After seeing Olivia De Havilland in this film, it's hard to picture Joan Crawford in the role, as I believe she would have ruined the twist in the plot. De Havilland was perfect. She took the role of Miriam after Bette Davis personally appealed to her and after nearly everyone else had turned it down. Vivien Leigh allegedly said, when offered Miriam, "I can face a southern plantation at 7 in the morning, but I cannot face Bette Davis." Too funny if true.
But the combination of Davis, De Havilland, and Joseph Cotton is an excellent one, three stars from Hollywood's heyday in a turgid southern drama. Charlotte is a woman ostracized by her community after the vicious murder of her fiancé 40 years earlier. Her guilt was never proved, but assumed, and she lives in solitude, a joke among schoolchildren, who sing "Chop, Chop, Sweet Charlotte". When the town needs her land and she has to move, her cousin Miriam arrives to help her.
This film, in black and white, has a rich atmosphere as well as some very good performances. It was intended, of course, as a follow-up to "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" but never reached camp status. It probably would have with Crawford in it. As it is, it's a pretty good drama.
But the combination of Davis, De Havilland, and Joseph Cotton is an excellent one, three stars from Hollywood's heyday in a turgid southern drama. Charlotte is a woman ostracized by her community after the vicious murder of her fiancé 40 years earlier. Her guilt was never proved, but assumed, and she lives in solitude, a joke among schoolchildren, who sing "Chop, Chop, Sweet Charlotte". When the town needs her land and she has to move, her cousin Miriam arrives to help her.
This film, in black and white, has a rich atmosphere as well as some very good performances. It was intended, of course, as a follow-up to "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" but never reached camp status. It probably would have with Crawford in it. As it is, it's a pretty good drama.