis mansion, Sam having passed away many years ago. Charlotte is mentally scarred from the echoes of the past, she’s a recluse and seen by the townsfolk as the local mental case. As developers try to plough a road through the Hollis home, Charlotte sends for her cousin Miriam (Havilland), but then strange things start happening and Charlotte might once and for all tip over the edge.
A bit long at 2 hours 13 minutes and a bit too bonkers at times, Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte still comes out as glorious Guignol entertainment. The setting is perfect, a Baton Rouge locale of whispering trees and ominous foliage, the Hollis mansion a place of dark secrets, shadowy halls and mental disintegration. Biroc’s black and white photography seems to revel in the misery and emotional turmoil that blows about the place, and the brilliant Aldrich unleashes delirious turns from Davis and Moorehead as the others play perfectly restrained foil. There’s a strong mystery element driving the plot forward, because what we think is true may not actually be the case? The narrative deftly reveals back stories as film progresses, hints at means and motives dangle tantalisingly in the Gothic tinged air, and then the finale doesn’t disappoint, it has some surprises in store and closes the picture down handsomely.
Best served with a good helping of Sour Mash, Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte is Southern Gothicana with bells on. Or should that be Belles? 8/10
