Im Solde des Satans

Absolutely love film-noir/melodrama, have done for a long time, though my main reason for seeing 'The Damned Don't Cry' was Joan Crawford. Not ever the most subtle of actresses, being prone at times to excess, but always an incredibly magnetic one who commanded the screen to transfixing effect in a vast majority of her films. 'Mildred Pierce', one of my favourite films of hers and a contender for her best performance, being a prime example of this.

'The Damned Don't Cry' turned out to be very enjoyable and well worth the time. There are better Crawford films and performances, but she is still in a role that plays to her strengths as an actress, perfect for her actually and like it was made for her, and 'The Damned Don't Cry' itself does nothing to squander her talent or over-stretch her. Crawford is wonderful and basically is the film, intense, deeply felt and played to the hilt with utter commitment, even if subtlety is not always there. She is effortlessly commanding while not over-balancing the film too much, with it not feeling too much like the Joan Crawford Show.

It's not just Crawford that's good. The rest of the cast fare quite well too, with Steve Cochran and especially David Brian exuding nastiness without over-doing it. Selena Royle is similarly good. 'The Damned Don't Cry' looks great too. Especially the noir-ish lighting, It's beautifully and atmospherically shot and the sets are similarly atmospheric. Crawford's clothes are stunning and like characters of their own. The music avoids being intrusive yet has presence with a haunting edge.

One of 'The Damned Don't Cry's' most notable elements is the script, which positively crackles and has tautness, mostly not being overwrought. The story is always compelling with its fair share of surprises and suspense, surprising steaminess too. The more melodramatic element has a lot of edge and emotion. It's non stop slickness and entertainment and the pacing never lets up.

Credulity is strained towards the end and Vincent Sherman's direction, while mostly more than competent, could have done with more restraint in places.

Faring weakest of all is Kent Smith, the character is not an interesting one to begin with but Smith plays him incredibly colourlessly and gets practically lost amongst everything else.

Overall, very well done with Crawford rightly dominating. 8/10

Sure I agree that Joan Crawford was too old for THIS part, which required a 20-something bored with her slug of a husband. Then wanders off and has men chasing her skirt basically 24/7.

Nevertheless - and most ironically - the decision to strip her of the usual five layers of war paint reminds viewers just how ridiculously good-looking Joan Crawford was. And pardon me for saying so,but I had no problem - None Whatsoever - believing Joan with a more natural look, parading around in model's lingerie or dinner clothes, and sporting a cheeky attitude, would have men falling all over themselves.

She is, quite simply, a drop-ded s3xy woman, regardless of age.

As her character gains confidence with the hustle, her character just gets more interesting. And more attractive.

There's a plot involving an accountant but who cares. Those are details.

For me, the best part about this film was the exceptional lighting which made this a great movie to see on DVD. The great black-and-white photography reminded of films like The Sweet Smell Of Success and To Kill A Mockingbird. The camera-work in this movie does not take a backseat to those great films, believe me.

Story-wise, it's a somewhat-familiar Joan Crawford movie with a bit more emphasis on the melodrama than the film noir, a la Mildred Pierce. That's a compliment because "Mildred" was a well-crafted story and so is this. It's an effective mixture of drama and noir. However, unlike "Mildred," this Crawford character ("Ethel" aka "Mrs. Forvbes") has a worldly edge to her with a chip on her big shoulders. It's tough to sympathize with her in this story, frankly.

Kent Smith plays her naive, wimpy dupe for much of the film but when David Brian enters the scene, the movie really picks up. Gangster Brian is nobody's patsy and he's fascinating, portraying the most intense character in the story.

This is another one of the fine classic movies that never got a VHS showing but finally got a break with a recent DVD release, which is all the better since the camera-work is deserving of the nice look this transfer gives it. Once more, another impressive movie from 1950, one of the better years Hollywood ever had.

The Damned Don't Cry finds Joan Crawford on a roller-coaster ride from poverty, to riches, to notoriety and then to God knows where. Her fate is by no means clear at the end of the film.

Joan is an older version of the shop girl she played in her MGM days. She leaves her hard working, but dull husband Richard Egan after their little boy is killed in a traffic accident. She has beauty, but little else in the way of work skills. The answer is obvious, become a model.

The modeling gig gets her involved with the mob and she's soon trading up men from accountant Kent Smith, to mobsters, Steve Cochran, and David Brian. Along the way Joan acquires riches, polish, and a new name and identity of a wealthy Texas oil heiress. That's only befitting the position of mistress to the gangster elite.

With Virginia Hill's testimony before the Kefauver Committee and the spectacular death of Bugsy Siegel a couple of years earlier, the recognition of the characters played by Crawford and Cochran would have been easy for the movie-going public. In fact I'm surprised Steve Cochran never got to play Siegel in a biographical picture long before Warren Beatty did his film. Cochran would have been perfect in the role. Of course it was probably too close to Siegel's demise and a lot of Hollywood people might have been burned a bit.

David Brian is a sleek version of Lucky Luciano who was not as polished in real life as Brian is here. But beneath the polish, Brian's a deadly man although he would not be doing his own work if he was really Luciano at that stage. And Kent Smith in the Meyer Lansky part is really quite the stretch.

Crawford pulls all the stops out in The Damned Don't Cry. Her fans and others will really love this film.

I have to say that this is one of my very favorite films. A truly entertaining movie. Briefly, Joan Crawford plays a good woman who's world is turned upside down by a tragic event. She decides to climb her way out of poverty by using everyone she comes in contact with and falling in with a lot of shady characters. She makes her way to a life of glamour and wealth, only to see it all fall apart when her bad karma comes back to haunt her. For all the Joan Crawford jokes - this is actually quite a good movie. The dialogue is crackling and all the actors are very good. Joan does not go over the top and gives a convincing portrayal of a woman who has lost her moral compass - but then regains it in the end. There are of course some melodramatic moments, but not too many. The production values are top notch - lots of location shooting - mainly in Palm Springs, to really get you into the setting of the film.

I would classify this film as a film noir - it starts out as who-done-it and features noir stalwart Steve Cochran. If you are looking for an entertaining flick - you can't go wrong with this one!