As much as Bette Davis disliked Joan Crawford, she was compelled to admit that she owed her: “I will always thank her for giving me the opportunity to play the part of Baby Jane Hudson.”

Both the novel and the screenplay of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? form a compelling Gothic grotesque that offered strong parts for two actresses who hadn’t had one in a long time. Neither Davis nor Crawford was being hotly pursued by other offers, so negotiations didn’t take that long, but not before considerable maneuvering about money and billing. Initial offers gave Davis more cash up front but less of a percentage of the profits than Crawford—Davis was to get $60,000 and 5 percent of the profits, while Crawford was to get $40,000 and 10 percent. Billing was to imitate John Ford’s The Man Who Sh

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