Few names in Hollywood's illustrious history get people talking quite like Joan Crawford. The legendary actress began her career in silent films before transitioning to sound, and worked for decades, appearing in more than 80 films and television shows. However, the images conjured up of Crawford these days are rarely of her -- instead, they're of Faye Dunaway, who played a diabolical and utterly maniacal version of the actress in "Mommie Dearest," That 1981 film -- based on a shocking book from Crawford's daughter Christina -- changed Crawford's reputation forever and all-too-often erases her stature as one of cinemas greatest stars.
That is nothing short of a tragedy. Few actors could match Crawford's talent, determination, and tenacity. Indeed, even after she retired and then passed away in 1977, very few have matched her prodigious abilities. It can be difficult to look past her domineering facade (especially in a post-"Mommie Dearest" world), but...
That is nothing short of a tragedy. Few actors could match Crawford's talent, determination, and tenacity. Indeed, even after she retired and then passed away in 1977, very few have matched her prodigious abilities. It can be difficult to look past her domineering facade (especially in a post-"Mommie Dearest" world), but...
- 4/2/2023
- by Barry Levitt
- Slash Film
Desert Nights with John Gilbert and Mary Nolan: Enjoyable Sahara-set adventure – which happened to be Gilbert's last silent film – dares to ask the age-old philosophical question, “Is there honor among thieves?” John Gilbert late silent adventure 'Desert Nights' asks a question for the ages: Is there honor among thieves? The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release Desert Nights arrived in theaters at the tail end of the silent era. By 1929, audiences wanted lots of singing and dancing – talkies! And they might have been impatient to hear John Gilbert's speaking voice. I can't tell whether sound would have improved it or not, but Desert Nights has a lot of title cards filled with dialogue. Directed by the prolific William Nigh,[1] the film tells the story of diamond thieves who get stranded in the Sahara and almost die of thirst. (At first, Desert Nights' was appropriately titled Thirst.) Cinematographer James Wong Howe perfectly captures the hot, dry...
- 8/7/2017
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Crawford controls every aspect of this glamorous, Oscar nominated noir about a murderous marriage double-cross. Good acting enlivens a by-the-book, gimmick-laden plot, with every moment designed to flatter the star.
Sudden Fear
Blu-ray
The Cohen Film Collection
1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / 34.99
Starring Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston, Touch Connors, Bess Flowers, Taylor Holmes, Lewis Martin, Arthur Space.
Cinematography Charles Lang
Film Editor Leon Barsha
Art Director Boris Leven
Original Music Elmer Bernstein
Written by Lenore Coffee, Robert Smith from a novel by Edna Sherry
Produced by Joseph Kaufman
Directed by David Miller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Joan Crawford movie Sudden Fear is an efficient and stylish thriller. Although it’s technically film noir, its story of a two-way murder frame-up is sublimated to the actress’s overpowering personality. It’s the first movie where Crawford was able to...
Sudden Fear
Blu-ray
The Cohen Film Collection
1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / 34.99
Starring Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston, Touch Connors, Bess Flowers, Taylor Holmes, Lewis Martin, Arthur Space.
Cinematography Charles Lang
Film Editor Leon Barsha
Art Director Boris Leven
Original Music Elmer Bernstein
Written by Lenore Coffee, Robert Smith from a novel by Edna Sherry
Produced by Joseph Kaufman
Directed by David Miller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Joan Crawford movie Sudden Fear is an efficient and stylish thriller. Although it’s technically film noir, its story of a two-way murder frame-up is sublimated to the actress’s overpowering personality. It’s the first movie where Crawford was able to...
- 12/3/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Honorary Award: Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth among dozens of women bypassed by the Academy (photo: Honorary Award non-winner Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Blvd.') (See previous post: "Honorary Oscars: Doris Day, Danielle Darrieux Snubbed.") Part three of this four-part article about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Honorary Award bypassing women basically consists of a long, long — and for the most part quite prestigious — list of deceased women who, some way or other, left their mark on the film world. Some of the names found below are still well known; others were huge in their day, but are now all but forgotten. Yet, just because most people (and the media) suffer from long-term — and even medium-term — memory loss, that doesn't mean these women were any less deserving of an Honorary Oscar. So, among the distinguished female film professionals in Hollywood and elsewhere who have passed away without...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Dead at 111: Wrote Movies for Norma Shearer (photo), Clara Bow, Louise Brooks Now, whether Frederica Sagor's Hollywood Babylon-like tales bear any resemblance to what actually happened at studio parties and private soirees, I can't tell. But on the professional side, one problem with the information found in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim is that studios invariably used numerous writers, whether male or female, in their projects. Usually, in those pre-Writers Guild days, only two or three contributors received final credit, not because of the uncredited writer's gender but in large part because the final product oftentimes had little — if anything — in common with the original source. While doing research for my Ramon Novarro biography, I went through various drafts, written by various hands, of his movies. A Certain Young Man, for instance, went through so many changes (including director, cast, and title), that the final film...
- 1/7/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ernest Torrence, John Gilbert, Mary Nolan, Desert Nights Desert Nights (1929) Direction: William Nigh Screenplay: Endre Bohem and Lenore J. Coffee, from a treatment by Willis Goldbeck; titles by Ruth Cummings and Marian Ainslee; story by John Thomas Neville and Dale Van Every Cast: John Gilbert, Mary Nolan, Ernest Torrence Desert Nights arrived in theaters on the coattails of the silent era. By 1929, audiences wanted lots of singing and dancing — talkies! And they might have been impatient to hear John Gilbert's speaking voice. I can't tell whether sound would have improved it or not, but Desert Nights has a lot of title cards filled with dialog. The film tells the story of diamond thieves who get stranded in the African desert and almost die of thirst. Cinematographer James Wong Howe perfectly captures the hot, dry, burning sands of the Sahara — which in reality was likely the Mojave in Hollywood's [...]...
- 12/7/2010
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
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