Actualités

Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...

Pola Negri, The Spanish Dancer Silent-film lovers in The Netherlands will be able to enjoy a new restoration of the 1923 Pola Negri period comedy The Spanish Dancer. Screening with live musical accompaniment, the film will be presented at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, April 6, and at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 8, at the Eye Film Institute Netherlands in Amsterdam. On the Eye Film Institute website, The Spanish Dancer is described as a "comical costume drama." Set in early 17th-century Spain, the story follows gypsy singer Maritana (Negri) and her lover, penniless nobleman Don César de Bazan (Antonio Moreno), as they become enmeshed in court intrigue. The screenplay is based on Adolphe d'Ennery and Philippe Dumanoir's play Don César de Bazan, itself taken from a Victor Hugo novella. Beulah Marie Dix and powerhouse producer-screenwriter June Mathis adapted the tale. Directed by future Academy Award nominee Herbert Brenon (Sorrell and Son...