Robert Aldrich Hudson, made for Douglas' company at Universal. Aldrich tried to make "Cross of Iron" with John Mills but could not get finance. Aldrich then went back to Italy where he directed a Biblical spectacular, "Sodom and Gomorrah" (1962) for Joseph E. Levine. Aldrich disparaged the final film, which ended up costing $6 million. Aldrich rejuvenated his career by optioning the novel "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962) for the Associates and Aldrich Company. He signed Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as stars, got Lukas Heller to write the script, and raised finance through Warner Bros. The film was a
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film) more dollars to our film if I had won. Joan was thrilled I hadn't." As both Davis and Crawford had accepted lower salaries in exchange for a share of the film's profits, Davis considered it foolish of Crawford to have worked against their common interests, especially at a time when roles for actresses their age were scarce. During the filming of "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964), Crawford acknowledged to visiting reporter/author Lawrence J. Quirk the difficulty she was having with Davis because of the Oscar incident, but added, "She acted like "Baby Jane" was a one-woman show after they nominated her.