MovieChat Forums > Mr. Skeffington (1944) Discussion > Interesting Comparison to 'Baby Jane'

Interesting Comparison to 'Baby Jane'

posted 18 years ago by jononfire
12 replies | jump to latest

Has anyone noted previously how eerily like her character in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" Bette Davis' makeup in the late scenes makes her look?

[–] ScarlettCapulet 18 years ago

. I did. But what I also thought was intersesting was how Fannie could have been Jane when she was younger or rather Jane would have /could have been Jane as an older woman? (the attitude and stuff)Do you know what I mean? Kinda how Blanche DuBois is sometimes considered a continuation of Scarlett O'Hara (I always found that comparison amusing)

"A woman is beautiful only when she's loved"

[–] jononfire 18 years ago

Wow...never thought of "Streetcar"/"GWTW" in that light. Made even more interesting and plausible because Vivien Leigh did both roles on screen.

[–] atlantajoseph 17 years ago

I can't really see the Streetcar comparison... Stanley would have been flattened the first day if Scarlett were there! :-)

[–] jononfire 17 years ago

I think that ScarlettCapulet's reference to Scarlett is mainly (as she says) to point out an "amusing" comparison, not necessarily a REAL one. By "continuation", I took her to mean Blanche as Scarlett much later in life, when her travails had finally broken down all her steeliness.

"Believe not what you wish to believe, but what in truth you can"

[–] willowtree602 18 years ago

Absolutely! And the tone of her voice was very similar too. There were several times I just pictured Jane on the stairs!

"Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?" - Pink

[–] Harold_Robbins 18 years ago

What's also interesting - and rather eerie - is that the older, illness-ravaged Fanny Skeffington bears a strong resemblance to the older, illness-ravaged Bette Davis.

Those of you who think you know everything should politely defer to those of us who actually do!

[–] pauline-k 17 years ago

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Miss Davis wore a wig in "Baby Jane" which she had worn in an earlier movie - surely this. I think I spotted which one. If my memory serves me well, the blond wig with a short pony tail was exactly the same as that sported by Miss Davis in "Baby Jane". In Mr. Skeffington she dons it about 3/4 way through.

[–] Harold_Robbins 17 years ago

Actually, the blonde wig Davis wore in JANE was reportedly one that Joan Crawford wore waaaaaaaaaaaay back when - Bette loved the wig, felt it helped cement her characterization, but supposedly no one ever told her that it had once graced Crawford's head.

"I don't use a pen: I write with a goose quill dipped in venom!"---W. Lydecker

[–] miriamwebster 17 years ago

I've repeatedly heard this tale about Davis wearing Crawford's old wig, too. But did she really? First of all, what movie did Crawford wear a blonde wig like this--in a silent? And by 1962, Davis was going to wear a ratty thirty-year-old hairpiece on her head? Not likely. And even if she had, how would she have known who worn it previously? Interesting story--but very improbable.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] miriamwebster 16 years ago

Interesting comparisons. But in what movie did Joan Crawford wear a similiar wig? It had to be relatively new hairpiece. Hard to believe Davis was going to put a ratty decades-old wig on own head--who would?

[–] theoctobercountry 8 years ago

Joan wore a blonde wig in one of the musical segments in "Dancing Lady" (1933). In theory it could have been the one Davis wore much later; it was the right length, anyway. However, my understanding is that even the best human hair wigs won't last more than a few years if worn frequently. Question is, how long will a wig last if it's been primarily kept in storage? Thirty years (in the case of the "Dancing Lady" wig) seems pretty unlikely...