What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?
by Bernard Girard, Lee H. Katzin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Geraldine Page, Mildred Dunnock, Robert Fuller, Rosemary Forsyth, Ruth GordonDirector: Bernard Girard, Lee H. Katzin
Brand: PAGE,GERALDINE
Cinematographer: Joseph F. Biroc
Producer: Peter Nelson
Producer: Robert Aldrich
Producer: William Aldrich
Writer: Theodore Apstein
Writer: Ursula Curtiss
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Spanish (Published)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-02
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?
Movie Review: Surprising, compelling, funny and masterful - Contains Spoilers!!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice?" is, I believe, often overlooked for flashier, more renowned entries in the same vein of Grand Guignol - movies like "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?", "Lady In A Cage", "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte", and so forth.
But in "Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice?" we have something that none of those other movies had: a lack of Legend and a sense of Cult Following, and next-to-no expectations when viewing the movie for the first time. And so what we see when we sit down to watch it is something fresh, exciting and very, very good indeed.
"Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice?" stars the very wonderful Geraldine Page as the recently widowed Claire Marrable, who, in the wake of being left destitute by the financial wasteland that is her late husband's estate, moves to an isolated part of rural Arizona, and takes on a succession of tight-lipped, downtrodden housekeepers. The reason for the succession soon becomes apparent: Mrs. Marrable is murdering these women in short order, after they've signed their life savings over to her, and using them as fertiliser for what must be said is a remarkably verdant desert garden.
Enter the seemingly innocuous Alice Dimmock (the equally wonderful Ruth Gordon), who, after the briefest of introductory periods, sets about working to her own agenda: discovering the whereabouts of Mrs. Marrable's last housekeeper.
Performances are incredibly, incredibly good: Geraldine Page is a delight to watch in almost all of her movie roles, and this proves no different: she's a magnetic, charismatic powerhouse who breathes a pathos and a kind of twisted empathy into the murderous role of Mrs. Marrable. Ruth Gordon, riding on a high from her 1968 Academy Award for the role of Minne Castavet in "Rosemary's Baby", gives a similarly inspired performance as the titular Alice: this could have easily been a one-dimensional reading of the character, but Gordon's low-key, understated screen presence and hugely entertaining mannerisms propel the character of Alice Dimmock right off the screen and into our minds: she's real, and Gordon is excellent.
The supporting cast is of a very high standard, too: Rosemary Forsyth is believable in her very small supporting role as Mrs. Marrable's young neighbour Harriet Vaughn, and Robert Fuller gives a good turn in his supporting role as Alice's nephew Mike Darragh. But this show belongs lock, stock and barrel to Gordon and Page: the supporting cast simply provides a solid backdrop to their excellent performances.
Direction is great - the late swingin' sixties colour clashes of the fabrics and furnishings make the interior scenes a beautiful contrast to the exterior sparseness of the Arizona landscape. Lighting, too, is used to great effect: rather than feel hopelessly dated, as many of the early seventies thrillers do now, the well-lit, almost soap-operaish quality of the photography actually serves to compliment the unstructured, loose flow of director Lee H. Katzin's confident, narrative camerawork. I can't name many other movies of this period that work visually as well as "Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice?", and that's high praise, indeed.
All in all, "Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice?" has certainly stood the test of time as a record of the talents of Page and Gordon - but more importantly, remains as relevant and enjoyable today, and on the same levels, as it did on its initial release. This isn't a movie you love for the camp value, because there's not many camp laughs to be had - it's simply an excellent film, and one well-worth owning.
DVD-wise the print is excellent, and while the sound sadly is mono, it's not that big of a deal with some decent television speakers.
Wholeheartedly recommended.
Summary of What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?
The battle of wits is on! OscarĀ(r) winners* Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon 'sharpen their claws on each other (Boxoffice) in this enjoyable piece of jolly horror (Los Angeles Times) about a lost fortune, a mad heiress and a housekeeper hellbent on digging up the truth! Mrs. Marrable (Page) is a society matron who's had some shocking news. Her late husband left her only a stamp collection! Determined to maintain her extravagant lifestyle, she takes advantage of an unlikely new source of incomeher housekeepers by robbing them not only out of their life savings, but also their lives! The turnover rate for help speeds faster than a revolving door until Mrs. Marrable's latest hire (Gordon) develops a drive to unearth the terrible secret buried in the front yard! * Page: Actress, The Trip to Bountiful (1985); Gordon: Supporting Actress, Rosemary's Baby (1968)Similar DVD Movies
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