evanston_dad What a riot! Geraldine Page plays a widow left destitute by her husband, who lives off the savings of maids she hires and then kills. Along comes Ruth Gordon, posing as a maid but actually investigating the disappearance of her lady "companion," and we, the audience, get to sit back and watch her salt-of-the-earth demeanor bounce off of Page's histrionic diva.Is it even possible to be bored by a Page performance? This script is far beneath her, she knows it, and decides to go for it, playing the role as about off-the-wall as you could get without descending into straight camp. She and Gordon are so talented, and so compulsively watchable, that you actually care what happens in this second-rate rip-off of other macabre crazy women films like "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte." Robert Aldrich, the director of both of those films, serves as producer on this one, so maybe it's not exactly ripping off if you're stealing from yourself.And it's a got a groovy score by Gerald Fried (random trivia: he would be nominated for a Best Original Score Oscar in 1975 for the documentary "Birds Do It, Bees Do It') that makes one wonder what he was smoking when he composed it. It sounds like something from a movie about Spanish bullfighters.Grade: B+

JasparLamarCrabb Light years better than you'd expect given that this was released amongst the glut of horror films featuring faded leading ladies. Ruth Gordon is hired on as Geraldine Page's maid in an attempt to locate a missing friend. She's very quickly on to the macabre shenanigans of her new employer. Suffice to say, Page has an inordinately beautiful garden (for someone living in the desert of Tucson)! Director Lee Katzin creates a really creepy movie, utilizing two great actresses, cinematography by Joseph Biroc and a perfectly malevolent music score by Gerald Fried. The acting is excellent, with Page really running wild. Gordon, surprising in a purely dramatic turn, is every inch her equal. The supporting cast is fine and includes Robert Fuller, Mildred Dunnock and Rosemary Forsyth as one of Page's few curious neighbors. Produced by Robert Aldrich, this is a terrific companion piece to his earlier WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE & HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE.

JLRMovieReviews Geraldine Page is left nothing of value by the passing of her husband and she has to fend for herself. Fast forward, she goes to live near her only blood kin, a nephew in Arizona. We see her at night in her garden digging a hole with her new companion/nursemaid. She is planting a new pine tree and then all of a sudden she hits her friend over the head. In the morning, there is a new pine tree planted firmly in the ground, in line with the others. Enter Mildred Dunnock, her new companion. There seems to be a pattern here.I, and other Geraldine Page fans, have already died and gone to heaven, as we are shown Miss Page's dark side and another tour-de-force performance. If all you know of Miss Page is "The Trip to Bountiful," "Sweet Bird of Youth," and "Summer and Smoke," then you're in for a treat. There's even a twist in the ending that keen observers will know is coming, even from the beginning. (By the way, if you didn't know, she would provide the voice of Madame Medusa in Disney's "The Rescuers.")Ruth Gordon shows up applying for the position and gives Miss Page a run for her money, who is also a joy to watch. Also starring Rosemary Forsyth, this is one offbeat tale that shouldn't be missed. If you're a fan of "Baby Jane" and "Sweet Charlotte," then move over for Geraldine Page. Better yet, stay out of her way!

Poseidon-3 Oh, how the 1960s audiences loved to see older women camping it up in the horror genre. Though this entry focuses more on character actresses rather than former glamour gals or traditional leading ladies and also isn't quite as outright scary as some others, it's still an enjoyable entry in the genre. Page plays the widow of an allegedly wealthy husband. She's practically giddy at the thought of inheriting his money when she's informed that all she will get is one briefcase full of "junk!" Cut to a little while later and she's living in Tucson, AZ near her nephew and has been going through live-in companions like nobody's business. It seems she screens them to make sure they have no family, hires them, acquires their money and then kills them, using their remains to nurture the pine trees in her front yard! Unfortunately for her, the latest lady-for-hire is scrappy Gordon, who may have an ulterior motive and who might not be so easy to dispose of as the others. Page and Gordon coexist amid a feeling of mild tension until Gordon starts to get close to the truth and Page starts to understand that Gordon isn't exactly what she seemed to be. Page, an acclaimed stage actress who didn't work in a tremendous number of films (though she did eventually win an Oscar) has a total field day here. She's fascinating to watch as she manipulates, commandeers and punctuates various moments with her demonic little cackle. She flits and fusses around, frequently using her hair as almost another character and is never boring. Gordon is the polar opposite. She underplays, yet remains equally watchable. Her entirely unique methods of movement, speech and gesture make her every bit as captivating. Together they toy with the scenery, nibbling off little bits of it and occasionally chomping off a big bite. Fans of either actress cannot afford to miss them here. There's a subplot involving Gordon's nephew, the hunky Fuller, which is mostly a real snooze. He's romancing Page's neighbor, a virtually somnambulistic Forsyth, when he's able to evade the man-hungry Huntington, Page's sexy niece-in-law. Brandon plays Page's nephew, who's every bit as lusty as Huntington. The interludes with these other characters, while visually appealing thanks to the era's clothing and hair, detract from the far meatier and more compelling story involving Page and Gordon. Dunnock appears briefly, but effectively, as one of Page's victims. Composer Gerald Fried uses some cues that are perilously close to the ones he used during his tenure on "Star Trek," which lends an amusingly odd air to things. There is little to no gore present, but plenty of unsettling mayhem and more than one surprise along the way, though not all of them are pleasant. Robert Aldrich, who had directed two previous films of this type, only produced this one.