Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star

My first thought upon finishing this post "Mommie Dearest" bio/doc of Ms. Crawford was, "Man, could this gal have used the services of a good shrink!" My second thought was, "She sure was gorgeous". Third was, "And sexy too". Last musing was, "And a darn good actress." And therein lies the main problem with this film, for me. There simply was not enough about her work. Specifically, the films. And what there is tends toward the superficial and unbalanced. I mean, many of her good later ones, like "Autumn Leaves", "Humoresque", "Daisy Kenyon" and "Flamingo Road", are glossed over or omitted while twice the amount of time is devoted to the campy "Baby Jane" as is given to "Mildred Pierce", by far her finest piece of acting and arguably one of the top one hundred Hollywood films of the twentieth century. And the argument that greater analysis of Crawford's movies would make this film excessively long does not wash since it's only eighty seven minutes, as is.

Still, I'd be lying if I wrote that I was bored while watching. Ms. Crawford was just too interesting and contradictory a person for ennui to set in. And this doc captures all her various permutations, including neurotic, diva, hellcat, seductress, shrewd businesswoman, abusive mom and great acting talent. If only it had had delved more into the last. Give it a B minus.

This is a highly entertaining, fascinating, outrageous, and sad documentary about Joan Crawford. Say what you want about her, Crawford was an amazing woman who came from nothing and with loads of ambition pushed her way to the top. Twice after her career sank to the bottom, she was able to rebuild it. Vincent Sherman, her daughter Christina, Cliff Robertson, Betsy Palmer, Liz Smith and others held nothing back when talking about the star: the multiple affairs she had with directors, her treatment of her children and husbands, and the antics that went on during the filming of Baby Jane, which were mind-boggling. Also touched on were her alcoholism, which caused her problems in later life, and her miserable childhood, which was the cornerstone of all of her problems.

Crawford's only self-identification seems to have been that of a film star, and her self worth was tied to it as well. She was smart, hard-working, glamorous, and, with the exception of her daughter, those who knew her and appeared in this documentary admitted there was something likable and even vulnerable about her. Ultimately, though, her life played out like a bad B movie. You could see the end coming from a mile away.

I love classic Hollywood films of the golden era and not surprisingly I also love biographies of that talk about these stars. Unfortunately, most of them frankly leave a lot to be desired. They usually only talk about the good points of the celebrity or only discuss their films and as a result, you get a very one-dimensional view of the person. Occasionally, you also get some that are all dirty--and once again you only get a one-dimensional portrait. I was absolutely thrilled when I watched "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star" because it managed to do something quite rare--balance the great talent with the human being. As a result, it's one of the best celebrity biographies I've seen.

Angelica Huston narrates this made for Turner Classic Movies film. It combines her nice voice with some lovely interviews, photos and film clips to talk about her life from birth to death. You get a discussion of her major films as well as her personal life--and this is where the film shines. While it does talk quite a bit about her abuse of her children and affairs (and there were many), it tried to explore WHY--what about her caused her to be so screwed up and out of place off-camera. And, it seemed less angry in doing so. So, despite many clips of Christina Crawford discussing her mom, it did not come off as a recapitulation of "Mommy, Dearest". Plus, it balanced this with genuine respect and admiration for her talents and tenacity. Together, all these factors create a rich tapestry--and make it a must-see of fans of the genre. See this one.

By the way, as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford had a bit of a rivalry, I should point out that the TCM biography of Crawford was superior to the one they produced on Davis. It was longer, more complete and more interesting--warts and all.

This is an engrossing and faultlessly researched documentary with excellent movie clips. (The montages are GREAT!) I especially liked seeing the bit where you can actually glimpse Crawford playing for a fleeting second with Norma Shearer as her double in LADY OF THE NIGHT in 1925, and the sound clip from her radio recording of Ibsen's classic drama A DOLL'S HOUSE. (It's intriguing that some of her contemporaries have said elsewhere she was surprisingly effective in the plays she mounted with husband Franchot Tone in their little home theater, making us wonder if she might have actually been able to pull off classic stage roles if she'd taken it further.)

I do have to take issue with this comment from the review below, though:

<< I noticed Christina seemed all too eager to bring forth the darker side of Joan -- how she forced the children to do the cleaning, the wire hanger incident, taking over her role in "The Secret Storm" and all I sense from Christina is an incessant need to repeat to the public how nasty Crawford was. The damage has been done already with the book and MOMMIE DEAREST, isn't it time to move on?...It's the only headache in the entire documentary >>

We don't know how much tape the producers shot with Christina Crawford or what else she was asked, all we know is what they finally chose to use. To say that Christina is "still" focusing on that aspect of Crawford's life and should "move on" is like saying that Cliff Robertson is "still" focusing on AUTUMN LEAVES and should do likewise.

When the 20th Anniversary edition of her memoir MOMMIE DEAREST was released, Christina gave many interviews in which she praised her mother's career and effective performances. Those professional issues have never been in dispute, though, and what Crawford's daughter has to offer that's unique is insight into what the star's home life was like at specific periods of time.

Again, this is an extremely well done documentary, giving an excellent overview of Joan Crawford's life.

Joan Crawford was a phenomenon, a brilliant actress and a true movie STAR. She was also a strong character, and strong characters have both fans and foes. She had both.

I love that she did things her way. As one of the guests said, "She wouldn't be directed." She didn't NEED to be directed, she had great instincts.

The info re: her movies and the clips were fun to watch, but it is almost as though the producers were looking to produce a hatchet piece.

Considering what a major movie star and fine actress she was, I was disappointed that her resentful daughter got so much air time to voice allegations that could not be proven or disproven. Some of the stories the men told were better left untold - if they were true, also. Joan deserved better than unsubstantiated rumors treated as fact.

TCM blew it on this one, as far as I am concerned.