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
Bette Davis (1976), but she clashed with Karen Black and Faye Dunaway, the stars of the two latter respective productions, because she felt that neither extended her an appropriate degree of respect, and that their behavior on the film sets was unprofessional. In 1977, Davis became the first woman to receive the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award. The televised event included comments from several of Davis' colleagues, including William Wyler, who joked that given the chance, Davis would still like to re-film a scene from "The Letter" to which Davis nodded. Jane Fonda, Henry Fonda, Natalie Wood, and Olivia de Havilland