I have a new hobby.
Old films.
And no, this is not an April Fool's joke one day late. Sure, I've admitted here before that I'm lowbrow when it comes to movies; good cinema to me involves cheerleaders, talking dogs or, at the very least, cute clothes and Chris Hemsworth. But I'm evolving.
Ever since I became obsessed with FX's Feud: Bette and Joan, the anthology series about the rivalry between film legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford during the filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, I have wanted to learn more about these alcohol-guzzling, gossiping, grandstanding ladies of the big screen -- the original Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ... and New York (while both were based in California, they had either a penthouse or occasional stage roles on the other coast) all rolled into one.
Maybe you do too. And maybe you are as clueless about how to get started as I was.
What ever happened to copies of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
How was I even going to find it? It's not like you can just go to the nearest Redbox and expect to borrow a movie from 1962. And I know this -- blush -- because I tried! Search "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" on Redbox.com, and they'll suggest other movies to check out, animated ones like Disney's Moana and DreamWorks' Trolls. Maybe it was the word "Baby."
Netflix has some "Classics" in its current collection, but not others. Netflix, at least right now, can't inform you what happened to Baby Jane, but if you log in now, it can show you 2015's What Happened, Miss Simone? It will also let you see 1995's Pictures of Baby Jane Doe (starring Calista Flockhart -- Ally McBeal! -- as a streetwalker) ... if you pay $7.99 more to get unlimited DVDs added to your streaming subscription.
Another way is to check with a video store -- yes, there are still a handful of survivors out there, like Little Rock's RAO Video, willing to rent to customers ... at least ones who didn't wrong them back in the "Be kind, rewind" days. Personally, guilt won't let me set foot in a video store. Having run afoul of the departed Blockbuster and its brethren a time or two (didn't everyone? I couldn't be the only one who had a borrowed copy of Encino Man riding around in a bucket seat for a few months or years!), I feel personally responsible for their ruin.
Also check the library. Old movies like Baby Jane are available via the Central Arkansas Library System. But it was checked out for who knows how long; I fully expected karma from Encino Man to finally catch up with me.
One can rent or buy old movies on Amazon.com. The price to buy Baby Jane was $6.99 (which I didn't because this phase of mine will pass in exactly 6.99 seconds). The price to rent it was only $3.99, but a time limit was involved. I'd have 30 days to start watching the 133-minute film, but then only 24 hours to finish once it started. That was too much pressure. And too much commitment for my attention span. And too much math.
Maybe I'd luck out and discover it on-demand, I thought, searching "Joan Crawford" on my television menu. I did eventually find the movie -- and for free. I'd have to wait two whole weeks to watch, but it was right there on TCM. I didn't know this trashy reality channel, home to Long Island Medium, My 600-lb Life and Sister Wives, showed movies too! Oh, wait, that's TLC. This is TCM, Turner Classic Movies, where old movies play and without commercial interruption.
Jane was far more suspenseful, psychotic and satisfying than I imagined an old movie could be. When I told that to my film buff co-worker, he let me borrow (proving to be the best way to get old movies) the equally frightening follow-up Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, starring Davis and Olivia de Havilland, who replaced Crawford when she backed out. If you haven't seen that one yet, let me just say heads really will roll.
I went ahead and recorded some other movies with Crawford (Mildred Pierce), and Davis (All About Eve, The Letter and The Little Foxes). And I'm recording other random old movies, as they are recommended to me (including the original King Kong and Invasion of the Body Snatchers). Let me know if there's something you suggest.
As for me and classic movies, it's like Davis' character Jane says in Baby Jane: "You mean all this time we could have been friends?"
That's a wrap. Email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Spin Cycle is a smirk at pop culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 04/02/2017