Os Desgraçados não Choram

5 years after "Mildred Pierce" and Joan Crawford is at it again. Again, she is poor and is willing to climb to the top no matter what. In this film, she becomes involved with organized crime and becomes a real pro in being used to infiltrate other wayward mobsters.

From poverty to that Mildred Pierce mink, Crawford gave a truly memorable performance. She will stop at nothing to get to the top.

Along the way, she seduces timid accountant, played masterfully by Kent Smith, to join the mob only two realize that the two of them are trapped.

Another favorite co-star of Crawford, David Brian appears as the head mobster who is against violence but must come to grips with it when renegade hood, the always terrific Steve Cochran, seduces Crawford and then goes after her when he discovers that she is a Brian stooge.

This is a gripping film-noir at its best.

The Damned Don't Cry! Is directed by Vincent Sherman and collectively written by Gertrude Walker, Harold Medford and Jerome Weidman. It stars Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran and Kent Smith. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Ted McCord.

Loosely based on the relationship between Bugsy Siegel and Virginia Hill, story has Crawford as Ethel Whitehead, a weary housewife who decides to break off from her hum-drum existence to climb the social ladder: But at what consequence?

Part gangster's moll tale, part lady led melodrama, The Damned Don't Cry! Is enjoyable enough entertainment as a Crawford vehicle. At 45 years of age when she made this, some scenes, such as her doing some slinky modelling work, just don't sit right and stretch credulity, but she commands the screen like an ageless swan hiding a dark seductive heart. The film as a whole is a bit hit and miss, with its themes of disillusionment, morality and social standings jostling for attention in the narrative, while the reliance on clichés and parody for parody's sake irks a touch, but it's good and solid black and white fun. Especially if you happen to be a Joan Crawford fan. 6.5/10

Joan Crawford portrays a young woman on the edge of poverty who decides to change her life for the better. Unfortunately, she thinks that money is the answer to every problem. A smart drama, though formula most of the time. An excellent cast includes David Brian, Steve Cochran and Kent Smith. This is a film worth seeing.

Absolutely love film-noir/melodrama, have done for a long time, though my main reason for seeing 'The Damned Don't Cry' was Joan Crawford. Not ever the most subtle of actresses, being prone at times to excess, but always an incredibly magnetic one who commanded the screen to transfixing effect in a vast majority of her films. 'Mildred Pierce', one of my favourite films of hers and a contender for her best performance, being a prime example of this.

'The Damned Don't Cry' turned out to be very enjoyable and well worth the time. There are better Crawford films and performances, but she is still in a role that plays to her strengths as an actress, perfect for her actually and like it was made for her, and 'The Damned Don't Cry' itself does nothing to squander her talent or over-stretch her. Crawford is wonderful and basically is the film, intense, deeply felt and played to the hilt with utter commitment, even if subtlety is not always there. She is effortlessly commanding while not over-balancing the film too much, with it not feeling too much like the Joan Crawford Show.

It's not just Crawford that's good. The rest of the cast fare quite well too, with Steve Cochran and especially David Brian exuding nastiness without over-doing it. Selena Royle is similarly good. 'The Damned Don't Cry' looks great too. Especially the noir-ish lighting, It's beautifully and atmospherically shot and the sets are similarly atmospheric. Crawford's clothes are stunning and like characters of their own. The music avoids being intrusive yet has presence with a haunting edge.

One of 'The Damned Don't Cry's' most notable elements is the script, which positively crackles and has tautness, mostly not being overwrought. The story is always compelling with its fair share of surprises and suspense, surprising steaminess too. The more melodramatic element has a lot of edge and emotion. It's non stop slickness and entertainment and the pacing never lets up.

Credulity is strained towards the end and Vincent Sherman's direction, while mostly more than competent, could have done with more restraint in places.

Faring weakest of all is Kent Smith, the character is not an interesting one to begin with but Smith plays him incredibly colourlessly and gets practically lost amongst everything else.

Overall, very well done with Crawford rightly dominating. 8/10

For me, the best part about this film was the exceptional lighting which made this a great movie to see on DVD. The great black-and-white photography reminded of films like The Sweet Smell Of Success and To Kill A Mockingbird. The camera-work in this movie does not take a backseat to those great films, believe me.

Story-wise, it's a somewhat-familiar Joan Crawford movie with a bit more emphasis on the melodrama than the film noir, a la Mildred Pierce. That's a compliment because "Mildred" was a well-crafted story and so is this. It's an effective mixture of drama and noir. However, unlike "Mildred," this Crawford character ("Ethel" aka "Mrs. Forvbes") has a worldly edge to her with a chip on her big shoulders. It's tough to sympathize with her in this story, frankly.

Kent Smith plays her naive, wimpy dupe for much of the film but when David Brian enters the scene, the movie really picks up. Gangster Brian is nobody's patsy and he's fascinating, portraying the most intense character in the story.

This is another one of the fine classic movies that never got a VHS showing but finally got a break with a recent DVD release, which is all the better since the camera-work is deserving of the nice look this transfer gives it. Once more, another impressive movie from 1950, one of the better years Hollywood ever had.