Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte movie titles
Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 1964 black-and-white thriller film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Bette Davis. In the story, “an aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative”.
The titles for the film feature a rare use of what appears to be Argonaut (or a predecessor), with its sharp flared serifs being dulled a bit from the film transfer and reproduction processes. News Gothic is used for smaller supporting type.
A ‘TT’ ligature is used with Argonaut several times throughout the credits, as well as contextual modifications to glyphs in other combinations like ‘LA’ and ‘CT’. It’s possible the alternate glyphs were standard options for that face from Headliners (the phototypesetting shop where Argonaut seems to have originated) or a similar specialized typesetting shop. The shortened lower crossbar on the first E in ‘THE END’ (which is presumably unintentional?) makes me think that is the case. But I also haven’t seen a specimen for Argonaut showing those glyph variants, so they could also be after-market modifications.
William Glasgow is credited as art director for the film, but the role of designing the titles is uncredited.
Note the shortened lower crossbar of the second L in ‘de HAVILLAND’
Note the modified C in ‘VICTOR’.
Note the (presumably unintentional?) use of a shortened lower crossbar of the first E in ‘THE END’.
