Joan Crawford

[charliechaplinfan]

She looked better in black and white, her strong features were more suited to it.

[Garbomaniac]

It took me a long time to warm up to Crawford. In fact, for years she was my MOST disliked star. I refused to see anything she did. But, then as I grew older, and I had seen everything of Garbo's twice, I began branching out. I saw as much as I could of Shearer, Harlow, Loy, Bergman, Dietrich (most of the Thirties stars, which are my favorites), and then dived into the Forties with Hayworth, Gardner, Lamarr, etc. So, after wetting my thirst on most everyone, I decided to give Crawford a chance. She was about the only one left at that point.

Well, I grew to love her. After all, she was one of the top four of MGM's stable. I had, of course, seen her in Grand Hotel and The Women. Then, I watched Rain. I have always loved painted women, and there were few more painted than Crawford in Rain! She was fantastic. I saw Possessed ('31), The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, and The Gorgeous Hussey. I began to see what a great star she was. As I moved into the Forties with Susan and God and Strange Cargo, she became cemented in my mind as contender for my affection. By the time I gave in and finally saw Mildred Pierce, I was genuinely glad she won the Oscar that year beating out Ingrid Bergman, Greer Garson, Jennifer Jones and Gene Tierney; although, I think Gene should have gotten an Oscar for Leave Her to Heaven. But, you can't have it all.

So, in the end, if I see a Crawford film on TV, I watch it with relish.

[mongoII]

Joan Crawford was always a favorite of mine. I like the fact that she always catered to her fans. I still have an autographed photo from her and notes written on the blue letter paper that was her trademark.
I heard from her at both places when she lived in New York and California.
I sent a card when she died and I did receive an acknowledgment from the family. Christina? Or perhaps from one of her devoted helpers.
In any event I seldom miss a Joan Crawford movie when presented on TCM.

[rudyfan]

Absolutely a Crawford fan here.

1931 Posessed with Gable is fabulous and I, too, love A Woman's Face. Sudden Fear is also an incredible performance. I think Joan's last truly great role. Much camp followed, and that always has moments of enjoyment.

The Unknown with Chaney is just, well, disturbing. Not for Joan, it's Todd Browning. Our Dancing Daughters is great.

I have a great fondness for This Modern Age with Joan as a luminous blonde (and the marvelous and nearly forgotten today Pauline Frederick)

Actually, almost any of her films with Gable.

The Women, I can watch this any time.

[silentscreen]

I think Joan was quite elegant in her early films, and was a wonderful actress. However, like Bette Davis, I think her personality in real life was too strong for me to have liked her as a person. She and Davis both had a tendency to over act at times as well, especially in their last films.

[charliechaplinfan]

I was surprised how much I liked her silents, especially Our Dancing Daughters. She wasn't quite the complete package, she seemed softer somehow. I like her in Rain although I'm not keen on the makeup. She stole Grand Hotel from everyone. She was great with Gable my favorite being Strange Cargo. I love Mildred Pierce and A Woman's Face. I still need to see The Women.

Joan Crawford was a strong woman but I like her, Bette Davis is also a strong woman but I can't take to her, I think somehow she's harder.

I have a book of Hurrell portraits that contain loads of Joan but my favorite pictures of Joan were taken with Douglas Fairbanks jnr on a beach, they're so beautiful together and look so much in love.

[Miss Retro]

Great pictures, Miss Retro. Thanks for posting these. I particularly like the George Hurrell one (your third post, middle row, left), with the light creating enormous shadows from her eyelashes and her hand tragically clasped to her face. The epitome of suffering in mink.

I believe she worked with Hurrell on a series of striking pictures like this around 1930 to demonstrate to the studio that Norma Shearer wasn't the only one who could handle meaty dramatic parts.

I agree Norma Shearer was great and also one of my faves but Joan Crawford was special and she was very good at the dramatic roles that she played.

[Garbomaniac]

PBS had a documentary on Crawford a couple of nights ago. Did anyone see it? It was very good, and had I known it was on, I would have taped it. It had great pics of Joan as she climbed to the top reinventing herself in outrageously gorgeous clothes. Many people testified to Joan's amicable nature. They all said they were shocked by Christina's book and that she just wrote it out of jealousy. Many said that Christina always wanted to be "Joan Crawford." Joan's personal secretary, who had been with her through all those Christina years said NOTHING like that ever happened.

Another interesting piece of info was that after Christina and Christopher, Joan adopted twin girls. So, the whole time she had four children! Maybe I knew that, but I had forgotten if I did. The twins were on and spoke very highly of their mother.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

I'm glad there's a decent docu out about her. And, not just a hachet job...

In the minimal encounters I've had with her, she was gracious, polite and quite fun to be around. And, I've never seen her drunk, as some say she was always...
I first met her at a party & film preview that Edie Goetz threw for "Queen Bee"... She sat across from me at dinner and was hilarious; she certainly was the star of the evening then. And, Edie would never have had her in her home if she was a "drunken b-i-t-c-h"... Edie was a very proper lady...

I've always been a Joan champion, even when it was unfashionable to be her advocate.

Larry

[srowley75]

Despite what I assume were Christina's best efforts, I don't think it was possible to watch the TCM Crawford documentary without feeling a measure of both respect and pity for Crawford. She endured a lot of criticism and fielded many obstacles from all sides, yet she still kept advancing, reinventing herself however necessary in order to keep her career afloat. For most of her life, Crawford seemed to be able to plug herself into a spot where she could thrive in the industry and keep a fanbase. That's something that very few actresses can claim to do and do as well as she did, especially once they're over 50.

By the time she died, she probably had lost a lot of her self-respect. She seemed to pride herself on her star quality and her interaction with her fans, and by the 1970s that was gone. Trog was a humiliating finale for her in that it gave the impression that she was so desperate to be in front of that camera making movies that she'd even stoop to doing a film this ludicrously bad. And it had to be a devastating blow to her to finish as she did after having given so much of herself to her career.

[jdb1]

I saw that interesting documentary, and I remember being struck by how many people in it were willing to stand up for Crawford and say very nice things about her. It's always difficult to make any kind of determination of character where family is involved. Where a child sees cruelty and neglect, an adult outsider may see the same behavior as something quite different.

I have no idea how accurate Christina Crawford's portrait of her mother may have been, but I do know that children usually expect their parents to be perfect, and the discovery that their parents are sometimes far from perfect can be quite traumatic. On the other hand, I also know what it's like to have an abusive mother, who appeared to people outside the family to be a paragon of rectitude and good parenting. I thought otherwise. You never can tell.

[Garbomaniac]

Yes, Judith, I remember when I found out that all of the routines, rules, and absolutes my mother used to pound into me weren't any of her qualities! I remember thinking, "Well, what the heck?" Now, that she is gone, and I am a neurotic, obsessive/compulsive, I realize that she was just trying to prepare me for life. And, believe it or not, she did. I am so obsessed with getting things done on time or early, or doing them over until they are the best they can be, or just doing the jobs that no one else has taken any initiative to get done that my bosses have always loved me. But, one story I have to tell. About a year or two after I married my late wife, I said to her, "Why don't you do the dishes, and put the clothes away, and take out the garbage, and vacuum the rugs?" Her answer was right on target! She said, "Well, I know if I wait long enough, YOU"LL DO IT!" And, she was right! Good ole mom!

I also remember seeing my mother differently than others saw her, my father, too. It is tough being a child and just as tough being a parent. That is kind of why I liked the old star system protecting their property and not letting any negative info get out about their lives. When I read Marlene Dietrich's bio, I was so shocked at who she really was compared to my illusions of her that it took me years to get back into her. I try not to read too many bios on my favorites other than Garbo. I know she was unbelievably selfish and self-centered, and funny enough, I admire those qualities in her because, for one, they were genuine and everyone got the same treatment. Another reason is because she put her work and integrity first and catered to no one.

[srowley75]

I saw that interesting documentary, and I remember being struck by how many people in it were willing to stand up for Crawford and say very nice things about her. It's always difficult to make any kind of determination of character where family is involved. Where a child sees cruelty and neglect, an adult outsider may see the same behavior as something quite different.
I have no idea how accurate Christina Crawford's portrait of her mother may have been, but I do know that children usually expect their parents to be perfect, and the discovery that their parents are sometimes far from perfect can be quite traumatic. On the other hand, I also know what it's like to have an abusive mother, who appeared to people outside the family to be a paragon of rectitude and good parenting. I thought otherwise. You never can tell.

It really is hard to judge for sure, Judith. To read what the stars say about her is like reading documented reports describing the loch ness monster. One star says something about her bad behavior as a mother or as a friend and another individual makes a statement that seems diametrically opposite.

While I've never read Mommie Dearest, if the incidents depicted in the film were the strongest cases that Christina made for her mom being habitually abusive, I think the jury's still out on whether she's credible. Having to eat rare meat? Being forced to give away some of her birthday presents to the poor? Being spanked with an open hand for screaming back at her mother? Sorry, none of that strikes me as particularly "abusive" (especially given the time in which Christina grew up), and depicting those events as such is enough to make me question if the more extreme incidents actually transpired the way she describes them.

It doesn't help Christina's case when you realize that the book seemed motivated at least partially by being exempted from her mother's will. It also doesn't help matters that she's reportedly appeared in Vegas and laughed while discussing events in the book.

-Stephen

[knitwit45]

One of my favorite movies (as most here know) is 1937's "Heidi". Moira and I were discussing Marsha Mae Jones, who played Klara in the movie, and she (Moira) directed me to a website with an interview with Ms. Jones. In it, she said she was a witness to some of the abuse Christina suffered at the hands of her mother. Wish I could quote chapter and verse, and the website, but it's been over a year since that discussion, and I've slept since then....

Perhaps our encyclopedic Ms. Finnie can remember????

[movieman1957]

I received my August "Now Playing." Sterling Hayden has a funny quote about Joan Crawford.

"There is not enough money in Hollywood to lure me into making another picture with Joan Crawford. And I like money."