Trivia / What's the Matter with Helen?

• The Cast Show Off: Debbie Reynolds shows off her dance skills in several numbers throughout the film.
• Doing It for the Art: Debbie Reynolds produced the film uncredited and put up $800,000 of her own because she loved Henry Farrell's story outline.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Yvette Vickers who plays Mrs Barker, was asked to dye her blonde hair red so as not to be confused with Debbie Reynolds.
• Executive Meddling: The censors objected to several things, such as a kiss between Helen and Adelle. Likewise Helen's murder of Adelle was longer and more graphic, but had to be cut down to avoid an R-rating.
• Fatal Method Acting: A near miss. Right before filming Adelle's murder scene, it was found that the prop knife had been switched with a real one! It was only discovered because Debbie Reynolds had a dream about it. No one on the crew ever found out who switched them.
• Follow the Leader: The film was put into production to capitalise on the success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. Filmmakers also wanted the film to be "the next Psycho".
• Hostility on the Set: Due to Shelley Winters's poor mental health at the time (see below), tensions ran high on set; Debbie Reynolds claiming "she drove us insane", and at one point nearly getting fired and replaced with Geraldine Page (who'd star in the similar What Ever Happened To Aunt Alice?)
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Yvette Vickers' blonde hair was dyed red so as not to compete with Debbie Reynolds. Ironically the latter's character is a brunette who bleaches her hair as a way of starting a new life for herself.
• Reality Subtext: Shelley Winters apparently got Lost in Character throughout the shoot, driving a lot of the cast and crew insane in the process. This eerily paralleled Helen's deteriorating sanity. In fact, she had been advised not to take the role by her psychiatrist precisely because she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown herself.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: The reason Shelley Winters took the role? She'd written a play called One Night Stands of a Noisy Passenger..., and the previews caused "such anxiety" that she decided she couldn't be there on the opening night. What's the Matter with Helen was offered to her around this time and she accepted without even reading the script. She later regretted not being there for the play's opening.
• Throw It In!: Shelley Winters ad-libbed Helen kissing Adelle after they dump the body in the sewer. Censors however objected to it and it didn't make it into the film.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Rita Hayworth was the first choice for Adelle but she had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and couldn't take it.
  • Early drafts had the story set in contemporary times, but it was eventually changed to a 1930s period piece.
• Working Title: The Best of Friends, which had to be changed to avoid confusion with the film Such Good Friends.
• Writer Revolt: While the studio were insistent on Helen's sexuality being kept to subtext, Shelley Winters played it as "directly" as she could.
  "I guess you could interpret it either way, but I played it very clearly. I hope I did, anyway."

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