Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star

Lucille Fay LeSueur was born in March 1906, had a troubled childhood, and never really knew her biological father. Despite these things, she was fated to become one of the most iconic actresses of the golden age of cinema: Joan Crawford. This documentary, originally aired on TCM in 2002, goes over her life, both on and off the screen, how she had a surprising amount of films that were considered awful, and how she did not stop being part of the movie business even when things didn't look good for her. Joan started off dancing in revues, which eventually got her noticed by Hollywood producers looking for fresh talent. Late in 1924, she signed a contract with MGM and had her first role in the film Lady of the Night the following year. In it, she still has her birth name and only appears as a double for Norma Shearer; basically the queen of MGM and wife of production chief Irving Thalberg. Joan got on his bad side a few times, and came to see Norma as a rival. She also co-starred with silent film legend Lon Chaney in The Unknown, playing his assistant in a carnival while Chaney works as a performer who apparently has no arms. Joan felt than maybe her marriage to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Would make her be seen more seriously, but she didn't hit critical acclaim until the release of Our Dancing Daughters in 1928, after which she got paired up with Clark Gable a few times. By the early 30s, she was up there with Jean Harlow, Norma and Greta Garbo as one of MGM's leading ladies. In the pre-code era, she was cast in Grand Hotel, the first movie to feature a cast made up entirely of stars. Also included were Garbo, both the Barrymore brothers, and Wallace Beery. However, things slowly began to change. By the late 30s, her films were still regarded well, but her place at the box office slipped dramatically for no discernible reason. In an effort to get her fame back on track, MGM cast her in The Bride Wore Red, opposite her real life husband at the time, Franchot Tone. The movie bombed. Mannequin featuring her and Spencer Tracy didn't fare much better. Soon, Joan was said to have the ability to turn any movie she appeared in into trash. Joan is then told she's physically incapable of having children, so she adopts a daughter in 1940 from an agency (she was found mentally unfit to be a mother because of her drinking). Christina Crawford, originally named Joan, maintains the view that her mother was abusive to this day. Throughout much of the Second World War, Crawford worked at the Hollywood Canteen, a place where actual soldiers would congregate and be entertained by movie stars. It was hosted by none other than Bette Davis, who devoted a large part of her life to knocking Joan down a peg or two. By now, Joan had voluntarily asked her MGM contract to be terminated, and shortly after signing with Warner Brothers, she starred in one of the best movies ever made: 1945's Mildred Pierce. Ironically, Bette Davis was who the studio had in mind for the title character, but she turned it down. Because of this decision on Davis' part, Joan had the opportunity to shine in what I consider the peak of noir. The success of the movie revived her stardom and for the rest of the 40s, she continued to be cast in good films. However, by 1952, she appeared in This Woman is Dangerous, which she felt was the worst movie she ever did up until then. She could sense Warner was getting bored with her as the scripts they were giving her weren't that strong, so she left that studio as well. Luckily, she did end up winning an Oscar for Mildred Pierce but didn't attend the ceremony. Joan's life took a turn for the bizarre when in 1955, she married Al Steele, president of Pepsi. Because of this, she was allowed to attend board meetings without anyone saying anything, but he died unexpectedly 4 years later. Meanwhile, Bette Davis had not forgotten her hatred of Joan. While the latter was busy starring in a slew of well received films from the mid 40s on, Davis was having the opposite experience with her pictures concurrently. In 1962, the event which shocked the entire film industry came when Joan and Bette were cast together in the same movie, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? In it, Joan is a disabled former movie star bound to a wheelchair and lives in constant fear of her sadistic sister played by Davis. The movie makes it seem that Bette really hated her, but she did. During one scene, Bette kicks her on the floor after she attempts calling her doctor, and Joan had to get two stitches in her head. Even worse, Davis was nominated for best actress and Crawford wasn't. This film was to be Crawford's last hit, as her career once again floundered and she began to take part in some pretty terrible horror movies, most notably Strait Jacket and Trog, the latter being the last (and worst) movie she ever did. When a young Steven Spielberg worked with her in the pilot episode for Rod Serling's Night Gallery, she was insulted that someone would send a novice to direct a queen like her. By the early 70s, the writing was on the wall for Crawford's career. She last appeared in a public space in 1974 at a Manhattan party and thereafter confined herself to an apartment. She died in May 1977 of a heart attack, and allegedly said "Don't you dare ask God to help me" when she heard her caretaker praying next to her. Even her last words epitomized noir. Overall, this documentary was well done and should be watched by anyone who takes an interest in old movies or those involved with them. We'll never see someone like Joan again, and while her image is no doubt tainted by the allegations of her being a horrible parent, I won't get into that since it kind of discredits everything else she did. The point is that Joan made some films that will never be replicated, and decades from now, people will still probably hear about their influence.

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.

Lucille La Seuer came out of a poor home. Abandoned by her father and raised by a mother that had to struggle to make ends meet, Lucille saw a way out of her dreary life by becoming a dancer with dreams for going far in show business. Little did she know she would go on to become one of America's movie icons in a career that expanded more than fifty years after she became Joan Crawford, a screen goddess without rival.

"Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Film Star", conceived and directed by Peter Fitzgerald, follows Ms. Crawford's life in detail. We are given direct accounts by people that knew her and are still around to tell us. The documentary is narrated by Angelica Huston.

Joan Crawford was a woman larger than life. As an ambitious woman, she knew from the beginning she had to create her own persona in order to carve a niche in the movie industry. Louis B. Mayer was the man who saw her possibilities and quickly hired her to be part of the MGM family.

Ms. Crawford's ambition was boundless. She knew that by marrying Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was her entry into the inner sanctum of most of Hollywood's best people's homes and parties. She transformed herself into the creature one saw in her films. In order to appear more respectable, she adopted a boy and a girl. That girl being Christina, who went to tell it all in her famous book about her adopted mother, "Mommie Dearest", in which one learns about another facet of her character. In fact, Christina talks openly about her adoptive mother quite openly. Ms. Crawford went to adopt three other children, of whom one didn't hear much about.

The interviews with some of the people that knew her well proved to be one of the most interesting side to the documentary. Vincen Sherman, the director who worked with her in several movies, is candid about the woman and her human side. Bob Thomas shows an insight about the star. Also we see testimonies by Betsy Palmer, Anna Lee, Diane Baker, Dickie Moore, Ben Cooper, Cliff Robertson, among others that give us the picture of the woman who invented herself and went to become a dominant figure in the American cinema.

Thanks to Peter Fitzgerald for making it possible.

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.

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.