Did JOAN CRAWFORD Make It Into LADY SINGS THE BLUES? [[I'm Just Asking )

[Methuselah2]

See Joan's 'mirror scene' at about 2:22 on the timer:

https://youtu.be/sDLsLfgHxGE

The entire [[and brief) trailer is a hoot. Check it out.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

See Joan's 'mirror scene' at about 2:22 on the timer:

https://youtu.be/sDLsLfgHxGE

The entire [[and brief) trailer is a hoot. Check it out.

Ah HA! I see it [[grin!)

That movie is really something- it's like "let's take the Joan Crawford image and amp it up 200%!" Joan Crawford created "Guilty Pleasures" before anyone else even though about call it that.

[Ollie9]

Wonderful stuff. I wonder if the car scene was the inspiration for the crash scene in Mahogany.
What is it she smears on the mirror?. Is it face cream?. I think overall lipstick has more of a dramatic efffect

[Thornton]

I think from "Torch Song" on, it's pretty stiff competition for the most over the top Crawford performance. I'm partial to "Johnny Guitar." Thanks for the Sunday morning laugh!

[sansradio]

Ah, yes, Queen Bee definitely inspired that LSTB scene! Berserk or Trog, anyone?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Ah, yes, Queen Bee definitely inspired that LSTB scene! Berserk or Trog, anyone?

Berserk is definitely strange- it's over the top and yet weirdly subdued at the same time. It's a bad movie but Joan is the only actress I think who could have made it worth watching. I'll say this about Joan Crawford, she has an amazing ability to make a viewer sympathize with her completely. In Berserk, there is this vulnerability she displays that comes through all the makeup. Oddly, she's most beautiful when she's dressed sorta drab and plain.

[TheMotownManiac]

Joan is great in all her post 40s films - campy or not. She continued to hone her craft.

That mirror gag gag is as old as Stonehenge and I believe Claudette Colbert did in a silent at Paramount. Ross does the old chestnut justice tho, eh?

[PeaceNHarmony]

Joan is indeed 'excitingly good'! And second only to me in the staircase-sweep competition. BTW ... the white blouse with the matching bow on the black skirt ... RIGHT??

[PeaceNHarmony]

ps - Do I need begin a separate thread noting the car crash & 'Mahogany'?

[TheMotownManiac]

LoL - ask Liz Taylor!

[PeaceNHarmony]

lol - ask liz taylor!

no sale !!!

[kenneth]

What a fun thread! Yes, Carroll Baker as "Harlow" did the same thing with the cold cream and the mirror. "Harlow" is a schlock-filled bomb, but not as much fun as "Queen Bee."

Later Crawford and co-star Betsy Palmer appeared on "I've Got a Secret," in which Palmer was a regular panelist, and tried to recite their lines from memory while watching a scene from "Queen Bee." It's actually surprising how much of the dialog they remembered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHpjC9RwJfE

"Queen Bee" is a pretty overwrought film, maybe fun the first time you see it. But some of Crawford's 50s films are quite good. I really like "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Sudden Fear" which co-stars Jack Palance. "Female on the Beach" and "Autumn Leaves" are pretty good too.

But my favorite of all her 50s output is "Harriet Craig," in which she plays a woman obsessed with keeping her house clean and spotless! And knowing what we know about her today, it sure rings true! I still refer to my mother sometimes as "Harriet Craig" because she has the weirdest ideas sometimes, like that a light switch panel with more than one on/off switch should have all the switches facing the same way! Like anyone would ever notice [[and think less of someone whose light switches weren't properly aligned)! Go figure!

[midnightman]

Was Diana influenced by Joan Crawford? It would make sense.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

What a fun thread!

"Queen Bee" is a pretty overwrought film, maybe fun the first time you see it. But some of Crawford's 50s films are quite good. I really like "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Sudden Fear" which co-stars Jack Palance. "Female on the Beach" and "Autumn Leaves" are pretty good too.

Good call! "The Damned Don't Cry" is really good. It could have been another over-the-top, overwrought melodrama, but it's actually a good, solid drama. The one thing I keep noticing is how pretty Joan could be and it always seems to be when she's dressed more plainly, more working-class. In the beginning of this movie, she has long hair and isn't all glammed up. I thought she should looked better that way, more natural, but then she wouldn't be "JOAN CRAWFORD, The Legend" that way!

"Sudden Fear" really surprised me with how good it is. At the beginning, it's seems like a standard-formula Joan Crawford vehicle, but then as it progresses, it actually gets to be nerve-wracking. I especially love the camera work and lighting in the sequence where she's going through all her preparations to go kill Lester [[Jack Palance). The ticking of the clock, the dark shadows, WOW! One of her best movies.

That's hilarious about your mother! Actually, I've known women AND men who have that sort of thing about everything facing a certain way, everything being aligned, and in general, having that "Harriet Craig" thing going. Seems a LOT of folks were influenced by Ms. Joan!

[PeaceNHarmony]

'Yes' to all of the above. I do love my Joan. Let's not forget her cameo in 'The Best of Everything'. I look forward to receiving my Netflix disc of 'Queen Bee', not having seen that one for several years. Crawford is a great presence and though I can camp her quite easily I do think the films we mentioned are really excellent -

[kenneth]

That's hilarious about your mother! Actually, I've known women AND men who have that sort of thing about everything facing a certain way, everything being aligned, and in general, having that "Harriet Craig" thing going. Seems a LOT of folks were influenced by Ms. Joan!

Believe me, she has no idea how hilarious she is! Seriously though, it was only a couple years ago - and she's 84 today - that I got her to stop climbing on chairs to dust the top of shelves or cabinets. Another Crawford/Craig quirk! On the other hand, cleaning her house is her exercise and she goes up and down stairs all day long, and easier than I do!

[kenneth]

@WaitingWatching, "The Damned Don't Cry" is on TCM tonight, 10/13! I am definitely gonna be watching it, unless I have something better to do, which right now doesn't look like it!