Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301798563
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 6301798562
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Running Time: 133
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: 1964-12-24

Poor Charlotte Hollis. She's been shunned by the community for decades, ever since the fateful night in 1927 when her lover was hacked apart with an axe. Her antebellum southern mansion is slated for the bulldozer, as it stands in the way of highway construction. Charlotte's only hope lies in her cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland), coming down from up north to help settle things. Miriam, however, has other designs. Together with her boyfriend Drew (Joseph Cotten), she embarks on a scheme to systematically drive Charlotte out of her mind (not a great leap) and get her mitts on the family fortune. From there, things only get more complicated. Charlotte puts the "gothic" in southern gothic, as a great showcase for completely bizarre, overwrought, and out-of-control performances from all involved. Agnes Moorehead plays Charlotte's loyal, disheveled housekeeper to the hilt, with an odd inflection that calls to mind Amos and Andy more than southern gentility. As the drunken, conniving Dr. Drew, Cotten's accent is indeterminate at times, and seems to come and go. As great as the supporting players are, though, the crown goes to Bette Davis as the shrieking Charlotte, a portrait of isolation and decay stuck in a world of tragic delusions inside her crumbling mansion. De Havilland is a close second as the scheming Miriam; the scene where she slaps the holy snot out of a hysterical Charlotte is itself worth the price of admission. Mary Astor (in her last role) and Cecil Kellaway (as a kindly Lloyd's of London adjuster) put in the only performances with any restraint, acting as counterweights for the rest of the cast. Besides, you'll never get another chance to see Joseph Cotten playing the harpsichord and singing, or caked in mud and lily pads! With Robert Aldrich's claustrophobic direction, Charlotte is as Southern as a field of kudzu, and as subdued as a train wreck. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great
Comment: this came right on time and I was very happy with the service I got.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Old Movies Ever
Comment: Do not be fooled because it is an old movie. This is just an old black and white but it will thrill your mind. You will never figure out who did it. It is about the only movie I ever saw where Bruce Dern plays a decent guy. He is usually a bad guy and does a good job with that role. In this movie, he is a nice, clean-cut, guy.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great cast, so-so movie
Comment: Bette Davis plays the fragile title character in this movie, which feels like a cross between What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Gaslight. It would have been nice to see Joan Crawford in the role of Bette's cousin, but her replacement, Olivia de Havilland, does a very good job. Her performance is very low key compared to Davis's campy (but good) scenery chewing. Agnes Moorehead steals her scenes as the maid Velma.

So, the acting is great, and the movie has its good moments, but overall, it's way too long and slow moving. Worth watching for fans of the stars, like myself, but I was a little disappointed.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good and Creepy
Comment: I remember watching this as a child and this is horror at its best. Lots of suspense and Bette Davis at one of her best films. I am a fan of Bette Davis and she will always be one of my favorite actresses.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Oh, so THAT'S what's meant by "Southern Gothic"!
Comment: I went into this movie knowing nothing about it. I bought it because I liked the lead actresses and Joseph Cotten is always fun up on the screen. So imagine my surprise when, just a few minutes into the film, someone's hand gets rather graphically cut off! Not something I would've expected for 1965.

The movie centers around Charlotte Hollis (Bette Davis), who lives in an old mansion. It was the scene of a crime in 1927, the previously mentioned hand-chop, which ended up being a murder, and she was blamed for it. She was never charged but everyone "knows" she's guilty (especially since she was having an affair with the murder victim). She's spent her entire adult life living in the house with her servant (Agnes Morehead, and I gotta say, I had no idea it was her), and not really doing anything else, going very slightly crazy (though she's far more sane than she pretends to be, at least at the start).

Sadly her house is about to be knocked down to make room for an expressway. I guess that's better than having your planet demolished to make room for a hyperspace bypass, but still harsh. She's not too pleased about this and so enlists the aid of her cousin (Olivia de Havilland), and her doctor (Joseph Cotten) to save her house.

Not surprisingly, things don't go entirely as planned, and Charlotte starts to halucinate, thinking she's seeing or hearing her dead beau. Even more ominous things start to happen, like a butcher knife (the murder weapon), being found stuck into the floor next to a severed hand. Is Charlotte actualy going round the bend now, or is someone just trying to make her thnk she is?

This is certainly one of the most entertaining films I've seen in a while. The story is gripping, the direction is excellent and Bette Davis really kicks ass as Charlotte. She really keeps the audience wondering what's going on in her head. Olivia de Havilland and Joseph Cotten are also excellent.

This is a great film, and one I'd recommend to anyone who likes horror or mysteries. Very, very good!

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