Having revived the careers of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in the Hollywood melodrama What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, director Robert Aldrich was anxious to recall them for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. While Davis readily agreed, sensing another triumph, Crawford cried off, claiming a nervous breakdown, and when Aldrich cast Olivia de Havilland, Crawford said, "She needs a good picture." And de Havilland got one, a delirious slice of American Gothic about two warring cousins and an inheritance. All the Deep South conventions are present - shadowy mansion, thrumming insects, secrets in the closet. This is Tennessee Williams for the Darby and Joan Club with old-timers Mary Astor, Agnes Moorehead and Joseph Cotten also adding to this heady brew for fans of Hollywood's golden age gone bananas.

An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.