Touches You

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It's not a simple-minded movie full of characters etched in black and white. Greenstreet, as the sheriff of a small Florida town, is thoroughly rotten, true, and the editor of the local newspaper, the Advertiser, is thoroughly good. But the rest of the characters have more dimensions.Crawford is a hootchy-kootchy dancer abandoned in town by her traveling circus and works her way to the mink-clad top by a series of dog-leg moves motivated by her hatred for Greenstreet. Zachary Taylor is a weakling who finally takes to drink. David Brian as one of Greenstreet's local tools, falls for Crawford, rejects her, and then reforms for good. Greenstreet pays the price the code demanded at the time.I've been trying to think of another movie character that Joan Crawford reminds me of. And I finally realize it was Bruce the shark in "Jaws." That adventure could easily have shown Roy Scheider shoveling chum into Crawford's open mouth. I don't think there's every been a more grasping, ambitious, narcissistic actress. She was to everyone else in her films as the steam roller is to the soggy tar beneath it.She did finally deliver a couple of good performances -- "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane," for instance -- but for most of her career she just bulldozed her way through. Sometimes the result was ludicrous. See "Johnny Guitar," in which she packs a pistol and invites her enemies upstairs in her casino although there is "no whiskey, just bullets."Zachary Taylor had a fine role in an unusual movie, "The Texan," and nothing happened after that. Greenstreet is unbelievable as the pudgy Southrin sheriff who mangles his British accent with demotic Southernisms, "A man don't know what's best for him sometime."If anyone walks away from this with any pride, it must be David Brian, who handles a somewhat twisted and complicated role with a degree of competence.It's not a bad movie, not insulting. It's just plain typical of a romantic melodrama with social overtones.

Here is Joan Crawford, Sydney Greenstreet, Director Michael Curtiz, and Composer Max Steiner in a Watchable Mishmash of Politics and Sociology Combined with Soap Opera and Intrigue. There is some Snappy Dialog and the Film Looks Stunning in the Director's Usual Visual Style. Crawford, still Hanging On to a Mid-Twenties Role, Effortlessly Throws Barbs while Mesmerizing any Men Within Range (call it suspension of disbelief). With Greenstreet at His Slimy Best as the most Corrupt of Sheriffs there is a lot of Backstabbing and Blackmail. But by the End the Political Positioning gets so Convoluted it Hardly Matters and the Movie Collapses Under the Weight of all that Stuff that was Thrown Up there On the Screen.But Overall, there is Enough Entertainment Value to Keep Things Interesting and it is Worth a Watch for Joan Crawford Fans as this was a Transition Period where She Soon would Give In and Play Roles at Least Closed to Her Own Age and Accept that She was not Ageless and it Took More than Sheer Will to make it Work.

Harem dancer with a traveling carnival stays behind in a lumber town after the caravans are forced to pack up and run; she's got three dollars in her purse and isn't about to run from anybody! Luckily a pliable, well-meaning deputy takes an interest in the girl and gets her a job waiting tables, but their romance is spoiled by his superior, a crooked, back-stabbing sheriff with political ties. Robert and Sally Wilder's play becomes florid, engrossing vehicle for Joan Crawford, providing the tough, mercurial star with another of her great, gritty roles from this sumptuous era. Crawford may be a little mature for a cheesecake dancer, but she acquits herself well with this overheated, overwrought scenario. Sydney Greenstreet sweats and grunts imposingly enough as Sheriff Titus (who calls all his cohorts "Bub"), while Zachary Scott and David Brian are the well-cast men in Crawford's love life. Brian, in particular, matches up extremely well with the ballsy broad from across the tracks; he doesn't go in for a lot of nonsense--and she doesn't give him any. The editing in the opening is sloppy (showing us a clip of a scene that takes place later) and Max Steiner's melodramatic score is too emphatic with the shuddery notes (when Brian takes a sip from a whiskey sour, the strings rise and fall as if this were an Agatha Christie mystery). The picture certainly isn't art, though it's quite enjoyable on a camp level and Crawford is always worth a look. **1/2 from ****

"Flamingo Road" released in 1949 in the waning days of Joan Crawford's days at Warner Brothers, where she had a great second career after 18 years at MGM. Crawford plays a carnival girl, who decides to stay in the town after her fellow performers leave. She meets Zachary Scott, whom Crawford worked with in "Mildred Pierce." Scott played the playboy in that film, here is a weak-willed deputy sheriff who falls for Crawford - but he is controlled by the big bully sheriff (a stand out performance by Syndey Greenstreet). Crawford is a nuisance to the sheriff and a threat to the political plans he has for Zachary Scott. After he fails to run her out of town and gets her fired from her job, she stays anyway and meets - and marries - handsome David Brian, playing a hotshot businessman. It all gets quite complicated, with politics, corruption and sleaze thrown in for the storyline. Crawford is a delight here, playing her usual rags to riches kind of gal - but who did it better than she? Sure, she was in her 40's here, but she looked fantastic and played well off actor David Brian especially. Syndey Greenstreet has the performance of his career here, as the evil and corrupt sheriff who seems to have too much power to be quite believable. The film is a bit too long, and the end seems forced and tacked on, when Crawford and Greenstreet finally have it out. But - a must see for Crawford fans!