History Film / HushHushSweetCharlotte

* CreatorBacklash:
** Creator/BetteDavis's son Michael Merrill claims that his mother had this about the film - especially the scene where the severed head rolls down the stairs.
** Olivia de Havilland didn't think much of the final film either, calling it 'reverse typecasting'. She found Miriam to be a bland villain with generic motives. Ultimately she only did the film as a favour to Bette Davis.
--> "I wasn't thrilled with the script, and I definitely didn't like my part. I was reverse-typecast, being asked to be an unsympathetic villain. It wasn't what people expected of me. It wasn't really what I wanted to do."

* GreenEyedMonster: Velma accuses Miriam of being jealous that she always favoured Charlotte over her.

* TheOneThatGotAway: Drew refers to Miriam as such.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Jewel murdered her husband after discovering he was planning to leave her for Charlotte]].

* ArtisticLicenceGeography: Many times Miriam and Charlotte talk about "the county commissioner". Louisiana is one of only two states in America (the other being Alaska) that is not divided into counties.

* TheUnfavourite: Miriam was treated this way when she was adopted by Charlotte's father.

* SouthernGothic: One of the most famous examples. The setting is a once-grand plantation house that's now fallen into disrepair -- and a murder happened decades ago. Charlotte begins to hallucinate that the place is being haunted by John's ghost.

* SouthernGothic: One of the most famous examples. The setting is a once-grand plantation house that's now fallen into disrepair - and a murder happened decades ago. Charlotte begins to hallucinate that the place is being haunted by John's ghost.

* TitleThemeTune: Performed as "[[IronicNurseryTune Chop, Chop, Sweet Charlotte]]" by a chorus of children over the opening credits, and then again (with less grisly lyrics) during the closing credits. Written by Frank De Vol and Mack David, it won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Original Song. It also became a huge hit for Patti Page when she covered it the following year.

* TriumphantReprise: The titular song was written for Charlotte by John, and it pops up at various points to be used for horror. At the end [[spoiler: when Miriam and Drew have been stopped, and Charlotte proven innocent]] it plays in its original form - as a tender love song from John to Charlotte.

This film boasts an AllStarCast which includes all the actors listed above, as well as Creator/MaryAstor (in her last film role) as John's widow, Jewel Mayhew, and a young Creator/GeorgeKennedy as a construction foreman. It's pretty much a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'', an Aldrich-directed film that also starred Davis, but with de Havilland in place of Creator/JoanCrawford--see below. De Havilland plays a role that is [[PlayingAgainstType very very different]] from the goody-goody heroines she'd portrayed in the 1930s and 1940s. Meanwhile, the title song afforded 1950s pop superstar Patti Page (of "Tennessee Waltz" and "Doggie in the Window" fame) her last major hit record, right in the middle of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion.

This film boasts an AllStarCast which includes all the actors listed above, as well as Creator/MaryAstor (in her last film role) as John's widow, Jewel Mayhew, and a young Creator/GeorgeKennedy as a construction foreman. It's pretty much a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'', an Aldrich-directed film that also starred Davis, but with de Havilland in place of Creator/JoanCrawford--see below. De Havilland plays a role that is [[PlayingAgainstType very very different]] from the goody-goody heroines that she played in the 1930s and 1940s. Meanwhile, the title song afforded 1950s pop superstar Patti Page (of "Tennessee Waltz" and "Doggie in the Window" fame) her last major hit record, right in the middle of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion.

The TroubledProduction was dramatized in the 2017 series ''{{Series/Feud}}''.

Skip forward to 1964. Charlotte is a weird old lady living in the same old dilapidated Hollis mansion, her only company being her maid/attendant Velma (Creator/AgnesMoorehead). No charges were ever brought forth in the Mayhew murder, but everyone assumes Charlotte did it. She is facing imminent eviction, however, as the state of Louisiana has made an eminent domain claim and is about to bulldoze her house to build a bridge. Her cousin Miriam Deering (de Havilland), Charlotte's last living relative, flies in from Europe to help Charlotte pack up her house, and simple country doctor Drew (Cotten) is on hand to calm down a perpetually jittery Charlotte. But strange things start happening in the Hollis mansion, the ghost of John Mayhew starts to appear, and Charlotte's grip on sanity grows increasingly shaky.

This film boasted an AllStarCast that included all the actors listed above, as well as Creator/MaryAstor (in her last film role) as John's widow, Jewel Mayhew, and a young Creator/GeorgeKennedy as a construction foreman. It was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'', an Aldrich-directed film that also starred Davis, but with de Havilland in place of Creator/JoanCrawford--see below. De Havilland plays a role that is [[PlayingAgainstType very very different]] from the goody-goody heroines that she played in the 1930s and 1940s. Meanwhile, the title song afforded 1950s pop superstar Patti Page (of "Tennessee Waltz" and "Doggie in the Window" fame) her last big hit record, right in the middle of the British Invasion.

In 1927, Charlotte Hollis (Davis), teenage daughter of Louisiana plantation owner Sam Hollis, is on the verge of running away with a married man, John Mayhew (Creator/BruceDern). Her father is forewarned, however, and in an ugly confrontation browbeats John into giving up Charlotte. John dumps Charlotte at a party hosted by Sam that night, a heartbroken Charlotte runs away sobbing, and it's all very sad... until John is brutally murdered by useen assailant wielding a meat cleaver.