Charlotte Hollis (Bette Davis) has been closeted in her mansion since the grisly murder of her married lover many years earlier. When the county wants to tear down the house to build a highway, the spinster's relatives and friends appear to rally behind her, but each slowly preys on her mind until the gruesome rumors of the last forty years appear to be coming true. On hand are cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland), Dr. Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotten), Jewel Mayhew (Mary Astor), and the scariest inhabitant of all, loyal servant Velma (Oscar nominee Agnes Moorehead).

Bette Davis plays Charlotte Hollis, a hermetic spinster haunted by memories of her murdered fiancé. Charlotte, whose only social contact is with her maid, Velma (Agnes Moorehead), is crushed to learn that the state wants to tear down her mansion and put up a highway in its place. She calls on her cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland) for help, but Miriam fails to offer any assistance other than bringing in the family physician (Joseph Cotten) to have her troubled relative committed. As the nightmares of her fiancé continue to haunt her, Charlotte ends up fighting not only for the Hollis estate but for her sanity as well.

Director Robert Aldrich resumes the electric collaboration with Davis begun in the terrifying smash hit WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE' Davis heads up the stellar cast (which includes Bruce Dern and George Kennedy in small, early roles and Mary Astor in her last film appearance) with a performance that radiates desperation, entrapment, and inevitable collapse. HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE provides a chilling investigation of a heartbreakingly demented mind.