Joan Crawford been left near-penniless following Alfred Steele's death, accepted a small role in "The Best of Everything" (1959). Although she was not the star of the film, she received positive reviews. Crawford would later name the role as being one of her personal favorites. By 1961 Joan Crawford was once again her own publicity machine with a new script, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", sent by Robert Aldrich. Crawford starred as Blanche Hudson, an elderly, disabled former A-list movie star who lives in fear of her psychotic sister Jane, in the highly successful psychological thriller "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"
Bette Davis an English teacher who saves a young Welsh miner (John Dall) from a life in the coal pits, by offering him education. The part had been played in the theatre by Ethel Barrymore, but Warner Bros. felt that the film version should depict the character as a younger woman. Davis disagreed, and insisted on playing the part as written, and wore a gray wig and padding under her clothes, to create a dowdy appearance. The film was well received by critics, and made a profit of $2.2 million. The critic E. Arnot Robertson observed: Only Bette Davis...could have combated so