About this episode
We kick off our regular Pride series for 2025 with a camp classic that was embraced by gay audiences almost immediately upon release. Warner Brothers brought together two legends of Hollywood, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, introduced the world to Victor Buono, and put it all under the careful, deliberate direction of Hollywood iconoclast, Robert Aldrich for a movie that spawned a cultural obsession with movies about older ladies losing their god damn minds. It's the psycho-biddy, hagsploitation nightmare of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? We'll explore what it is about this movie that was so immediately appealing to gay audiences of the 1960's and beyond. We'll talk about the simmering, mostly made-up feud between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis and Crawford's petty, bizarre stunt at the 35th Academy Awards as payback for the perceived slight of Bette Davis getting all the attention. And we'll break it all down in our usual fashion to tell you exactly why this movie is so god damn good and why it persists in the world's imagination as we celebrate Pride all month long with a series highlight and celebrate queer film and filmmakers. Join the Bring Me The Axe Discord: https://discord.gg/snkxuxzJ Support Bring Me The Axe! on Patreon: https://patreon.com/bringmetheaxepod Buy Bring Me The Axe merch here: https://www.bonfire.com/store/bring-me-the-axe-podcast/