In a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation.
Art imitates life as kooky legends Crawford and Davis furiously try to out-act each other, making burlesque film history as they go.
Shot in black and white, it may also have echoed the gothic terrors of Psycho two years before, with good reason.
The film remains fascinatingly warped: an extended study in decaying flesh, set to a score mordantly trying to break into Hooray for Hollywood.
Frightening, darkly comic.
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Monday January 7, 2013, until Wednesday January 9, 2013. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/