HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE - "What Ever Happened To Cousin Charlotte?" (1964)

"Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is a beautifully ugly movie! It was kind of Director/Producer Henry Aldrich's horror followup to "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane" and was originally scheduled to star Joan Crawford and Bette Davis together again, but Joan Crawford became ill when the shooting began, and was soon replaced by Olivia de Havilland!

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford had an ongoing feud that was fueled even more by their performance together in "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane," so there is a lot of speculation that she wasn't really that sick, but just did not want to work with Bette Davis any more, and used her illness as an out!! There was lots of bad blood between the two of them!

The theme song for "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was written by Mack David and Frank Devol! The song as sung by Al Martino was the B side of his 1965 release "My Heart Would Know," that reached  #52 on the Billboard Charts! After the song was nominated for an Academy Award, it was released by Patti Page and rose to #8 a few months later! It lost the Academy Award to the song  "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the movie "Mary Poppins! It was the first time Patti Page cracked the top 10, and because of it's success, Columbia Records gave producer Bob Johnston a chance to work with Bob Dylan, a recording date that turned into one of Dylan's classic best, "Highway 61 Revisited!"

The exterior of the Hollis Mansion was actually the Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Darrow, Louisiana, a beautiful location that you can still go visit, hang out, eat, or have a wedding at!

Even without Joan Crawford, "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is still lush with talent, with many of the same people that Robert Aldrich used in "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane!"  In fact, the original working title was "What Ever Happened To Cousin Charlotte!"  Bruce Dern as Charlotte's married lover wasn't in "Baby Jane," but Victor Buono as Charlotte's imposing Father was!

It's party time at the mansion!!

The band providing the music at the party was Teddy Buckner and his All-Stars! Teddy also had a role as a  trumpet player in the film noir classic "D.O.A.," and if you went to Disneyland sometime between 1965 and 1981, you might have seen Teddy playing "live" at Disneyland's New Orleans Square!

Well, it doesn't take long before the festivities come to a literal screaming halt!

Charlotte turns out to be a real party pooper, not nearly as bad as "Carrie," but a real spoiler just the same!

Some 37 years later, they've come to ruin Charlotte's fun once again, and she doesn't like it! New highway construction means it's time for the reign of the Hollis empire to come to an end!

Much of the interiors of the Hollis mansion like this beautiful staircase were actually shot at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, California. The Greystone Park is open to the public for free on a regular daily basis, and occasionally they offer guided tours of the mansion itself for a small fee!

Olivia de Havilland as the sweet and adorable Miriam attempts to try and come to the aid of her poor miserable cousin Charlotte! The taxi driver is Dave Willock, none other than Baby Jane's Father!

These two stills are awesome! I do believe you're starting to get an idea of what's going on here!

Agnes Moorehead is simply amazing as Charlotte's loyal housekeeper! She did so much in her career, but more than anything, Agnes will always be remembered for her recurring role as Samantha's Mother Endora in 192 episodes of "Bewitched" from 1964 to 1972! For her role here as Velma, Agnes was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and she won a Golden Globes award in the same category!

Somebody is messing with what's left of Charlotte's mind........

..........and it's starting to take effect!!!!!

Poor Charlotte, her little brain just doesn't know whether it's coming or going anymore!!

And cousin Miriam doesn't turn out to be nearly as sweet and nice and she had previously appeared to be!

While all the local women keep the circle of gossip lively, I'll just end on this note! This movie is 49 years old, and if you haven't seen it by now, I'm sure as Hell not going to ruin it for you now, but I will strongly suggest that you go out of your way to see it! It's available on disc from Netflix or streaming on Amazon, so you really don't have any excuses! "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is a movie that should be on every film buff's bucket list! It's just that good!!!

SPIRITISM / K. Gordon Murray Productions - 1962

To celebtare the month of May, I have some Mexican flicks to sprinkle in for the occasion. We'll start with this one, the K. Gordon Murray production of the original Spanish speaking title, ESPIRITSMO. The story's about a woman who's given three wishes from Satan and is based on the classic tale, what else, "The Monkey's Paw."

Eegah!! sent over a moody soundclip with an important message for our listeners, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located directly behind you, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for... SPIRITISM!

Ouija is a gateway game that can lead to Spiritism, and, if you play your cards wrong, you just may get to meet the Devil hisself!! That's Luis and María Fernández, she's interested in the occult and he plays along with her obsession..

Their son wants to start a crop dusting business and get married, but, between him and his parents, they don't have enough money.

So, Maria and Luis start attending seances with a group of occultists, her goal is to attain wealth through Spiritism.

As she steeps herself into the occult, she has some fairly creepy visions!

At one seance, Christ shows up to remind the fools of their folly..

Then, Satan shows up and gives Maria a mysterious box and grants her three wishes before he disappears into thin air!

Through a wish, Maria aquires some money and is able to help her son with his business, but, he gets an emergency call from his foreman and has to fly to a location in a bad storm. See, Maria was able to use her power to get money but had no way to control everyday events! You know, BEDAZZLED!

Maria opens the box and finds a crawling hand inside, and, it causes a lot of Hell before they finally contain it!

Maria uses her last wish to bring their dead son back to life, who had just died in a plane crash during the storm.. ¡CARAMBA!

WHAT A CARVE UP! - “No Place Like Homicide!” (1961)

Greg Goodsell here after a very long absence -- So! Are you up for an "Old Dark House” comedy from ol' Blighty? No?

 TOO BAD, as we here are stuck with this abject stinker whose original title was NO PLACE LIKE HOMICIDE!

Here is our "hero" Kenneth Connor in the role of Ernie Broughton, a milquetoast whose job is copy editing horror novels. In truth this turkey is based on the book "The Ghoul" by Frank King, the same source novel for the rare Boris Karloff vehicle THE GHOUL in 1933. While that film was a surprisingly grim slice of pre-code horror, this film is strictly a comedy. Kind of, sort of.

Here is Ernie's flat mate Sid Butler, played by Sid James. These middle-aged gents live together -- and I kid you not, sometimes share the same bed together! Homophobes need not worry - Ernie has a female love interest later on.

Here we go, one of the few reasons to see this thing -- DONALD PLEASANCE. Hailed by my father as the "greatest actor in the English language," Pleasance is best known as Sam Loomis in the HALLOWEEN film series. You should check out the Australian shocker WAKE IN FRIGHT, which stars Pleasance at his most slimy! Here, he plays sinister lawyer Everett Sloane, who informs Ernie that his Uncle Gabriel has died and must hie himself to his gloomy ancestral mansion for a reading of the will!

Here's a de rigueur spooky moment in all of these films -- a spooky train conductor who warns the guys not to venture out to the spooky old mansion. This cliché is sacrosanct as it's been included in virtually every Brit horror flick, as recently as THE LADY IN BLACK as recently as last year!

So we arrive at the mansion, and who should one of Ernie's relatives be but venerable actor DENNIS PRICE! Price started off his film career with classic Ealing Studio comedies like KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, and was something of a romantic male lead until alcoholism and closeted homosexuality -- in spite of marriage and children, got the better of him. He would end his career performing in the films of JESUS (Focus! Focus! FOCUS!) FRANCO before passing away at the age of 58 in 1973. Franco himself began playing a harp earlier this year....

My! This tired ol' thang has an unusually strong cast! It's horror movie fave Michael Gough as the butler, long before he began essaying the role of Alfred the Butler in the recent BATMAN series. Gough would act in many of the British horror films of producer Herman Cohen, such as KONGA, HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM and THE BLACK ZOO. His last film work was providing the voice of the Dodo bird in Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND before passing in 2011 at the ripe old age of 94. Trivia note: Both Gough and Price would appear in the cheap-o horror classic HORROR HOSPITAL in 1973.

YET ANOTHER celebrated British actor, ESMA CANNON plays the dotty Aunt Emily, stuck in the Edwardian age and still campaigning for women's suffrage! Cannon was from Australia and enlivened many a CARRY ON comedy! While she plays an old lady, Cannon was only 56 when she made this film. Sadly, she would end her acting career in 1963 and pass away in 1972 at the age of 66.

There is the reading of the will -- and Pleasance informs the gathered relatives that they have been left with nothing, nothing and more nothing.

Guy Broughton (Price) and sister Janet (Valerie Taylor) are understandably perturbed! Taylor likewise had a lengthy acting career on the silver screen. Her most noteworthy genre credit is as the loathsome Madame Denise in director Roman Polanski’s horror classic REPULSION in 1965.

Blustery character actor George Woodbridge plays Dr. Edward Broughton. He figures larger in the film later on … I don’t like him, but I don’t think we’re supposed to.

Now we're talking -- the chief draw for movie cultists -- Shirley Eaton as the comely nurse! You may not remember Eaton without several coats of gold spray paint. That's right -- she was the victim of James Bond baddie Goldfinger in GOLDFINGER (1964)! As we try to drive that Shirley Bassey theme song out of our heads, Eaton is still very much alive and well and making the rounds of the James Bond movie memorabilia conventions!

Michael Gwynne stars as Malcolm Broughton, foreboding and yet fey Cousin Malcolm! He's given very little to do here other than provide to the body count. Gwynne played Hermes in Ray Harryhausen's JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS as well as VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. He played the prosecutor in Hammer Studios' most horrifying non-horror film, NEVER TAKES SWEETS FROM A STRANGER, a daring drama on the sexual abuse of children. The fact that he's given so little to do here verifies my belief this was a big waste of time for everyone involved! Gwynne was only 56 when he died.

People begin to drop off at the isolated mansion and Shirley Eaton finds an excuse to get semi-naked.

Ernie gets a clandestine peek -- the voyeur!

Ernie prepares for bed, and I don't think anyone in the history of the world EVER wore pajamas like that, no not ever!

.... and Ernie sleeps in the same bed with Sid! AAAAAAaaaaahhhhhh! Bickering like an old married couple only to retire in the same bed at night, one wonders what was going on here. Ernie hears a noise –

Here is the film's only real semi-scary or semi-funny scene. Ernie is occupied as the towering Malcolm sneaks up upon him –

And it’s a case of “Roses are red, Violets are Black, You Look Your best With a Knife in Your BACK!” for poor old Malcolm!

Have we seen this type of scene before in horror movies? I stumble to think? Have we seen this image before?

I’ve just gone over my pictorial allotment for this entry so this means I can get on with my life now! HOO-ray! An excellent cast in a stale, unfunny film (folks on the IMDB Like it a lot, though), you’re probably just better seeking out other “old dark house” thrillers like – like, THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932) instead! This is Greg Goodsell and I’m outta here – for now!