Pretty Good

Crappy film

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The only thing this movie lacks is vivid technicolor to truly capture La Crawford stomping through scenes and chewing up the scenery..and also to see how green around the gills Joan was from her heavy drinking. Joan Crawford is the movie, and although Betsy Palmer does her best to keep a few scenes for herself, it's all Joan all the time. Joan is Eva, and evil and loves it. She is married to battle scarred Barry Sullivan who is a lush, and she rules over the family terrorizing each one of them in her own special way, and in a way specifically tailored to torment them the most. She is nothing, if not thoughtful. There is no point going into the details because the best part of the film is the unfolding of each layer, and the unraveling of Eva's life. It's film noir at the apotheosis of camp, but it's also clever and knows it has a story to tell. Joan Crawford at this juncture of her career had segued into a film noir queen after her win with Mildred Pierce. This little tale has a few things in common with Mildred,but not what you might expect. In Mildred Pierce we are encouraged to pity Mildred and understand that she was in an untenable situation, and was the real victim. There is nothing endearing about Eva at all, and it is intended that the audience will hate Eva hard. The connections between characters are not accidental because Randald MacDougall wrote the screenplay for both films. He certainly knew his Joan. She infamously had an affair with John Ireland during the making of the film, and many years later they were cast again in a William Castle film, "I Saw What You Did." In the final spasms of her career Crawford (and Bette Davis) were cast as horror hags, and this film is on the cusp of that descent. This film is also on the cusp of another of Crawford's well known descents...that of the drunk. It was probably best the film was shot in black and white because Joan looks hard faced in black and white and all the lighting men in Hollywood couldn't soften that. Having said all that, this film is fascinating because this film doesn't star Joan Crawford, it IS Joan Crawford. Christina Crawford said famously that Joan hated it, likely because it was too close to the bone and doubtless damaged the image and cultish personality she had fabricated and enhanced since the 30's. Christina Crawford suggests that the film showed who Joan was in reality, and there was no acting at all. For that reason this movie is as close to cinema verite as Joan Crawford would likely have flown. If Joan and Christina both hated, I have to love it. The other reason I love this film is because it is so ridiculous; so overblown; so over acted and so melodramatic that it screams for attention (and surprisingly without a southern accent.) This movie is best viewed in jodhpurs with a riding crop and a LOT of booze...why? Well it's the way Joanie would have wanted you to see it.

If your idea of a good time is to watch a bunch of wealthy nitwits insult and back-stab each other then you're likely to enjoy this nonsense. Joan Crawford is the control freak matriarch of a southern mill owning family and Barry Sullivan is her alcoholic husband. The fact that Crawford is a northerner has made her feel like an outcast & she spends her time lashing out at everyone as a defense mechanism. All hell breaks loose when they're visited by Crawford's cousin (the very ineffectual Lucy Marlow). Sullivan's sister (Betsy Palmer) announces her engagement to John Ireland, who happens to be Crawford's ex and Marlow is soon smitten with Sullivan. It's all ridiculous with dull direction by Ranald MacDougall and lousy acting by most of the cast. Crawford, looking like a mannequin come not quite to life, is wooden and Sullivan, who dons a hideous scar on his face, is completely out of sync with the other players. Palmer, usually fairly effervescent, is instead grating in her role. There is a decidedly odd appearance by Fay Wray as a shell shocked jilted bride (you can guess who jilted her and for whom). The slick B&W photography is by Charles Lang.

Jennifer Stewart (Lucy Marlow) comes to live with her older cousin Eva (Joan Crawford) and her family in the South. Things are odd right from the start. She meets everybody before Eva and they all seem cold about her. But when Eva shows up she's as nice as a peach, so Jennifer naturally sides with her. That won't last long. Soon she realizes that Eva is literally the Queen "B" who terrorizes everyone around her. Obviously the selling point of this movie is seeing Joan Crawford be a total witch of epic proportions. Those who think of "Mommie Dearest" when they think of Joan will probably enjoy this most. Joan is the best thing about this movie, relishing her bitchy role and playing it to the hilt. The rest of the cast is adequate. Betsy Palmer plays Eva's sister-in-law. She's best remembered today as Jason Voorhees' mom in Friday the 13th. Also Fay Wray has a tiny part. The Southernisms are forgotten quickly, although Barry Sullivan and Lucy Marlow do continue to drop the "g" off of every word ending with "ing." Not the least bit conspicuous. It's a nice soaper but nothing exceptional. Worth seeing for Joan.

Oh, Joan, That hairdo, those eyebrows, hide the children. Someone said she looked like she was wearing 'warrior makeup'. But, we love ya, Joan when you're as bad as you can be. This was before the Joker in the Batman movies.Other reviewers have already laid out the plot but there are a few scenes that simply delight me. There's the one where a seated John Ireland has a telephone cord gently wrapped around his neck by Joan while she's on the phone.In another scene, she is talking to her young niece or whoever she is while semi-reclining on the sofa. Meanwhile Joan has her leg elevated admiring it and pointing her foot in her high heel shoe, somewhat distracted by its shapeliness, I guess.Then, while the young woman and Betsy Palmer are on the floor looking at blueprints of the house Betsy will live in, they don't hear Joan enter till you see her high heel shoe with its ankle strap stepping on the blueprints and ruining their fun.Another delightful moment is when Barry Sullivan, 'Beauty' is in his office pacing in front of his desk where Joan is seated out of camera range while he is trying to tell her he wants a divorce. It's a heavy, serious scene. The camera pans over to Joan who is admiring herself in her compact make up mirror in a wonderfully blasé, Joan Crawford way.These little moments are worth sitting through some of the tedious plot development. There is one scene where Barry Sullivan is having a long dialog with John Ireland in Sullivan's bedroom while he is dressing for a formal dinner. The dialog is one long shot while Sullivan is tying his bow tie, something we don't see in today's movies with all the quick edits. Today's actors don't seem to be able to do a long scene without cuts like in these old movies.I guess Joan didn't mind playing a character that was so nasty that the audience cheered her demise at the end of the film.