What Ever Happened To Aunt Alice? (1969)

A well bred and genteel widow (Geraldine Page) living in a small Arizona desert community is quite proud of her garden of pine trees, cactus and flowers. Also buried in the garden are the bodies of several housekeepers! Based on the novel THE FORBIDDEN GARDEN by Ursula Curtiss and produced by the director Robert Aldrich, this is yet another entry like Aldrich's WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? and HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE pitting two "mature" actresses opposite each other in the horror thriller genre. What elevates this contribution is the acting, notably Geraldine Page. Page isn't the kind of actress to walk through a role and here she plays her role with all the relish of a Tennessee Williams heroine even as the film itself spins out of control toward a ludicrous climax. But it's great fun and Ruth Gordon as Page's latest housekeeper doesn't let Page take anything away from her, she holds her own. Directed by Lee H. Katzin. With Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller, Mildred Dunnock, Claire Kelly, Peter Bonerz and Valerie Allen.