[8] Norma Shearer (The Divorcee) fronts an all-star, all-female cast in George Cukor’s adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce’s The Women. Shearer plays a happily married woman of privilege who learns through the gossipy grapevine that her husband is having an affair with another woman, played by Joan Crawford. Shearer struggles under the dueling influences of her mother (Lucile Watson) and her so-called ‘friends’, which include …
[7] Joan Crawford won her Oscar for playing the title character in this noir-melodrama from director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca). Based on the book by James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce is told largely in flashback, with Crawford spilling the beans to police after her second husband is found murdered in their beach house. She tells them how she divorced her adulterous first husband and pulled herself …
[5] Joan Crawford plays an impoverished woman who leaves her husband after a tragedy claims the life of their young son. Determined never to be poor again, she sleeps her way through a string of men to reach a higher social standing. But once she ingratiates herself with gangsters, she gets in over her head. The Damned Don’t Cry delivers the typical Joan Crawford character …
[4] Joan Crawford seems born to play a lady gangster fighting blindness, but unfortunately, This Woman is Dangerous isn’t nearly as interesting as it sounds. The ‘gangster’ aspect of the movie is kept to a bare minimum, with most of the screen time spent on a romance between Crawford and the doctor (Dennis Morgan) who saves her sight. The crux of the story is whether …
[6] This is a serendipitous romantic comedy pairing frequent costars Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. Gable plays a reporter who runs away with a press-weary heiress, hoping to snag the headline of the century. But naturally, he falls in love with the dame, which would be complicated enough without being mistaken for spies. Gable and Crawford are having fun and it shows — especially when …
[3] Director William Castle, better known for gimmicky horror flicks like The Tingler, tries his hand at a straight-forward thriller. The story centers around three girls who make a night of prank calling people and telling them, “I know who you are and I saw what you did.” Unfortunately, one of their targets is a paranoid murderer (John Ireland) who takes their joke a little …
[7] Mommie Dearest is something else. I can’t tell if it’s trying to be an earnest expose on the turbulent home life of legendary star Joan Crawford and her adopted daughter, Christina, or if the dark comedy and camp value were intentional. The film is based on Christina’s tell-all book, so we really only get the nastiest parts of the story — how Joan locked her daughter …
[3] Clark Gable escapes the Devil’s Island penal colony and takes floozie Joan Crawford along for the ride. Along with a handful of other fleeing criminals, they rough it through the jungle and long days at sea to reach the mainland and freedom. Sounds like a great matinee movie, but then enters Ian Hunter, who plays a moralizing goodie-two-shoes escapee named Cambreau. At the height …
[7] Fred MacMurray and Joan Crawford star as newlyweds who get roped into spying for British intelligence in Nazi Germany. The tone here is light-hearted. Despite the prospect of serious danger, Crawford and MacMurray’s characters actually enjoy trying their hand at espionage. It’s fun to watch them follow the bread crumbs and put clues together. A Franz Liszt concerto is incorporated into the mystery, as …
[6] The lives of tenants at a Berlin hotel interconnect over the course of one day in Grand Hotel, based on the novel by Vicki Baum and produced by the famed Irving Thalberg. With Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Jean Hersholt, Wallace Beery, and the Barrymores (John and Lionel), this Best Picture Oscar-winner is regarded the grandfather of star-studded showcases. Despite the star power, the performances …
Copyright © 2024 | Theme by MH Themes