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Susan Sarandon is no stranger to television.

In fact, the longtime actress starred in several TV films early in her career. But outside of a handful of notable recurring roles, Sarandon, who won a Best Actress Oscar in 1995 for Dead Man Walking, had never starred on a series until 2017, when she portrayed Bette Davis in Ryan Murphy’s new FX anthology series, Feud, which launched with Bette and Joan. It seemed like a role that Sarandon was destined to play, with her likeness often having been compared to that of Davis.

Yet, portraying the Hollywood legend -- an opportunity she’d been offered time and time before -- wasn’t something Sarandon was keen to do, especially when the scripts she read were nothing more than “bitchy one-liners.” “It’s not enough to think Bette Davis is cool,” the actress told Et earlier this year. “What do you do with her then? It’s really...

Though she’s been offered the chance to play Bette Davis her entire career, Susan Sarandon wasn’t keen on bringing a caricature of the iconic actress to the screen, especially in a movie that didn’t dig deep into her story. “It’s not enough to think Bette Davis is cool,” Sarandon tells Et. “What do you do with her then? It’s really a challenge to make an audience experience something in that moment -- and not just a camp impersonation of somebody, because that’s going to get tired really quickly.”

In fact, when the first installment of Ryan Murphy’s new FX anthology series Feud (premiering Sunday, March 5), about the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Davis (Sarandon) during their collaboration on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, was first presented to Sarandon as a film, the actress passed on it. “You still need a good script,” she says, not...

Joan Crawford controls every aspect of this glamorous, Oscar nominated noir about a murderous marriage double-cross. Good acting enlivens a by-the-book, gimmick-laden plot, with every moment designed to flatter the star.

Sudden Fear

Blu-ray

The Cohen Film Collection

1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / 34.99

Starring Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston, Touch Connors, Bess Flowers, Taylor Holmes, Lewis Martin, Arthur Space.

Cinematography Charles Lang

Film Editor Leon Barsha

Art Director Boris Leven

Original Music Elmer Bernstein

Written by Lenore Coffee, Robert Smith from a novel by Edna Sherry

Produced by Joseph Kaufman

Directed by David Miller

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

The Joan Crawford movie Sudden Fear is an efficient and stylish thriller. Although it’s technically film noir, its story of a two-way murder frame-up is sublimated to the actress’s overpowering personality. It’s the first movie where Crawford was able to...

I’ve been back from my Oregon vacation for a couple of weeks now, and though the getaway was a good and necessary one, I’m still in the process of mentally unpacking from a week and a half of relaxing and thinking mostly only about things I wanted to think about. (I also discovered a blackberry cider brewed in the region, the source of a specific sort of relaxation that I’m still finding myself pining for.) It hasn’t helped that our time off and immediate time back coincided with the bombast and general insanity of the Republic National Convention, followed immediately by the disarray and sense of restored hope that bookended the Democrats’ week-long party. The extremity of emotions engendered by those two events, coupled with a profoundly unsettling worry over the base level of our current political discourse and where it may lead this country, hasn...

Sure, we have all seen our share of an “Unstable Mabel” in cinema throughout the years. Some, more than others, do stand out in craziness, chaos and curiosity. These furious females in film–at least the ones that we will spotlight in this particular movie column–have something to their off-kilter filter that dares to dig deep on so many psychological levels of frivolity and fury.

In Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned: Top 10 Damaged Divas in the Movies we will examine some of the warped women on the big screen that have a sense of demented diva-like dimensions to their cockeyed characterizations. These mistresses of misbehaving all demonstrate various kinds of detachment and dysfunction that capture our puzzling imaginations. Are there perhaps even stronger and more memorable bombastic she-beasts that have a certain score to settle against their detractors or society as a whole? Of course. However, the...

Upon its release in 1990, Madonna's "Vogue" was an appreciation of a long-gone age of Hollywood glamour. Now that age is truly lost: as xoJane's Marci Robin pointed out on Twitter, the passing of Lauren Bacall means every star name-checked in the song has died. Bacall was the last surviving member of the 16 famous names in the song; nine of these stars were still alive when the song hit airwaves on March 20, 1990. ("Vogue" itself is 24 years old.) Below, find the full list of celebrity names included in "Vogue." "Greta Garbo and Monroe, Dietrich and Dimaggio"As fate would have it, Greta Garbo...

Episode 29 of 52: In which David Lean's beautiful romantic classic gives Katharine Hepburn an eye infection and me a headache

I admit it. The spinster movies confuse me. When Nick and Nathaniel invited me on the podcast (Have you listened to the podcast? Go listen to the podcast), I stated outright that I don’t like Summertime. As a fan, I take almost personal offense hearing my idol continuously called “plain” or (at best) “interesting-looking.”

But as a cinephile, David Lean’s 1955 love letter to Venice engages me. I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for a scopophilic travelogue cinematography. And trains. And Technicolor films that overuse the color red. And judging from last year's Hit Me With Your Best Shot submissions for Summertime, many of you share my inner conflict.

Summertime is more a mood piece than a plot-driven story. David Lean exorcised most of the...

It is not too shabby in what the Northeast (New England) part of the United States has produced in terms of past and present actors/actresses making their show business dreams come true. Film careers can be a lot like ice cubes–they start out solid and cool but if you sit around in stagnation your efforts and hard work can melt away before one’s very eyes. Certainly no one can accuse this talented crop of thespians of being one-hit wonders on the big screen. After all, one does not become a recipient of an Academy Award by just sheer luck and charitable fortune.

As a native Bostonian and life long New Englander, I felt compelled to spotlight those Massachusetts-born and bred actors from the same region that had ultimate success on the big screen in winning the Oscar for their acting achievement and contribution to the motion picture industry.

It is not really difficult in coming up with cinema siblings and assessing their impact on the films they graced with humor, horror or hedonism. Whatever the combination–brother and sister, brother and brother, sister and sister–the big screen has always produced some of the most compelling siblings to entertain or shock us as the lights go dim at the local cinemaplex.

So who do you favor as your all-time favorite movie siblings? Perhaps you wouldn’t mind brothers Michael and Sam from 1987′s The Lost Boys? Or how about sisters Drizella and Anastasia from the 1950 animated film Cinderella? Maybe you could go for the transformation of television’s Brady kids into the film version of 1995′s The Brady Bunch Movie?

In Sibling Rivalry: The Top 10 Fictional Siblings in Film we will take a look at a group of handful brotherly/sisterly personalities in the world of movies...

Frasier star John Mahoney and Jaime Winstone are to appear in the new series of Foyle's War.

Michael Kitchen will reprise the title role of Christopher Foyle in three new two-hour films, set to air on ITV in 2015.

Richard Lintern (Silent Witness), Nigel Lindsay (Four Lions) and William Postlethwaite (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher) will also appear in the new episodes from writer Anthony Horowitz.

Inspired by real events in the early Cold War, the new series will see Foyle (Kitchen) immersed in the dangerous world of espionage in his role as a Senior Intelligence Officer for MI5.

"We are delighted to see the return of Foyle's War to ITV," said ITV's Head of Drama Series, Jane Hudson. "Anthony Horowitz has written three outstanding episodes and the audience are in for a real treat."

The new series of Foyle's War will shoot in Liverpool, doubling for post-war London, until April.

Foyle's War is to return to ITV in 2015.

The period detective drama starring Michael Kitchen will shoot three new two-hour episodes between January and April 2014.

Inspired by real events in the early Cold War, the new series will see Foyle (Kitchen) immersed in the dangerous world of espionage in his role as a Senior Intelligence Officer for MI5.

Honeysuckle Weeks will reprise her role of Foyle's trusted ally Samantha Stewart, while thriller writer Anthony Horowitz will again script the new episodes.

The new Foyle's War will explore the power of American and German industrialists and a major blight of post war Britain - the Black Market.

"We are delighted to see the return of Foyle's War to ITV," said ITV's Head of Drama Series, Jane Hudson.

"Anthony Horowitz has written three outstanding episodes and the audience are in for a real treat. This series also gives us the chance to...

Bette Davis is almost as fascinating of a character off the screen as she is on it. She’s truly nothing short of a dynamic and brilliant actress, much further ahead of her time than she could ever be aware of. Tiff will be covering pockets of classic cinema starring Davis from November 15th- December 8th. The following are a few choice recommendations for anyone brave enough to venture back into these vintage art pieces.

Dark Victory

Written by Casey Robinson

Directed by Edmund Goulding

USA, 1939

A young talented and beautiful girl is cursed by much more than her radiant personality and grace as she works to get the most out of her life. The question is: does this more describe Bette Davis or her character here, Judith? This peek into classic cinema delivers on a lot of fronts, especially giving us the kind of quick, clever dialogue classic films are known for.

ITV has renewed Law & Order: UK for an eighth series.

Ben Bailey Smith - also known as rapper Doc Brown - will join the cast as DS Joe Hawkins, new partner for DS Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh).

Smith (Hunted, Derek) replaces Paul Nicholls, who departed the crime drama last series as DS Sam Casey.

Dominic Rowan, Georgia Taylor, Paterson Joseph and Peter Davison will all return to Law & Order: UK for the new eight-part series.

The latest episodes will see Ronnie face a notorious drug dealer and look into police corruption, while the team also investigate the death of a psychiatrist who specialises in violent juveniles and a hotel room killing without a body.

"ITV is delighted to see the return of Law & Order: UK," said the channel's Head of Drama, Jane Hudson. "It's a much loved drama amongst our audience and they certainly won't be disappointed by what's in store for them this series.

Stars: Luigi Ciardo, Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta, Pino Calabrese | Written and Directed by Alicia Scherson

Review by Andrew MacArthur of Cinehouse

Alicia Scherson’s third feature-length film, Il Futuro, is a staggeringly impressive watch. Adapted from Chilean novel Una Novelita Lumpen by Roberto Bolano, Il Futuro is a thrilling tale of suspense, eroticism, and intrigue set against a backdrop of vintage Hollywood Gothic noir.

Il Futuro follows two teenage orphans, Bianca and Tomas, who become intertwined with two untrustworthy opportunists from the local gym. These acquaintances persuade Bianca (the eldest of the orphans, played by Manuela Martelli) to infiltrate and rob the home of one of their ex-clients, Marciste (Rutger Hauer) – a blind, former Mister Universe and movie star who has become something of a recluse. However, Bianca’s developing feelings for Marciste seem set to compromise her original intentions.

From the onset Scherson’s distinct...

Nicolas Winding Refn is the latest in a long line of directors to find inspiration among plastic dolls

Only God Forgives 2013

For years, Kristin Scott Thomas has been trashing her brittle English upper-classness in French films, but anglophone audiences who still think of her as posh Fiona from Four Weddings and a Funeral might get a shock when they see her in Nicolas Winding Refn's ultra-violent revenge parable. Sample dialogue: "And how many cocks can you 'entertain' with that cute little cum-dumpster of yours?"

Her Crystal is an abrasive, chain-smoking, bottle-blonde Messalina tottering around in fuck-me shoes and too much eye makeup, wielding Virginia Slims as though they were deadly weapons. She's the Barbie from hell, as if Paris Hilton had suddenly lived 20 more years and had a personality transplant from Lucy Liu in Kill Bill: Volume 1. Just as the hotel chain heiress apparently modelled her own makeover on Mattel's fashion doll,...

When I scheduled Summertime for the "Hit Me..." series I admit I expect a huge drop off in participation due to its lack of any significant or least still-discussed reputation in the careers of David Lean and Katharine Hepburn. So I was pleasantly surprised to see such a crowd hopping on the water buses in Venice with Kate as Jane Hudson (hee. no, not that Jane Hudson).

What a difference a year has made in this series. Last year, I couldn't get a crowd for Bonnie & F'in Clyde. I almost retired the series. So thank you to the many new participants and the very reliably regulars who have stuck with this series through its popular and fallow episodes. There are only three episodes left before a June hiatus and I hope you'll stick around and get reenergize from a month of No Viewing Assignments. I am a taskmaster I know.

For this week's episode of Best Shot, the collective series in which bloggers are invited to choose their favorite image from a pre-selected movie, we went to Italy for David Lean's Summertime (1955) starring Katharine Hepburn. The film won both of them Oscar nominations, for Direction and Acting respectively, and since I'd never seen it it fills in two Oscar gaps in my 1950s cinema.

It's a relatively modest picture all told, concerned not with big sweeping travelogue beauty (though the travelogue beauty is accounted for) but with an internal flowering. Spinster Katharine Hepburn goes to Italy, goes a little wild (well, wild for an American spinster from Akron Ohio), and then -- spoiler alert -- leaves Italy again. It's all very E.M. Forster really! (See A Room With a View and Where Angels Fear to Tread).

She was coming to Europe to find something. It was way back in...

One classic movie that somehow escaped my eyes in the 40 years I've walked this Earth is What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? I know that in many people's eyes, any credibility I have as a movie reviewer just went down the tubes and I'm sorry. Thanks to Warner Bros. and their obsession with releasing every film on Blu-ray I've now had the opportunity to see it in high-definition.

There's no denying the power in the performances of both Joan Crawford and Bette Davis as they spar off each other throughout this brilliant thriller. My only complaint is that the 133-minute running time could have been cut down by trimming some of the fat off the edges.

Two sisters live together in a large house in the heart of Hollywood. Ex-child star "Baby" Jane Hudson is forced by circumstance and guilt to take care of her crippled ex-movie star sister, Blanche.

Halloween is coming and studios start dusting off their horror offerings. It.s my favorite time of the year. This grand dame guignol fifty-something fright fest saw the backstage battles between the two stars offering interest that comes through on screen as well. 1917: Baby Jane Hudson (Julie Allred) was a major vaudeville star that was adored by all who saw her (the Honey Boo Boo of vaudeville?) but whose sister Blanche (Gina Gillespie) was jealous of her adoration. 1935: Tables turn and Blanche soon rises to a film career that finds Jane.s films flopping and her turning to alcohol to sooth the pain of obscurity. A mysterious accident ends with Blanche paralyzed and her career over. Cut...

Chicago – Robert Aldrich’s “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” is a fascinating slice of Hollywood camp, a journey behind the front door of faded tinseltown on multiple levels, both in the film itself and through the notoriously feud between its two stars, Bette Davis & Joan Crawford. The film was recently released in a nice digibook Blu-ray release “Anniversary Edition” (50th) from Warner Bros. and it’s one of the more unusual movies you could be for the classic film fan in your family this holiday season. Or any other.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The stories behind the scenes of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” have undeniably influenced the notable cult reputation of this camp classic. Davis really kicking Crawford in the head. Crawford loading her pockets with weights so that when Davis had to carry her, she sprained her back. It’s the kind of thing that makes a production so much more fascinating.

This week: Years after directing the sci-fi masterpieces "Alien" and "Blade Runner," Ridley Scott returns to science fiction with the harrowing and ambitious "Alien" prequel "Prometheus" with Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender.

Also new this week is the movie-musical "Rock of Ages," the Edgar Allan Poe-themed mystery thriller "The Raven," and the Blu-ray debuts of "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," "Little Shop of Horrors" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

'Prometheus'

Box Office: $126 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 73% Fresh

Storyline: Ridley Scott returns to the sci-fi realm with this ambitious quasi-prequel to "Alien" about a group of explorers that set out to a distant planet to learn more about and possibly confront the creators of mankind, a super race known as the Engineers. Prometheus crew members include scientist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), Weyland Corporation monitor Elizabeth Shaw (Charlize Theron), Weyland founder Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce...

Drag queens the world over are throwing up their hands in horror at the news that Lakeshore Entertainment will finance and produce a remake of the classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Variety reports Walter Hill will direct while Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi will be produce along with the Aldrich Co.'s Adell Aldrich. Aldrich’s father Robert Aldrich was the original director and producer of the 1962 production. Hill directed a number of titles including 48 Hours, Red Heat, and Brewster's Millions. He produced the Alien franchise and, more recently, Prometheus. With that kind of background it will be interesting to see his interpretation of a film known for its gothic sensibility and campy goodness.

If you aren’t familiar with Baby Jane, it's the, well, batshit crazy story of two sisters who have fallen from former Hollywood glory and are slowly decaying in their Hollywood mansion.

It looks like the 1962 Bette Davis and Joan Crawford psychological thriller, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, is getting remade. If you haven't seen that movie yet you've got to watch it because it's pretty terrifying!

The remake is being written and directed by Walter Hill and produced and financed by Lakeshore Entertainment. I just don't see how they are going to be able to catch that same level of insane creepy charm that the original had. They can't, so I don't see the point of the remake.

Hill has worked on a ton of films over the years that include Last Man Standing, Trespass, Red Heat, 48 Hours, Another 48 Hours, Brewster's Millions, The Warriors and more.

The story is set in an old decaying Hollywood mansion where Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen from the ’30s, are forced into retirement after a crippling accident.

After all these decades we finally have an answer to the question What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and you may or may not like it. The remake we first heard about in July now has a backer. Yep, pretty soon everything will be remade, rebooted, reduxed, and redistributed.

According to Variety, Lakeshore Entertainment has come on board to produce and finance a remake of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with Walter Hill sitting in the director's chair.

Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi will be producing along with the Aldrich Co.'s Adell Aldrich. The original production was directed and produced in 1962 by Adell Aldrich's late father, Robert Aldrich, from a screenplay by Lukas Heller.

"Walter Hill is a great American talent," Rosenberg said. "His compelling vision has created a brilliant reimagining of this terrifying Gothic thriller."

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? revolves around...

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? We’ll soon find a completely new answer to that legendary question, because a remake of the whole thing is coming! According to the latest reports, director Walter Hill is on board to direct a remake for Lakeshore Entertainment, who will finance and produce the film.

Bullet To The Head director, Hill, is also responsible for the script, or if you prefer – an adaptation of Henry Farrell‘s novel of the same name.

I’m sure you’re already familiar with the plot, but what the hell, let us remind you once again that it centers on a former child star Jane Hudson and her sister Blanche (a movie queen from the 30′s) who are forced into retirement after a crippling accident.

The original 1962 movie was directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by Lukas Heller, with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford playing the toxic sisters.

Lakeshore Entertainment has boarded the Walter Hill-directed remake of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Hill partnered up with the Aldrich Co. in July to bring the 1962 cult classic back to the big screen. Lakeshore will finance and produce the film, which Hill adapted from Henry Farrell’s novel. The story is set in a decaying Hollywood mansion where Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen from the ’30s, are forced into retirement after a crippling accident. They live together consumed in a lethal relationship culminating in a violent tragedy. The original was

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We now have an answer to the question, who is going to produce and finance the remake of the Bette Davis-Joan Crawford classic Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? The answer is Lakeshore partners Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi, who’ll produce with The Aldrich Company’s Adell Aldrich. Robert Aldrich helmed the 1962 original, and as Deadline revealed during Comic-Con, Walter Hill is helming the remake. Hill, who most recently wrapped the Sylvester Stallone-starrer Bullet To The Head, partnered with The Aldrich Company to develop the remake, which Lukas Heller adapted from the Henry Farrell novel. Lakeshore will help Hill re-create the nightmarish relationship between two sisters in a crumbling Hollywood mansion, where former child star Jane Hudson (Davis) holds captive her crippled former movie-queen sister (Crawford). “The idea is to make a modern film without modernizing the period,” Hill told me at the time. “It needs to...

The Voice‘s Season 3 premiere began and ended with almost unbearable suspense.

The show-opening performance of the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” by coaches Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, and Christina Aguilera found the latter two vocalists side-by-side and sharing a microphone atop a rapidly rising platform. Would one of the (former?) bitter rivals snap, and push the other to a disfiguring free-fall?

And the evening’s final contestant, Queens native Trevin Hunte, was encouraged by the judges to give up the name of the eighth-grade teacher who tried to quash his singing aspirations and told him he’d never amount to anything.

ITV2 Adds U.S. Drama, Comedies To Lineup The UK’s ITV2 just announced a quartet of acquisitions of U.S. shows. ABC’s new supernatural drama 666 Park Avenue was picked up from Warner Bros. International Television Distribution. It stars Terry O’Quinn, Vanessa Williams, Rachael Taylor and Dave Annable and is set in a disturbing NYC building. No date has been set for its UK bow. ITV2 also picked up three comedies for air in 2013: 20th TV’s new sibling laffer Ben And Kate and NBC Universal Television Distribution’s new comedy Animal Practice and returning series Up All Night. Separately, Law & Order: UK has been commissioned for a seventh season by ITV1. Bradley Walsh and Paul Nicolls star in the Kudos Film and Television and Wolf Films production. The channel ordered 8 episodes to start shooting in November. They’ll be produced by Jane Hudson with Kudos’ creative director Jane Featherstone exec producing.

The classic 1962 feature film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is set for a remake. According to Deadline, Walter Hill ― best known for directing the recent Sylvester Stallone film Bullet to the Head, along with The Warriors and 48 Hrs. ― will fashion the remake, both writing and directing.

In the original movie, a former child star Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) holds captive her crippled former movie-queen sister (Joan Crawford) in a crumbling Hollywood mansion.

“The two equal leads demand great performers — that is a given,” Hill said. “The intensity of the Gothic storyline makes a reconfiguration of the drama still a potentially searing experience. The idea is to make a modern film without modernizing the period. It needs to resonate the golden age of Hollywood.”

Hill will write and direct the remake for The Aldrich Company, who have controlled the rights to the property on behalf of the original director, and entrusted them to Hill.

Walter Hill is set to write and direct a remake of the 1962 classic "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" at Aldrich Co. says THR.

Robert Aldrich's classic starred Bette Davis as former child star Baby Jane Hudson and Joan Crawford as her crippled sister Blanche. Hill said the plan is to create a modern film without modernizing the period.

Hill will adapt the screenplay from Lukas Heller’s screenplay for the original, rather than the Henry Farrell novel on which it was based. Hill and Adell Aldrich will produce.

I don't know how many of you have seen the original Bette Davis/Joan Crawford tour de force Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, but it about scarred me for life the first time I watched it. Here's hoping the planned remake announced today can do it justice!

According to Deadline, Walter Hill (pictured; The Warriors, Streets of Fire, "Tales from the Crypt") has partnered with The Aldrich Company to develop a remake of the 1962 classic. Hill will write the script and direct the film. The original was directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, with Lukas Heller adapting the Henry Farrell novel.

The story is set in a decaying Hollywood mansion where Jane Hudson (Davis), a former child star, and her sister, Blanche (Crawford), a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation. “The two equal leads demand great performers — that is a given, Hill said.

Director Walter Hill has entered into a partnership agreement with the Aldrich Company to remake What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Hill will direct and adapt the screenplay.

The original 1962 psychological thriller was directed by Robert Aldrich and featured the iconic pairing of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as sisters Jane and Blanche.

“The two equal leads demand great performers– that is a given. The intensity of the gothic storyline makes a reconfiguration of the drama still a potentially searing experience. The idea is to make a modern film without modernizing the period. It needs to resonate the golden age of Hollywood,...

We sometimes find ourselves wondering why people who are otherwise furiously creative really want to get into remaking others’ work. We wonder even more when it’s someone like Gus Van Sant remaking Psycho, or Walter Hill, who has now announced that he’s remaking 1962 drama What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?The original is, of course, a grandstanding battle of egos between fading former child star “Baby” Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) and her former grown-up star sister Blanche (Joan Crawford), who is in a wheelchair after an accident she cannot recall. Jane is now in control of her care, and of her life. And she’s slowly losing her mind…Hill has written the script and will direct the film. He’s partnering with The Aldrich Company, which has held the rights since Robert Aldrich produced and directed the 1962 film, and has granted him the chance to make the new version.

One of the great, dysfunctional sister acts, Jane and Blanche Hudson, are returning to the silver screen. Walter Hill is planning to write and direct a remake of 1962’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, which was directed by Robert Aldrich and famously starred rival acting legends Bette Davis, as the former child star Baby Jane Hudson, and Joan Crawford as her crippled sister Blanche. Photos: Top 15 Grossing Threequels of All Time Hill has struck up a partnership agreement with the Aldrich Company and will share producing credit with Adell Aldrich, daughter of the late Robert Aldrich. Hill will adapt

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Walter Hill has signed on to develop and direct a remake of the 1962 classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with The Aldrich Company.

The original classic starred Bette Davis as Jane Hudson, a former child star who lives an isolated life with her sister, Blanche (Joan Crawford), after a tragic accident ended Blache's movie career and left her crippled. Here's what the filmmaker had to say about the remake.

"The two equal leads demand great performers, that is a given. The intensity of the Gothic storyline makes a reconfiguration of the drama still a potentially searing experience. The idea is to make a modern film without modernizing the period. It needs to resonate the golden age of Hollywood."

Walter Hill will write the screenplay and direct. The original director, Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen), retained the rights, which are now controlled by The Aldrich Company, run by his daughter Adell Aldrich.

Continuing to prove that no film is safe from the remake machine, Deadline is reporting What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is going to get an update.

The man behind the redo?  Walter Hill, who recently directed the Sylvester Stallone flick Bullet to the Head, but also gave us The Warriors, 48hrs., Streets of Fire, Trespass, just to name a few flicks.

The original What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was released in 1962 and starred Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in a story about Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident.  Together, they live in virtual isolation and shit gets real weird from there.

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Breaking: Walter Hill, who most recently wrapped the Sylvester Stallone-starrer Bullet To The Head, has partnered with The Aldrich Company to develop a remake of the 1962 Bette Davis-Joan Crawford classic What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Hill will write the script and direct the film. The original was directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, with Lukas Heller adapting the Henry Farrell novel. Warner Bros will release Bullet To The Head in February and Hill sparked to the idea of re-creating the nightmarish relationship between two sisters in a crumbling Hollywood mansion, where former child star Jane Hudson (Davis) holds captive her crippled former movie-queen sister (Crawford). “The two equal leads demand great performers — that is a given,” Hill said. “The intensity of the Gothic storyline makes a reconfiguration of the drama still a potentially searing experience. The idea is to make a modern film without modernizing the period.

Deadline is reporting that What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is going to get an update. The man behind the redo? Walter Hill, who recently directed the Sylvester Stallone flick Bullet to the Head , but also gave us The Warriors , 48hrs. , Streets of Fire , Trespass , just to name a few flicks. The original What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was released in 1962 and starred Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in a story about Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident. Together, they live in virtual isolation and stuff gets real weird from there. Hill will write and direct the remake for The Aldrich Company.

Here Lies... Bette Davis's Best Actress nomination for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, sent to an early grave by Anne Bancroft's more Oscar-friendly work in The Miracle Worker.

Andreas from Pussy Goes Grrr here. In 1962, Bette Davis had a good three decades of acting ahead of her—what endurance!—but her disturbing, self-deprecating performance as Baby Jane Hudson sure feels like a go-for-broke swan song. It builds on all her tics and trademarks (bitchiness, powerful voice, melodramatic intensity) and exaggerates them almost beyond recognition. Following in the footsteps of Norma Desmond, Baby Jane's a quintessential star-as-monster. Try as you might, you just can't look away.

Granted, Joan Crawford does co-star as Baby Jane's paraplegic sister Blanche. But this is unmistakably Bette's show all the way: she dominates every second of screen time, whether by snarling and squawking with an alcohol-induced slur, or through a mere flutter of her eyelashes.

Just for the hell of it, and in the spirit of the Halloween season I came up with a list of 10 movie characters who I think are the most creepiest characters ever created in film. The list I've put together is in no particular order, but go through tell me what you think, and let me know if there are there any characters that you think should be added to it?

Kane - Julian Beck - Poltergeist II

I was actually just wanting Poltergeist II and it was seeing this character that actually gave me the idea of putting together this list. This guy is just scary as hell! The guy had a unique gift of scaring the shit out of people while walking down the street. 

Willy Wonka - Gene Wilder - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

You just can't deny that Willy Wonka isn't scary as hell...

During Summer 2011  -- winding down at last! -- we've been asking Tfe readers to choose the most memorable Best Actress nominated film characters. Which film characters have you taken into your hearts and headspace most fully? Who is always popping into mind unbidden? Below are the latest voting results for August's polls covering the 1960s & 1970s (previous results: 1980s and 1991-2010). We used five year intervals for voting and asked readers to choose the 5 most memorable characters from each group of 25 Oscar nominees.

If you're looking for these polls to provide a "face" of an era it looks like Julie Andrews wins the early 60s -- she was thoroughly modern back then! -- and Faye Dunaway takes over from there for a long run at the top (1966-1980) [* indicates that it was an Oscar winning role.]

1961-1965

Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) Breakfast at Tiffany's Mary Poppins* (Julie Andrews) Mary Poppins [tie] Maria Von Trapp (Julie Andrews) The Sound of Music...

If you happened to watch Monday night’s installment of Bachelor Pad, you may have come away from the episode asking, “Am I any better than people who watch two roosters or two pit bulls getting thrown into pit to tear each other limb from limb?”

Fret not, reality TV junkies, the answer to that question is a resounding “Probably!” Because unlike innocent animals forced to fight for the enjoyment of hell-bound sadists, the residents of Bachelor Pad descend into the morass of their own free will. In fact, any guilt you feel about tuning in to the whole ugly...

Love this video that YouTube montaging legend, Harry Hanrahan from Pajiba.com has put together this time titled Cinemas Top Human Villains. The video splices together scenes from multiple amazing movies (list below) showing us the best baddies / villains from movies across the last few decades. Make sure you tell us which are you favourites but more importantly which ones have been missed in the comments section below.

If you’ve missed the previous videos that we’ve put up from Harry, you can see the 100 Greatest Movie Insults of All Time, The Other Greatest Movie Insults of all Time and the 160 Greatest Arnold Schwarzenegger Quotes all of which are awesome!

Iframe Embed for Youtube

Movies in this montage include (in order of appearance):

Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men) Don Logan (Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast) Max Cady (Robert De Niro in Cape Fear...

Open from 1897 to 1962, The Grand Guignol Theater in Paris was famous for mounting horror productions, and as such, the name of the theater has since proliferated the horror genre. It’s now a general term used to describe graphic or morally ambiguous horror productions. Everything from Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) could be considered within the tradition.

Among the most famous plays mounted at The Grand Guignol was a play called Un Crime dans une Maison de Fous by André de Lorde. The play concerned the adventures of two old hags in a booby hatch who viciously attacked another patient with scissors. It’s this particular play that is of interest to a girl like me. (This particular kind of story was eventually dubbed “Grand Dame Guignol.”) While I might never get to see this production mounted, I can get my fix of what is...

HollywoodNews.com: Actor Vincent De Paul, who starred in many independent films and played various roles in several blockbusters including “Poseidon,” “Hitch,” and “Hairspray,” arrived at Frameline 34, San Francisco’s annual international Lgbt film festival, to support the Castro Theater’s packed house screening of the comedy “Baby Jane?” Also in attendance were his co-stars Matthew Martin, J. Conrad Frank, Heklina, Mike Finn, Ethel Merman, Ron Herman Symansky, Drew Todd, Sandy Schlechter, and Jeff Dylan Graham.

Directed by the talented Billy Clift, the drag-studded recreation of the 1962 black-and-white classic “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” drops us back into the wacky depths of sisterly rivalry. De Paul plays the well groomed Mad Men-esque Detective Bill Kovacks who investigates the strange, yet amusing, happenings at the home where former child star Baby Jane Hudson, who was overshadowed by her more famous sister Blanche, now holds the frail wheelchair-bound star prisoner following a mysterious automobile accident.

In the classic horror film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, we enter the world of a childhood star long after the lights have dimmed and the applause has faded. Played by Bette Davis, Baby Jane is angry, callous, calculating, and cruel. Davis' masterful portrayal personifies the scars of lost fame and the fetid stench of regret. She cackles with delight as she famously abuses her sister time and time again. Baby Jane is no longer a star but rather a lampoon of the worst of what even Hollywood's glitz and make-up cannot hide. She's a star who has faded and she's damned angry. With his latest film South of the Border, Oliver Stone wears the cynicism of a man looking for relevance just as overtly as Baby Jane Hudson wears her grotesque makeup on...

Joan Allen, 'Georgia O'Keeffe'When you need a figure of strength and stamina stoically overcoming difficult odds, Joan Allen is the go-to lady. Whether trying to keep Matt Damon's character in line in the "Bourne" films, beating back a political smear campaign in "The Contender," surviving a colonial witch-hunt in "The Crucible," or dealing with alcoholism and the president's corruption in "Nixon"—a losing battle in that case, but still a valiant effort—her characters fight with steely determination and quiet but unshakable resolve.As the title figure in the Lifetime biopic "Georgia O'Keeffe," Allen musters her considerable forces, allowing the great artist to overcome prejudice, sexism, and even the overbearing personality of her husband—photographer and gallery owner Alfred Steiglitz (fellow SAG Award nominee Jeremy Irons)—to realize her individual vision. It's a deceptively subtle performance, with few outbursts of emotion. Most of Allen's scenes involve O'Keeffe reveling in the New Mexico landscape,...

Australian playwright and Fangoria contributor Lee Gambin talks to about his brand new rock ‘n’ roll horror musical set to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public this Halloween….

How did you come to write “Oh The Horror!”? How was it conceived?

“Oh The Horror!” came from my absolute pure love for horror movies and the monsters that inhabit them. It also came from my obsession with musical theatre. I wanted to create a fun, bloody, irreverent and also heartfelt show that embraces the monster and sympathizes with the misfit. There’s something absolutely magical and comforting in the misunderstood creatures that have graced the silver screen from day one and to bring an ensemble of them together in a musical excites me and overwhelms me with sentimentality. I grew up on horror films and musicals and to marry the two genres seemed to happen extremely organically and it was a...