Qu'est-il arrivé à tante Alice?

Lots of mordant humor and a clever plot twist at the end are sufficient reason for watching WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE?, but when a cast includes GERALDINE PAGE, RUTH GORDON and MILDRED DUNNOCK and promises to be a suspenseful film along the lines of BABY JANE and HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE, you owe it to yourself to watch it.

It works not so much because the story (an eerie one, to be sure) is so original, but because the cat-and-mouse aspect of the story which has Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon as adversaries in a household fraught with suspicion (of murder), is what hooks the most interest in this vastly entertaining little shocker.

However, it's a quiet one, building its suspense slowly as we come to realize just how manipulative and cunning Page's character is. She's a woman, believing her husband has left her penniless, who moves to Arizona where she will be near her nephew. But she's intent on hiring lonely housekeepers and murdering them to steal their savings. (Not unlike some real-life events depicted in a gruesome TV documentary recently). After disposing of her victims she buries them in her garden and plants another tree to mark the spot. It seems they flourish nicely, hence my suggestion above for a better title.

Gordon pretends to apply for a job after the last housekeeper has gone missing and is actually doing some detective work on her own. It's her scenes with Page that make the whole film so satisfying.

It's not a great horror film but it does have its moments, thanks mostly to GERALDINE PAGE who does a marvelous job at showing us all the tics and nuances of a very eccentric woman who means to get her way, no matter what she has to do. It's a ruthless, cunning role and Page makes the most of it.

This movie was a blast. Geraldine Page is appropriately over the top in this thriller. Ruth Gordon doesn't get to let loose as much as I would have liked, but they do have a showdown which is a joy to behold. The movie would have you believe housekeepers make terrific fertilizer for pine trees, in the Arizona desert, no less! I loved every minute of it.

Not-so-grieving widow Claire Marrable is horrified to hear that her supposedly wealthy husband has apparently left her penniless. But, being a practical (and resourceful) type, she hits on a scheme to keep her in the comfort to which she wishes to become accustomed. Relocating to the Arizona desert, she hires elderly housekeepers with no known relatives (but tidy nest eggs) and sends them to their rewards a bit sooner than they planned. And their remains become mulch for the widow's growing garden as each is buried under a quickly flourishing sapling. This later entry in the "horror hag" sweepstakes features absolutely wonderful performances from Geraldine Page, who has a high old time as the haughty, demented and thoroughly relentless Mrs. Marrable, and Ruth Gordon, as Alice Dimmock, her new housekeeper, who isn't quite what she seems to be. On the sidelines are Rosemary Forsyth, herself a (young) widow with a nephew, Robert Fuller as Miss Gordon's nephew, and Joan Huntington as the scheming wife of Page's nephew. With a cast made up of widows and nephews, how scary can "Aunt Alice" be? Not very. But it's a delicious black comedy which allows Page and Gordon the opportunity to give the performances of their lives. There's also a neat cameo from Mildred Dunnock ("Death Of A Salesman") as the luckless servant who precedes Miss Gordon. One of the best "Grand Guignol" films ever made!

What's a poor widow to do when her husband dies and leaves her penniless? Move to the Arizona desert, start a pine tree garden, and fertilize it with human mulch? Well.wouldn't you?? Geraldine Page has quite the green thumb as Mrs. Claire Marrable--the wicked widow with the pine tree fetish--in the chilling thriller "Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?"

Grand dame Bette Davis once quipped: "Fasten your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy night!" Bette, you are so right! If you remember Geraldine Page as the sweet li'l ol' lady from `Trip to Bountiful'.FUGETABOWTIT! Page does a 180 as she transmogrifies from helpless Southern widow to cool, calculating murderess with money and murder on the brain--and a means to achieve both. Page hits the bulls-eye with each scene. All of her nervous ticks are appropriately timed. She is at her best when putting on airs and verbally sparring with unarmed opponents. What a stellar performance! Geraldine, girlfriend, you is flawless!!

Many deliciously diabolical scenes abound, like when pesky canine Chloe threatens to dig up the dirt on her murderous past-time, Page as Marrable barks back: "I have not taken loving and diligent care of my garden to have it wrecked by this vagrant bitch!" Page's character is equally disenchanted with her new next door neighbor, Ms. Vaughn, whom she refers to as "crabgrass, never really quelled, only cropping up secretly and victoriously in another spot". The only one Page can stomach is Ruth Gordon as the inquisitive Aunt Alice--an undercover housekeeper on a mission to get to the root (haha) of all evil and discover the whereabouts of a friend last seen in Page's employ. But when she's tardy serving up cocktails, an impatient Geraldine rips her a new one: `Punctuality is essential to a gracious way of life, which I do not intend to give up on account of you.' Ruth returns fire: `If you wanna live like some Dutchess of Maharati, you better learn how to behave like one!' Geraldine shakes furiously from head to toe after a fiesty Ruth flat-out inquires: "How MANY women have you killed?" Try to suppress a snicker as you watch a pint-sized Ruthie scamper away from Page, who smugly stalks her throughout her secluded desert home to the beat of bongos and a psychotic musical score. Page's wicked laughter is sprinkled spuriously throughout the film to the backdrop of swaying pine trees-how ingenious! Not even Bette Davis cackled with such nefarious mirth as Baby Jane Hudson!

Praise be the master of psycho-shrews on film, Robert Aldrich--who directed the cult smash "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"--for producing this special gem, and a hearty kudos to Lee Katzin for his superlative directing skills. This movie will make you bow down and pray to the Church of Geraldine Page. So what are you waiting for? Rent it tonight.and START PRAYING!!

An intriguing film with plenty of twists and turns , dealing with an aging widow : Geraldine Page who carries out dark and sinister activities with grave consequences . As a poor , eccentric widow develops an awful habit to inherit states from old women by stealing their savings . Meanwhile , an elderly woman : Ruth Gordon takes a job in hopes of solving a mystery . Whatever happened to Aunt Alice was more terrifying than what happened to Baby Jane ! . The only evidence is a growing number of trees by the drive ! . You'll know ..when the horror starts to grow ! .What makes her garden grow ...wouldn't you like to know !

This is a horrific tale with high body-count , violence , thrills , chills , plot twists and portentous interpretations . It packs an adequate cinematography by Joseph Biroc , as well as moving musical score by Gerarld Fried . Main and support cast are frankly top-notch . As Geraldine Page is terrific as the suspect widow who hires maids and hides a deadly secret which she will do anything to keep buried . She is excellently accompanied by the always great Ruth Gordon -of Harold and Maude fame- as Mrs Dimmock acting there just as odd , along with the beautiful Rosemary Forsyth , Robert Fuller and especial appearance by Mildred Dunnock . This film belongs to a sub-genre developed in the Sixties and Seventies , dealing with deranged widows or unsettling spinsters , middle-age women who often commit grisly killings , whose main representatives were Robert Aldrich with his big hit "What ever happened to Baby Jane ?" Stars Bette Davis , Joan Crawford, "Hush ...Hush Sweet Charlotte" stars Olivia De Havilland , Bette Davis and Curtis Harrington with "Whoever slew Auntiee Roo ?" Stars Shelley Winters , "What's the matter with Helen ?" Stars Debbie Reynolds , Shelley Winters , "The Killing Kind" with Ann Sothern and "Games" with Simone Signoret .

The motion picture well produced by Robert Aldrich was competently directed by Lee H Katzin and direction assistant Bernard Girard , providing a tense and competetent filmmaking . Rating : 7/10 notable . Well worth watching . Essential and fundamental seeing for the awesome interpretations of the magnificent actresses .