Hi Fellow Niners!
Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it here.
1) This song is from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, which was released on Halloween Day, 1962. Do you like scary movies?
I love scary movies. Not necessarily ones drenched in blood, just scary ones.
2) The "Baby Jane" of the title is Baby Jane Hudson. Jane was a child star, singing and dancing in vaudeville. She was so popular that Baby Jane dolls sold well at her shows. Tell us about one of your favorite childhood toys.
I loved my Kewpie Doll, Given to me by my grandparents. Mine was made, like all the dolls of the time, of something that should never be left out in the rain. And of course it was. I loved her anyway, crumbling away over the years.
3) Baby Jane's career hit the skids when she hit her teens and audiences no longer found her cute. Adolescence can be a tough time for many of us. Did you ever go through an awkward phase?
Not that I know of. My problems weren't in that area. I was always oblivious to any of the prejudice that I suffered, having a French last name that everyone thought was "Mexican". My grandfather and his brother, my grand uncle Luis, both had blue eyes and blonde hair!
I just thought I was OK, i.e. just another kid. When I started to look back on it all, I realized the path of my life had been narrowed by having to grow up in California, and not in New Orleans.
4) Meanwhile, Jane's older sister Blanche blossomed into a beauty and became a major movie actress. Her career was cut short when, at the height of her popularity, her back is broken in a car accident involving a drunken Jane. Most of the movie takes place in the mansion Blanche bought back when she was a star. Blanche is confined to a wheelchair and completely dependent on Jane, who is bitter, jealous, and well, bonkers. Very bad things happen. Can you think of another movie where scary things happen in a big old house?
Not unless you want to include "The Munsters". My brother and I had a talk about our childhood before he died, and we decided that we had LIVED through enough horror growing up, that things in movies weren't even scary. We knew what scary was. Sort of like what the fictional Blanche went through, only REAL.
5) As a (crazy) older woman, Jane convinces herself she can relaunch her career and recapture the love of the public. She dresses like she did as a little girl and makes up her face to look like those Baby Jane dolls that were sold long ago at her childhood performances. Then she rehearses this week's song. The result is so memorable that now, more than 60 years later, you can still find "Baby Jane" Halloween costumes online. Tell us about a Halloween costume you really enjoyed wearing.
The one that I remember was dressing up as an airline pilot. I used stuff I bought at Goodwill, and put my long hair up under a short, gray wig, and put The Captain's hat up top. It was mad fun!
6) Which kind of spooky movie villain do you find scarier: supernatural monsters (Dracula, Wolfman, ghosts, etc.) or human monsters (Baby Jane, Michael Meyers from the Halloween franchise, etc.)?
Human Monsters, hands down. I had terror and fear of them engraved on my soul from my childhood. There is nothing more horrible than a human monster.
Questions inspired by Halloween ....
7) Orange and black are the traditional Halloween colors, with orange representing the autumn harvest and black symbolizing all things scary and mysterious. Are you wearing either color as you answer these questions?
No Ma-am. I am wearing Pink.
8) Jack-o-lanterns originated in Ireland, though instead of pumpkins, they carved gourds. When Irish immigrants arrived in the US, they used pumpkins because they were more readily available. Did you decorate your home with a jack-o-lantern, or anything else, for Halloween?
I used to go all out, with decorations in windows and all the way to the door. But now I don't have to desire to even answer the door. We chance it, and leave all the lights out.
9) Think back to your trick-or-treating days. Which candy were you happiest to find your bag?
Abba Zaba Bars. I loved them. I just found them on Amazon! Imagine! Need to go order a life time supply!
Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!
