Literary Den

My latest Scene Pick on Word Matter is from the 1962 classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford immortalized that movie with so many memorable scenes. Baby Jane’s character as the cruel, tormenting sister and captor can still make viewers tick and turn in their seats. (One can only imagine how Blanche—played by Joan Crawford—would have felt with that face and voice hovering right over her head!)

On the video’s YouTube page, I spotted an interesting comment saying the background music felt horrible and gave the movie the feel of a TV show. I could hear the guy but looking at it closely, I don’t think it worked against the scene (or the movie). My comment was:

“I loved both their acting - pitch perfect in their roles. You are somewhat right about the music but even today if you would make it just dialogue with no background music of any kind, I am sure it will feel more like a stage drama than a movie.”

Background music at the right moment and in the right place is vital to a movie’s impact. I feel the director did a good job on including the music in this scene – and I feel pretty in line with that period’s filmmaking style – to heighten the feel of confrontation between the characters. My two cents.

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