Crazy headline at The London Times.
To be fair, the article is about what characters appear in movies and TV shows, which is never going to be the full range of humanity, because some aspects of life make more interesting stories.
But still: "The disgust that older women are presumed to engender is so great there’s even a horror genre built around it, dubbed 'hagsploitation' and starring the 'psycho-biddy.' The Hollywood star Bette Davis had aged out of being a dramatic lead and into being a scary old lady before she was even 60, with terrifying roles in films like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and The Nanny (1965)...."
I think it's not so much that older women are disgusting as that it's hard to think of exciting things for gentle, sweet old ladies to do that could be the center of a story. Bette Davis understood that and was willing to set glamor aside and sink into a horror role.
Anyway, we're told that these days there are lots of juicy roles for older actresses, and one 30-year-old actress said: “It’s a really good time for older women, which is amazing, and there’s a lot for these young men, but not a lot for the actresses that I know in my age bracket.”
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The Thursday Club Murders opens today on Netflix. I like these books. Murder mysteries set in a retirement home. They get together on Thursdays to solve cold cases. And then there's a murder in the retirement community. Fun UK murder series. Starring Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan.
Driving Miss Daisy.
Miss Marple?
I watched a recent movie with Beverly D'Angelo. Her plastic surgeries made her look far scarier than Gloria Swanson from Sunset Boulevard.
"it's hard to think of exciting things for gentle, sweet old ladies to do that could be the center of a story"
No good deed goes unpunished.
"it's hard to think of exciting things for gentle, sweet old ladies to do that could be the center of a story"
Google GILF. But not at work. - RR, JSM
Trailer for Sunset Boulevard
in my Highschool English class on Film Studies,
one of the films we studied was Sunset Boulevard.
By my math, Gloria Swanson was 50 years old, when they made that (51? maybe?)
People were A LOT Older back in those days
My favorite Miss Marple is Dame Margaret Rutherford. She did four movies. Murder Ahoy is the best one, I think.
Red is fun with old people.
Helen Mirren kinda owns that violent granny niche. I almost wrote, "She's gonna ride that horse into her 80's." And then I checked and found out she's already 80. Oops.
Performers now are better preserved than they were in Bette Davis's day. 60 is the new 40. Society and audiences have changed a lot as well, so there's an opening in the market for a 60-year-old Sarah Jessica Parker and a 69-year-old Kim Cattrall to do a show where they're sitting around talking about their sex lives.
It also seems like the BBC has always given work to older actresses, between comedy, mystery, drama and chat shows. Older women may not always be the lead, but when one thinks of how few actresses and actors really find work and stay in the profession, maybe the winners shouldn't complain about dry spells. It's nice to think that one succeeded because of talent, but being young and fresh had something to do with it, and when that goes ...
Plenty of older women in my town with very active lives, playing tennis, pickleball, going out and about, having cocktails, dinner parties. The men die off but the women stay in shape (at least some of them) and keep on doing things. And...I suspect there's more than one or two murder mysteries here and there. I don't know for sure, but I suspect them all.
Granny OR Alcoholic? Embrace the power of AND.
Love the last cited paragraph spoken by the 30ish actress. Good Lord. Pity party galore.
Harold and Maude.
Warning: Rom-Com with a 60-year-old age difference.
Miss Marple is a great leading role for an older lady, so teh premise is garbage
Some one needs to modernize the classic murder mystery for today's cultural norms: "Arsenic and Old Labia"
How many starlets had a memorable career beyond age 40? Not very many. I was actually thinking about this yesterday when watching the clip from Rain Man with Valeria Golino who I had not seen in any movie since Escape From L.A.. When I looked her up on IMdb I see that she had continue to work very heavily right to the present day which pleased me (she is my age, 59, and still very attractive). Of course, being Italian, she gots lots of work in European films which in my experience seems to have more and interesting work for aging actresses.
I think it's not so much that older women are disgusting as that it's hard to think of exciting things for gentle, sweet old ladies to do that could be the center of a story.
As others have pointed out upthread, Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple would, politely, beg to differ. The BBC turned all twelve of Christie’s Miss Marple mysteries between the mid 1990s and 1992. I’ve seen the episodes on the Washington PBS station and they are magnificent! I’m going to disagree with Saint Croix and assert that Joan Hickson is the definitive Miss Marple — quiet, easily overlooked and underestimated, but her eyes miss nothing and she has a spine made of high carbon steel when it’s time to close the trap on the killer.
Bette Davis understood that and was willing to set glamor aside and sink into a horror role.
Bette Davis understood collecting a paycheck.
Granny imbibes fermented grains garners a headline.
Time for the Harold & Maude remake
Jenny Agutter was a child actor who continues to work at age 70, albeit playing a nun on Call the Midwife. Celia Imrie, 73, and Helen Mirren, 80, are currently appearing in The Thursday Murder Club on Netflix.
"Hagsploitation" is a fine portmanteau.
Dr. Jennifer Melfi: I know seniors who are inspired. And inspiring.
When I picture Miss Marple, I picture Geraldine McEwan in the role. Although Joan Hickson would be a close second.
The same way, I always visualize David Suchet as Poirot.
No mention of Irene Ryan as Granny Clampett?
Here’s a (supposed) picture of her in her younger days: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/59/39/75/593975baf97b8f175f58c5317a0c1845.jpg
Kevin said...
“Dr. Jennifer Melfi: I know seniors who are inspired. And inspiring.”
And she makes capuzzelle in Nonnas. Sets the restaurant kitchen on fire, though.
The granny grainery is fermenting is an intoxicated pun.
Hattie McDaniel and Lucile Watson come to mind. But you can't mention the movie they were in together, Song of the South, because being the smartest people in a poor movie, not to Mention Hattie's role in Gone With the Wind, is definitely not woke.
"The disgust that older women are presumed to engender is so great..."
Wow, this writer has a real problem with senior citizens. The reason why so many senior actresses appeared in horror films is that it went against the predominent stereotype of the "nice, little old lady." That's what made the casting so interesting. Most people see 60+ women as harmless and friendly. They imagined them inviting you in for cookies and lemonade, not as evil killers.
s'opihjerdt said...
"I watched a recent movie with Beverly D'Angelo. Her plastic surgeries made her look far scarier than Gloria Swanson from Sunset Boulevard."
That's a shame. One of the reasons that watching the news bothers me these days is the massive overuse of Botox. These faces, that are totally frozen from the eyes up, look really weird.
Joanna Lumley. That's all I have to say.
"Bette Davis understood that and was willing to set glamor aside and sink into a horror role."
In fairness, Bette Davis was also willing to set aside glamour in some of her earlier film roles. She was very fearless in that respect.
Grandma, what a big mug you have. The better to imbibe a fermented brew.
Grandma, what big teeth you have.
“…one 30-year-old actress said: “It’s a really good time for older women, which is amazing, and there’s a lot for these young men, but not a lot for the actresses that I know in my age bracket.”
Wut? If you’re 30, you are an “older woman”.
The disgust that older women are presumed to engender is so great there’s even a horror genre built around it, dubbed 'hagsploitation' and starring the 'psycho-biddy.'
Years ago I saw a terrifying picture called The Shrilldebeast but I forget the name of the star hag.
Smilin' Jack said...
“…one 30-year-old actress said: “It’s a really good time for older women, which is amazing, and there’s a lot for these young men, but not a lot for the actresses that I know in my age bracket.”
Wut? If you’re 30, you are an “older woman”.
Let’s break down the clauses here,
1) “It’s a really good time for older women…” Yay for older women - however she defines it.
2) “…and there’s a lot for these young men…” Good for the young men, too.
3) “…but not a lot for the actresses that I know in my age [30] bracket.” Uh, oh. Not so good for her crowd. Which is not bucket #1 or bucket #2. So not an “older woman”.
Well Halle Berry is closing in on 60 IIRC. Same as Bette Davis you say? Trust me Ms. Berry can still, in this not-so-young lad's opinion carry off glamor roles. There are others.
Halle Berry is one of those exceptions that proves the rule.
"not a lot for the actresses that I know in my age bracket." at 30?
One suspects the success that actress has experienced relied heavily of cutie-pie looks and youth. No need for real acting chops. Then you get a Helen Mirren who was pretty, but not stunning as a young woman, could act, matured into a fascinating attractive woman and is still going strong at 80. [She was photographed at 65+- in a red bikini - Yowza!)
I suppose it is a bit churlish of me to point out that it was a man, Anthony Perkins, who pioneered the way.
Film was the last mass medium. It's not that there are no longer great roles for women of a certain age. It's a matter of there no longer being great roles.
Ruth Gordon and Kathryn Hepburn did some of their greatest work after 60.
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