What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film) films "Parachute Jumper" and "Ex-Lady" (both 1933) and the Joan Crawford film "Sadie McKee" (1934) was used to represent the film acting of Jane and Blanche respectively. The character of Liza, Mrs. Bates' daughter, was played by Davis' real-life daughter B. D. Merrill. After Joan Crawford's daughter Christina wrote the best-selling tell-all book "Mommie Dearest", Merrill published a memoir that depicted her mother in an unfavorable light. Crawford was scheduled to appear alongside Davis on a publicity tour of "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" but cancelled at the last minute. Davis claimed that Crawford backed out because she did
Baby Jane Hudson they spot Blanche lying on the sand and rush to her aid. Jane is too caught up in her delusions to notice the policemen's presence. Among the film's most recognized images is Bette Davis as the aged Jane in blond Mary Pickford-like curls performing the syrupy song "I've Written a Letter to Daddy." Jane's final scene in the film is patterned on the final scene of "Sunset Boulevard", where Gloria Swanson's character descends the stairs for an imagined film scene after killing her lover. The success of the movie led the director to undertake a film using similar themes and