Il était une fois

Thanks to "A Woman's Face," Joan Crawford's slumped career had a badly needed revival, and Greta Garbo's career ended. Garbo had a choice of "A Woman's Face" or "Two-Faced Woman," but she refused to play a character with a deformity. So she made the disastrous "Two-Faced Woman" instead and retired, her face free of scars and her life free of films.

Ingrid Bergman made the original movie in Sweden, and in the hands of MGM, it translated quite well with a superb performance from Joan Crawford, perhaps the best of her career, as a scarred, bitter woman who makes her living from blackmail. Her story is told in a series of flashbacks, as each character testifies at the woman's trial.

The performances, from MGM's able stable, are very good - Melvyn Douglas as a doctor, Conrad Veidt as an evil man who wants to use Crawford for his own ends (he described himself in this film as "Lucifer in a tuxedo"), Osa Massen, Albert Basserman, Donald Meek, Henry Daniell, George Zucco, and Marjorie Main. Richard Nichols, as the little boy Lars-Erik, sports the same southern accent in Sweden as he did in France in "All This and Heaven, Too." Crawford is excellent, and one wonders if the role of Anna didn't strike a chord with her given her difficult childhood. Under Cukor's direction, she handles the role beautifully.

A very good movie, and an exciting sleigh ride at the end that you won't want to miss.

An exciting cast, an excellent story, excellent acting. Joan Crawford is perfect as a malevolent blackmailer who has a change of heart after her facial disfigurement is repaired.

The story progresses in an interesting way, with the plot unfolding during a murder trial. Each witness builds the story line, and the script has many unexpected plot twists, making this film anything but predictable.

This film is a good example of how skillful film makers create special effects without high-tech gadgetry. It's wonderful that we have films like this to show us what real movie-making is like.

Joan Crawford, in a rare case of very sly, very competent underplaying, is cast as a facially scarred woman who falls in league (and perhaps in lust) with a blackmailing schemer with murder on his mind. The blackmail part of the deal is foiled when accomplice Crawford is befriended by Melvyn Douglas, the victim's husband (and plastic surgeon!); after restoring her beauty, Douglas must then stop Joan from carrying out the murder plot, targeting a child no less! Remake of an early Ingrid Bergman movie (1938's "En Kvinnas ansikte"), which in turn was based upon a French play, the film is over-plotted and over-flowing with hectic minutiae and chatty supporting characters. Also complicating matters is a story-frame set in the Royal Swedish Court: seems Joan is indeed on trial for murder, but whom did she kill? Despite a slow beginning, this turns out to be a rather shrewdly devised, sharply written melodrama, with some delicious turns of the screw. Crawford and Douglas work smoothly together (they were reteamed for a comedy the following year, "They All Kissed the Bride"), and the cinematography and art direction are marvelous. George Cukor directed, without a sense of humor, and the script might've stood some paring down. Otherwise, shamefully entertaining. **1/2 from ****

This film may surpass even Joan Crawford's Oscar-winning performance in `Mildred Pierce' as the best of her career. `A Woman's Face' is part courtroom drama, part mystery, and unfolds in the form of flashbacks through the eyes of no less than half a dozen questionable characters. Crawford plays Anna Holm, a facially scarred woman whose disfigurement has led her to an embittered life of crime.

Melvyn Douglas is perfectly cast as the handsome and heroic Dr. Segert, and Conrad Veidt plays Torsten Barring, the despicable charmer. Crawford's interpretation of a genuinely mean-spirited and heartless Anna develops into a complex character who wins our sympathy despite her evil intentions. It's a breath of fresh air to see Crawford not made up glamorously. There are no dazzling gowns or mascara-ed lashes to distract the viewer from Crawford's fabulous performance.

With a brilliant supporting cast (including the adorable Richard Nichols as the 4 year-old Lars-Erik, and Marjorie Main as the suspicious housekeeper), `A Woman's Face' ranks among the best Crawford films of all time. It is a must-see for anyone who wishes to see a well-made, fascinating tale of intrigue, love and human frailty.

Joan Crawford has one of her more complex roles and plays it brilliantly in 'A Woman's Face'. It ranks with her work in 'Mildred Pierce' and 'Possessed'. Matching her is Conrad Veidt, always the suave villain (who also specialized in playing Nazi types). Crawford excels as a scarred woman who undergoes plastic surgery to change her life. The situations become more melodramatic as the plot gets thicker and there are a few too many flashbacks--but overall, the effect is a stunning film that makes you think about how one's appearance shapes one's life--for better or worse.

Certain sequences have a stark, no holds barred manner of storytelling, grim and suspenseful--as when Anna Holm considers pushing a child to his death from a cable car. The wintry landscapes and glittering interiors are all handsomely photographed. Melvyn Douglas doesn't register too strongly at all. It's strictly Crawford's picture with some superb help from Conrad Veidt.

The pace is rather leisurely under George Cukor's direction but quickens midway to a smashing climax. By all means, see it. A strong melodrama with some unexpected twists.