Whatever Happened to Baby Ross?

I don't spend a lot of time watching old movies. I don't watch a lot in black and white, and I don't even watch very much from before the '80s.

However, maybe I need to start. There are campy movies that have been lifted up as "must see" films for the gay community. Apparently, we are all in love with Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Judy Garland. I get that, but there are enough recent movies that I want to watch. I don't need to spend a lot of time with overly dramatic movies that are defined more by somber music than by plot.

Last night, I may have changed my attitude a little bit. We went to a stage adaptation of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" that featured Craig, a good friend of mine, in the role of Blanche. My friend is male, so played the roll in drag. The young Blanche was also played by a boy. It was so overly dramatic, that it was funny. I guess that was the appeal.

The photo above came from the Star Tribune, which also had this article.

A friend that we went with told us that our friend as Blanche was being campy, but that the Jane role was played spot on. Apparently, the campiness is just a part of the role.

So now, we've moved "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" to the top of our Netflix list, along with "Mommie Dearest" (I did try to watch that once), and "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte".

I'm going to try to make my way through these films that are considered "classics".