I just watched this today, and I loved this film. I'm really surprised that hardly anybody knows about it. Why is this?
My Black Christmas (1974) Fansite
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/blackchristmas/
I think AUNT ALICE has finally acquired a following of sorts, though obviously it doesn't have the reputation that BABY JANE has. I actually saw AUNT ALICE first. It was on The Late Show years ago and needless to say quite different from anything I'd seen before: two older ladies doing battle in a horror movie. The movie has a good story, splendid photography, but what really makes it such a joy for me is the fabulous acting by Page and Gordon.
shareit's not as declarative as jane...a lot of people wince at the title as did i before absolutely falling in love with it. there are a lot of different themes you see in the movie that aren't always easy to understand. I would really love to read the book this is based on so I can better understand a few things. for example: what was up with the wheelchair? did she need it? I can identifty the problems of a widow being left with no money, nor furniture in which to sit upon...cause that happens to so many women who thought they were married to comfortably well off men. Later on she admits that she hated her husband. Then what I noticed is that Alice goes from being a housekeeper to a 'companion' and then they are refering to companion this and that at the end of the movie. It's almost some lesbian subliminals I'm getting here. Two women that have lost husbands, but don't really give a crap and then go ahead and forge companionships with other women. I love love love, the way she hoards stuff, signs up for teenaged contests...gets government publications in the mail. i didn't even notice her pained thriftfulness untill the third time i watched this...then you realize she's not rich, she's playing and sitting on top of an ever-increasing pile of blood money. I love it. You hate Claire Mirabelle, but you can't help going---get 'em Claire!
Doncha know me Jim? I'm not Margret, I'm Edie. I didn't kill Frank DeLorca.
Then what I noticed is that Alice goes from being a housekeeper to a 'companion' and then they are refering to companion this and that at the end of the movie. It's almost some lesbian subliminals I'm getting here. Two women that have lost husbands, but don't really give a crap and then go ahead and forge companionships with other women.
I decided to purchase the DVD as a blind buy at a local Barnes & Noble for a mere five bucks and am so happy that I did this. This film is just a whole lot of fun. Geraldine Page is flat-out marvelous as the shrewd, resourceful and formidable Claire Marrable. Ruth Gordon is likewise fantastic as the feisty and equally redoubtable Alice Dimmock. And that little surprise plot twist at the very end about the stamp collection is deliciously ironic.
"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"
Oh those looks of perverse glee on Claire's face as she slams her shovel over the heads of her victims..WHACK ! And that poor dog..the two dogs growling at each other.. This film's hilarious ! Geraldine just playin' for everything it was worth. You can see her just twisting and wringing that role to get every drop.. every last delicious drop ! I love the way Claire throws that hanky in the face of the insurance fellow in the first scene of the film.
Hey Ya'll, Mama's Fryin' Taters!
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I actually have it on vhs video. I love 70's and 80's movies that mind spook you instead of the blood and guts.
shareI saw it twice on TV. The first time, I was at a friend's house and their mother asked us if we were watching the movie on TV, which we started doing after she filled us in on what had been going on (a nutty old woman murdering her housekeepers). The second time I saw the whole film.
It's a fun movie and I do get a chuckle along with the main character at the film's punchline at the end. When I was looking for it on IMDB, I got the title mixed up with a film I haven't actually seen called Whoever Slew Auntie Roo. I remembered that Ruth Gordon was in the film I was looking for though.
I don't mind gore or special effects, but I like that back in the 70s, there was a lot more variety to the kinds of horror movies, including ones that could appeal to different audiences and I like that some films could concentrate far more on character or build up than you'd often expect nowadays.
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Au revoir, Shosanna.
I don't mind gore or special effects, but I like that back in the 70s, there was a lot more variety to the kinds of horror movies, including ones that could appeal to different audiences and I like that some films could concentrate far more on character or build up than you'd often expect nowadays.
I'm watching it right now on TCM (which, I believe, is a first for them), and was surprised I had never come across it before, since this is one that's right up my alley.
I think the plethora of movies with the title "Whatever Happened To....." may have had something to do with it (in my case, anyway)......
SAVE FERRIS
I'm watching this film on TCM ( Turner Classic Movies ) Channel right now and for the very first time too . So far I have to say awesome film ! It does have a similar parallel to " What Ever Happened To Baby Jane " from 1962 . I'm not sure why this film didn't receive as much exposure as WEHTBJ but so far I like it just as much . Thanks youshotandywarhol for your subject post .
shareI'm watching it too, and frankly it's as boring as I remember.
But that nasty dog is one mean-looking animal.
Short answer? It wasn't a box-office success. Bloom was pretty much off the rose for short-lived vogue of older actresses in horror films by time Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte came out (just two years after Baby Jane) and it had much bigger better cast. Aunt Alice wasn't released until seven years later and somewhat similar What's the Matter with Helen? in 1971 (Debbie Reynolds/Shelley Winters) also tanked. Only one of this genre that made big money was Baby Jane.
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