Une femme diabolique

Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but having seen a great many of her movies, I would say that Joan Crawford was at her bitchiest in this picture. That is to say, bitchier than usual! She tears at the scenery, she tears at the script, and brother I feel sorry for her co-stars, because even though they are also a talented group, they of course don't stand a chance when Crawford's on the screen, which is basically every scene. Although her character doesn't appear right away, it's still obvious from the very start that this is a very, very Crawford movie. The film just instantaneously gives off that omen. The gist of the story is this: Crawford is a glamorous socialite who dominates her Southern family and takes great pride in doing so. Yes, we've seen Crawford play this type of role before(HARRIETT CRAIG), but I personally never tire of seeing Crawford getting the upper hand. Though they didn't get along too well in real life, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis had much in common when it came to choice of movie scripts. They both specialized in playing catty, indomitable females, and they both clearly relished doing so. Crawford is at her best in this one. Sure, the script isn't the greatest she's been given, and frankly it's pretty sleazy stuff, but Crawford does wonders with it and manages to turn in her finest performance. She clearly works at the part and isn't simply clawing and nailing at everyone around her. Even though her character is an absolute horror of a human being, Crawford does her best to make her a sympathetic one, and she just about pulls it off! Some people will discard this one as pure camp, but this is a movie that serious Joan Crawford fans like myself will treasure, and no doubt watch over and over again. Terrific!!!!!

Joan Crawford's least likable character could be the one she played in this film, as a controlling and vindictive woman of wealth who runs and ruins (or nearly ruins) the lives of all those whom she has relationships with in her large southern plantation mansion. Apparently the relationships come out of her money and their lack of it, as well as the level of her misdirected intelligence and lack of empathy for others, none of which gets explained very fully. Even to her own children, the product of her marriage to heavy drinking philosophizing character played by Barry Sullivan, she shows a cold disregard, especially the choice of a nanny, who's even meaner than Joan. Into this dysfunction comes Jennifer Stewart as a young cousin from Chicago who upsets the strange family chemistry that has been developing over the years, befriending the poor kids, and catching a lot of eyes. John Ireland seems a natural as the one guy who can and does (in some well done scenes) stand up to Queen Bee Joan, presenting his usual suppressed aversion to injustice while also straddling the fence. It's worth sticking with for the ending.

Now, I am a big Joan Crawford fan and have been since I was 12 (don't ask) and this has to be my favorite film of hers, which is saying a lot. It is so campy and over the top, it's hard to believe that everyone was taking themselves so seriously. From Joan's drag queen gowns (check out the black sequin number she wears just to eat dinner in!) to her bitchy, back stabbing dialogue: "Carol, don't you look sweet, even in those tacky old riding clothes" and "Darling, parties are to women what battlefields are to men but then... you weren't in the war were you? Something about drinking..." And just wait for the scene were Joan destroys a room with a riding crop. Not to mention where she smears her vanity mirror with cold cream in order to cover her over emoting reflection. This is a camp classic of monumental proportions and one that you will want to watch several times!!!

Joan Crawford is in her element here! As a deceitful, manipulative woman with the Medusa touch she's in her glory. You get the feeling she's enjoying herself immensely. Hell, you even get the feeling she's enjoying the costumes! She tears into the part of Eva Phillips as if it were her last meal, and takes the rest of the cast along for the ride. They don't make movies like this anymore and it's a shame. It's good, clean, sinister fun with Joan in control every step of the way.

A guilty pleasure if I ever saw one. Directect by Ranald McDougall, even his name reads like a misspell, he was the writer of Mildred Pierce and clearly Crawford trusted him. Look at her entrance, from a distance, a subtle and no so subtle game of light and music. The turgid tale of evil and deception suffers from holes in every angle but this is not the sort of picture that can afford that kind of scrutiny. This is a showcase for the late term Crawford die hard fans. You wont be able to help but admire her devastating self confidence. She knew every trick in the book as an actress as well as a character. Queen Bee goes bye fast very fast and the moral compass is determined by Lucy Marlow when in fact it needed a sort of Anne Baxter or someone with a bit more gravitas. To be seen with a bunch of like minded friends and laugh out loud.