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Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?

Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: my take on WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE
Review: I LOVE THIS MOVIE, IT IS HIGH CAMP, FUNNY AND BLACKLY HORRIFYING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. BOTH GERALDINE PAGE AND RUTH GORDON HAVE FUN WITH THEIR ROLES, ESPECIALLY THE FORMER, USING HER FACIAL EXPRESSIONS TO THE HILT, ROLLING HER EYES AND INFLECTING A SARCASTIC TONE INTO HER VOICE. RUTH GORDON, IF MORE RESERVED, IS JUST AS GOOD, AND VERY DIFFERENT THAN IN ROSEMARY'S BABY, SHE SEEMS REFRESHINGLY SANE IN THIS. THE PLOT MOVES ALONG AT A FAST BUT ENJOYABLE SPEED, WITH ONE OR TWO RED HERRINGS A LONG THE WAY. IF YOU LIKE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS, A WITTY SCRIPT AND GOOD ACTING, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ONE. I RECOND HITCHOCK WOULD HAVE ENJOYED IT TOO.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: FUN SLEEPER
Review: I vividly remember seeing this little flick back in 1969 when it was originally released theatrically and I found it much more enjoyable than the supposedly "bigger" movie of the double feature. The acting of Gordon (she's not especially eccentric in this) and Dunnock is first-rate as usual yet it's Page who has a field day in her incredible tour de force interpretation of the murderous middle-aged Mrs. Marrable. Scenes which linger in the memory are many: when Page catches Gordon combing out her wig collection, Marrable winning a contest (she discovers this one evening while tipsy & opening her mail), a scene has Page tear into Gordon "Did I say you could help yourself? " after Ruthie's poured herself a brandy; there's the "Gordon dumping scene" and the ironic ending which concerns postage stamps. I'm so glad this little gem has found it's way to video; Geraldine Page was surely one of the finest actresses to grace the stage and screen; her acting is a fascinating joy to behold!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Page and Gordon sparkle in witty, melodramatic thriller
Review: In the early 1960s director Robert Aldrich teamed aging stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in a suspense thriller called "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" The movie was a smash hit. Two or three years later he brought the two actresses back for "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte". Crawford dropped out and was replaced by Olivia De Havilland. Again, Aldrich struck pay dirt. In 1969 his production company made yet another such movie, "Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?", starring Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon. This was directed by Lee H. Katzin. I don't think it was as successful at the boxoffice, but the important thing is that Alice is almost as much fun as Jane and Charlotte.

Page plays Claire, a woman of sixty or so. In the opening scenes she finds out that her recently deceased husband left her with virtually nothing. Furious because her grand lifestyle has ended, Claire moves to the American Southwest, where she cooks up a scheme. She hires timid little old lady housekeepers and, over time, convinces them that she can make them a lot of money in the stock market. Once an unsuspecting employee turns over her life savings, Claire kills her and buries her in her garden, marking each grave with a new pine tree. Soon the yard is filled with trees. One day a new housekeeper named Alice [Ruth Gordon] shows up. Alice, however, has an ulterior motive. One of the women was her friend, and Alice suspects that Claire is responsible for her disappearance. Thus begins a grand game of cat and mouse.

Unlike Davis and Crawford, Page and Gordon were not movie stars fallen on hard times. They were great character actresses with extensive stage experience. Both had had an occasional starring role in films but had played mostly supporting roles over the years. They were older but hardly faded. If anything, they were at the height of their popularity when they made "Alice". They are the reason the movie, otherwise an outlandish melodrama, is still worth seeing. Gordon is outrageous fun as Alice, playing the part with true professionalism, yet barely able to conceal her glee and amusement at being in such a movie. But it is Page who dominates throughout. Her Claire is both hilarious and sad. Sometimes she stalks, sometimes she slithers through the movie, reminding one of a cross between a leopard and a cobra. She's obviously having a grand time.

Other Geraldine Page movies I particularly like are "Summer and Smoke", "The Trip to Bountiful" and "Sweet Bird of Youth". Great Ruth Gordon movies include "Harold and Maude", "Where's Poppa?" and, of course, "Rosemary's Baby".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Whatever Happended to Aunt Alice?
Review: Lots of fun - definitely worth getting. Especially if you a fan of either Ruth Gordon or Geraldine Page.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Deliciously wicked...
Review: The MGM DVD re-release sees little extras other than being in widescreen. No matter, this film is deliciously wicked. Captivating from beginning to end, "Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice" is a creepy, campy thriller. Ruth Gordon is as feisty as ever trying to uncover the mystery of the missing housekeepers.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Page shines, the rest fizzles..
Review: The only reasons this film might be of interest to you include: 1. You're gay, 2. You are a Geraldine Fan (haha), 3. You loved Bette Davis in Baby Jane and Joan Crawford in Autumn Leaves. Oh did I mention gay? I'm just kidding of course. The truth is Aunt Alice, which was the third in Aldrich's successful older lady horror trilogy (which included Baby Jane and Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte) does not measure up to the other two. It didn't in 1969, and doesn't now. It has a low-budget feel and the characters are weakly defined by a below-average script. Some of the younger characters are, in fact, completely useless to the plot and never fully explained! Perhaps they were just eye candy, but I found them boring. Aunt Alice is barely worth a look, except for Geraldine Page's sinister, crazy, over-the-top laugh every time she does away with a housekeeper! It's absolutely hilarious. Page gives a very strong performance here. To her fans, I recommend her sweetly vulnerable turn as a postmaster in Dear Heart.












Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Pretty scary; definitely fun!
Review: The original poster of this movie really stayed in my memory! Even though I was four when the film first came out, I remember my family talking about the plot of murders and people buried in the garden. Over the years, I'd seen parts of it on TV, but finally broke down and bought a copy of the video. Definitely worth the money! While it's not the scariest movie I've ever seen, the premise is pretty creepy, not to mention macabre! I LOVED Geraldine Page's cackle sewn throughout the film; that really added a campy twist. All the acting was fine, and for an addition to the 'Baby Jane' genre, 'Aunt Alice' definitely holds its own!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sheer brilliance
Review: They do not make movies like this anymore. Geraldine Page plays a nutcase hell bent on murdering every housekeeper that comes to work for her. What makes it so memorable is how she discards of the bodies (I won't give anything away here). Also adding effect is the spectacular music. Ruth Gordon joins the cast as a housekeeper trying to catch her out. Bad move Ruth.
While this film might seem dated to many, no moviegoer can argue the brilliant acting and suspense. An all round favourite.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE?--DVD
Review: THIS MOVIE IS BEING RELEASED AGAIN ON NOVEMBER 5,2004. " SAVE YOUR MONEY AND WAIT TILL THEN TO BUY IT. IT WILL COST ABOUT $13.00, NOT THOSE BIG BUCKS THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE CURRENTLY SELLING IT FOR." THE MOVIE ITSELF IS EXCELLENT AND IS VERY WELL DONE IN ALL AREAS. DEFINITELY WORTH THE PURCHASE.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superlative Camp classic is also both funny and fairly scary
Review: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE (1969) Dir: LEE H KATZIN Stars; Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon, Mildred Dunnock, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller

Superlative campy thriller, brilliantly acted by its main protagonists. The fantastic Geraldine Page stars as a psychotic widow with a penchant for growing the very sturdiest and handsome of Pine trees - her secret is human fertiliser in the form of a series of butchered companions. Slowly suspicion rises and a friend of one of the deceased, now fertiliser fodder, begins to catch on to Page's dastardly deeds.

Geraldine Page delivers a tour de force performance as Claire Marrable - oozing a charming menace and evil with every breath. Yet there are severe undertones of humour and one senses that the actors involved would have a good cackle after every take. Page's performance rates with the most vintage camp EVER. She obviously relished and thoroughly enjoyed the role.

Ruth Gordon, best remembered from the wonderful Harold and Maude, delivers a typically feisty and spunky performance as the Aunt Alice of the title. It is vintage stuff and works equally successfully as a taut thriller but best of all as the blackest and most wicked of comedies. Please also appreciate the totally schizo music score that is so appropriate for the film. A gem from director Lee H. Katzin and producer Robert Aldrich who gave us another cult favourite, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.


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