Mommie Dearest, Joan Craword and I

I never knew about Joan Crawford until I saw the movie, Mommie Dearest starring Faye Dunaway from start to finish.  Before that, whenever I thought of the movie, one line would stand out and that was “No wire hangers, ever!”  After seeing the movie on cable, I immediately wanted to read the book to make a comparison.    Upon reading the book, it made me want to REALLY venture Joan’s career and movies including “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” and her comeback movie, “Mildred Pierce”.

Getting back to Mommie Dearest, there were details that Christina Crawford wrote that I could personally relate to.  However, while tell-all books tend to turn people against the subject, this book made me a huge fan of Joan Crawford.  Since then, I’ve devoured her films Queen Bee, The Women, Rain, Harriet Craig, Berserk, Strait-Jacket, Dancing Lady, The Damned Don’t Cry, Autumn Leaves and Possessed (1931 with Clark Gable/1947 with Van Heflin).  I’m a bit partial to what has been written about her but I will say this: unlike many actors/actresses today, she LOVED and appreciated her fans throughout her entire career.

There are still movies that I am starving to see such as The Best of Everything, Della (TV pilot), Flamingo Road, Sudden Fear as well as a huge bulk of her MGM films such as Our Dancing Daughters. Since I don’t have cable TV to watch Turner Classic Movies, a great outlet for classic films and they play a lot of Joan’s movies. In addition, I am curious to hear more of her performances on radio programs after hearing her on Suspense-The Ten Years in A Doll’s House.  These titles are inspired by the TCM documentary “Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star” narrated by Anjelica Huston.

In addition to her film roles, I've seen her TV guest appearance on "Zane Grey Theatre" in One Must Die is worth seeing as she plays two sisters, Sarah and Melanie Hobbs as well as her appearance on The Lucy Show in "The Lost Star".