the audience applauded

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Blistering performances.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

If Glenn Close's Alex Forrest had gotten the Joan Crawford treatment in the 1987 thriller "Fatal Attraction", we'd get more of an examination into her mind rather than the Alfred Hitchcock "Psycho" finale we were stuck with. You don't get any closer than Close with Joan Crawford as the ultimate psychopath, a woman of multiple emotional problems that make her a sad case to behold.This was the second film called "Possessed" that Crawford made, and in each case, the word "possessed" had a different meaning. The 1931 film, her first chance to utilize her famous 1930's MGM glamor after several years as a jazz baby, had her being possessed by a man (Clark Gable), but here, "possessed" indicates the demons inserted into her mind which have made her the picture postcard for "Diary of a Mad White Woman". She's also a nurse, so there will be comparisons to Kathy Bates' character in "Misery" as well. She takes care of the equally mad heard but not seen wife of Raymond Massey, a doctor himself involved in his own hell. When she allegedly commits suicide, Crawford remains on, taking care of Massey's young son and fighting with his older daughter (Geraldine Brooks) whom Crawford eventually becomes convinced is taking away the love of her old flame, Van Heflin, who gave her the heeve-ho months before. Like any mental illness, it subsides for a while, and Crawford settles into a seemingly happy marriage with Massey, but then Heflin returns, and all of the demons start up all over again.Yes, Crawford does go over the top in this one, but here, it is part of the character, having fits that seem to make no sense-at first. As you see what this woman is going through in a story told through flashback, you empathize with her. Crawford is first seen wearing no makeup roaming the streets of L.A. (in heels of course) and ends up in the hospital where her back story unfolds. Van Heflin is supposed to be the one to blame for her going "Berserk" but it really goes beyond that. He is not a villain, only a bit of a scoundrel, and he does let her down gently. Raymond Massey provides much tenderness as the man she admits she doesn't love when she agrees to marry him which shows his versatility considering all of the villains he's played. Geraldine Brooks allows us to see the kindness in her initially resentful daughter, only resorting to distrust of Crawford when it is pushed to that. This is without a doubt Crawford's finest performance (closedly followed by "Humoresque"), more layered than her Oscar Winning role in "Mildred Pierce" and by allowing herself to show us what she looks like underneath all that pancake, Crawford proved she was an actress first and a star (a very close) second.

Possessed is directed by Curtis Bernhardt and adapted to screenplay by Silvia Richards and Ranald MacDougall from a story by Rita Weiman. It stars Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raynond Massey and Geraldine Brooks. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Joseph Valentine.After wandering around the streets of Los Angeles in a daze, Louise Howell (Crawford) collapses in a diner and admitted to hospital. From there, prompted under medication, she begins to reveal a rather sad story...Film begins with quite a kick, a dazed looking Crawford, stripped of make-up, wanders around a ghostly looking Los Angeles uttering the name David. Once she enters the hospital, we switch to flashback mode and the makers unfurl a noir tale of mental illness, oneirism, hopeless love and death. German director Bernhardt (Conflict/High Wall) and his cinematographer Valentine (Shadow of a Doubt/Sleep, My Love) deal in expressionistic methods to enhance the story. Light and shadows often marry up to Louise's fractured state of mind, motif association flits in and out of the plotting and there's some striking imagery used; such as a body dragged from a lake and Louise framed in a rain speckled window.The lines of reality are impressively blurred, ensuring the viewers remain in a state of not ever being sure of what is real. There's a deft disorientation about the production, where fatalism looms large and sadness is all too evident in our troubled femme protagonist. Principal cast performances are of a high standard, with Crawford (Academy Award Nominated) leading the way with one of those wide eyed turns that perfectly treads the thin line between fraught and tender. While laid over the top is a score from Waxman that emphasises the key segments of poor Louise's mental disintegration. But what of the story in itself? The rhyme or reason for such murky melodramatics dressed up neatly in noir clobber?Story is pretty much wrapped around the notion that a romantic obsession sends Louise Howell on the downward spiral. Since we know next to nothing about the relationship between Louise and David Sutton (Heflin), or why Sutton is the sly and antagonistic way he is, it's a big hole in character formation. As is the death of Dean Graham's (Massey) wife, or in fact the sudden shift of Dean Graham becoming husband to one Louise Howell. The film looks terrific on a noir level, and Crawford engrosses greatly from start to finish, but it only seems to exist for these two reasons, all else is on the outer edges of the frame looking in. A shame because there is much to like and be involved with here. 7.5/10

The story of a thirty-something woman losing her mind in the late Forties. Her symptoms (visual and auditory hallucinations, some pushing her toward suicide) seem to indicate schizophrenia, even though that is less common in women than men, and usually manifests itself at an earlier age. Joan Crawford showed wonderful acting range, and this is the type of role designed to snag an Oscar nomination, which it did. I've not seen a lot of her work, but I am a bit surprised at her popularity back in the day. A good actress, to be sure, but, well, not that hot. Yes, I know, shallow. Anyway I also liked Van Heflin in this film (one of my mother's favorites) and Geraldine Brooks. I would have liked to have seen more of Miss Brooks, but apparently she spent most of her career on TV instead of films. Overall, this movie is OK, but not great.

Psychologically disturbed, Joan Crawford (as Louise Howell) is found wandering the streets of Los Angeles. "David," she mutters, "I'm looking for David." Awakening in an asylum, Ms. Crawford unravels her story… In flashback, we meet Crawford as a relatively level-headed Washington nurse; in a rustic northwestern estate, she cares for the mentally unbalanced wife of wealthy Raymond Massey (as Dean Graham). Mr. Massey's wife thinks Crawford is having an affair with her husband, but Crawford is really seeing World War II veteran Van Heflin (as David Sutton). Crawford loves Heflin so bad it hurts, but he isn't interested in commitment. Heflin tells her, "I can't love you the way you love me." Crawford says she'll wait forever, but Heflin says never.Heflin's rejection distresses Crawford. Then, Massey's wife drowns. And, faced with losing both her lover and livelihood, Crawford accepts Massey's marriage proposal. But, Crawford is still "Possessed" by her love for Heflin. He returns to romance step-daughter Geraldine Brooks (as Carol), who thinks Crawford killed her mother to marry Massey… The melodramatic plot continues, and remains fascinating throughout. This is mid-period Crawford at her very best. Superb in a tailor-made production, Crawford stands head and shoulders above the rest of the 1947 "Academy Award" nominees for "Best Actress" of 1947. Director Curtis Bernhardt and photographer Joseph Valentine match Germanic-inspired "film noir" with their star in stylish black and white.********* Possessed (7/26/47) Curtis Bernhardt ~ Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Geraldine Brooks