Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Quiz

At the beginning of the film, Baby Jane Hudson rose to fame as a precocious, spoiled vaudeville child star, captivating audiences with her saccharine songs and exaggerated stage persona.

Dressed in frilly costumes and accompanied by her doting father on piano, she became a household name. Her image was plastered on posters and a life-size doll was made in her image. The public adored her, and her fame soared.

As Baby Jane basked in the spotlight, her sister, Blanche, quietly endured life on the sidelines, receiving little attention, having her talents overlooked and treated with contempt by Jane. She simmered with resentment, as she watched her sister's fame grow without the discipline or humility to sustain it.

As Jane's popularity waned, Blanche seized her moment, rising to stardom in Hollywood with poise and professionalism. Blanche's ambitions, weren't driven by applause, but by a desire to prove herself.

As the spotlight shifted from vaudeville to cinema, Blanche emerged as a rising star in Hollywood. Her talent won over audiences and studio executives alike, propelling her to leading roles and critical acclaim. Unlike her sister's theatrical flair, Blanche's performances carried emotional depth, and she quickly became one of the era's most respected actresses.

Meanwhile, Jane's career faltered. Her child-star persona didn't adapt to adult roles, and her lack of discipline made her difficult to work with. Though Blanche used her influence to secure parts for Jane, the contrast in talent and temperament was obvious. Jane's bitterness grew as Blanche's fame eclipsed hers, setting the stage for decades of resentment and psychological unravelling.

In 1935, Blanche's life changed forever when a devastating car accident left her paralysed from the waist down. The incident occurred after a party, with Jane allegedly behind the wheel, drunk and reckless. The car slammed into the mansion's iron gates, and while Jane emerged unharmed, Blanche was confined to a wheelchair, her acting career abruptly ended.

The circumstances surrounding the accident remained murky for decades, with Jane bearing the brunt of the blame. This deepened their toxic dependency: Blanche, physically trapped, and Jane, emotionally unstable and guilt-ridden. The unresolved trauma of that night became the foundation for the psychological torment that followed.

After the accident, Blanche and Jane live in isolation inside a crumbling Hollywood mansion, purchased with Blanche's film earnings. Blanche, confined to a wheelchair, relies entirely on Jane for care, while Jane, bitter, alcoholic, and mentally unstable, grows increasingly resentful of her sister's lingering fame. The house itself mirrors their psychological decay: once grand, now dilapidated and claustrophobic.

Their relationship festers in silence and dependency. Jane controls Blanche, as she is trapped upstairs, physically helpless and emotionally tormented. The mansion becomes a prison of guilt, jealousy, and unresolved trauma.

Fueled by jealousy and emotional instability, Jane begins to systematically isolate Blanche from the outside world. She intercepts her mail, disconnects the telephone, and restricts her access to visitors, ensuring she remains trapped in the upstairs bedroom. Jane's erratic behaviour escalates from neglect to psychological cruelty, as she tightens her control over Blanche's daily life.

The torment becomes increasingly sadistic: Jane serves grotesque meals, mocks Blanche's helplessness, and gaslights her into silence. What begins as passive aggression turns into active abuse, with Jane's delusions of grandeur feeding her need to dominate. Blanche, once the star, is reduced to a prisoner, her voice stifled, her body confined, and her fate in Jane's hands.

Jane's psychological torment escalates when she begins tampering with Blanche's meals. What starts as unsettling silence turns grotesque: Blanche lifts the silver lid on her plate to find a dead bird, her pet parakeet (which Jane killed), where her lunch should be. The act is cruel, calculated to shock and destabilise, stripping Blanche of any sense of safety or routine.

Soon after, Jane delivers an even more horrifying surprise, a rat, served cold and unapologetically. These twisted offerings are acts of cruelty and declarations of dominance. Jane turns mealtimes into a nightmare, reinforcing Blanche's helplessness in a house where reality is slipping away.

Desperate to reclaim her lost fame, Jane seeks out Edwin Flagg, a struggling pianist with few prospects and a willingness to overlook her eccentricities. She hires him to accompany her in reviving her childhood act, convinced that the world is ready for Baby Jane's return. Flagg, intrigued by the promise of money and flattery, plays along, unaware of the depth of Jane's delusions.

Jane rehearses with manic energy, dressing in her old costumes and reciting songs from decades past. Her obsession with the comeback blinds her to reality, and Flagg becomes both enabler and witness to her unravelling. The partnership, built on fantasy and desperation, marks a chilling step deeper into Jane's psychological collapse.

When Elvira, the loyal maid, grows suspicious of Jane's erratic behaviour and Blanche's worsening condition, she returns to the mansion unannounced. Determined to uncover the truth, Elvira forces her way upstairs, only to find Blanche in a horrifying state, starved, weak, and barely conscious. Jane, panicked and desperate to maintain control, lashes out violently.

In a moment of frenzied fear, Jane kills Elvira with a hammer, silencing the only person who might have intervened. The act is brutal and final, severing Blanche's last lifeline to the outside world. With Elvira gone, Jane's descent accelerates, and the mansion becomes a sealed chamber of madness, guilt, and irreversible damage.

Following Elvira's murder by Jane, her cousin reports her missing, and when Edwin Flagg, Jane's pianist, arrives at the house, he finds Blanche tied to the bed. He flees and contacts the authorities. Jane panics and leaves, taking Blanche with her.

She drives Blanche to the beach in a dazed, childlike state, dressed in her Baby Jane costume and oblivious to the chaos she's caused. The sunlit setting contrasts sharply with the darkness of their story. As she twirls and dances for amused strangers, she believes she's finally won back the public's affection.

Meanwhile, Blanche lies helpless in the sand, barely conscious and unable to call for help. The beach, open and public, becomes a stage for Jane's final descent, a grotesque echo of her childhood performances. It's a moment of eeriness and tragedy, where fantasy and reality collide, and the full weight of their shared history comes to light.

In a moment of emotional clarity on the beach, Blanche finally confesses the truth she's hidden for decades: it was she, not Jane, who caused the 1935 car accident. Overcome with guilt and remorse, Blanche reveals that she had tried to run Jane down in a fit of rage, but crashed herself instead. Jane, long blamed and burdened by guilt, had been innocent all along.

This revelation reframes their entire relationship. Jane's cruelty, while inexcusable, is cast in a tragic light, built on a false premise of blame. Blanche's confession is both a release and a reckoning, arriving too late to undo the damage but offering a glimpse of truth amid the madness. The sisters' shared history, once defined by rivalry and resentment, ends in a moment of painful honesty.

On the sunlit beach, Jane twirls and skips in her Baby Jane costume, performing for a crowd of curious strangers. Her movements are childlike, her smile vacant, as she relishes the attention she believes is adoration. To the onlookers, she's an oddity, an ageing woman lost in fantasy, but to Jane, it's a triumphant return to the spotlight. The applause in her mind drowns out reality.
Just yards away, Blanche lies motionless in the sand.

By now, the news of Elvira's murder and Blanche's condition is on the radio and the police are on the lookout. They recognise Jane when she gets ice cream for herself and Blanche from a nearby refreshment stand. She manages to dodge them and dances for the watching crowd and the officers, who find Blanche nearby, rush to save her.