I recorded this 1952 Joan Crawford movie because 1) I like Joan Crawford's Warner Brothers era and 2) I liked the title. After seeing this film, I think that they overstated how dangerous Crawford's character was. She is not dangerous at all. It's as if "Mildred Pierce" decided to join a crime syndicate to help recoup lost profits after the failure of her restaurant chain. Crawford plays the same type of strong woman facing hard times that she often plays.
In this film, Crawford plays Beth Austin, the head of the gang of criminals who pull off heists in high class locales. Crawford's character was specifically recruited for her class as she could get the gang into nicer locations and provide a believable front. The gang pulls off a casino heist by impersonating police officers and make off with $90,000. Crawford is also dating one of the gangsters, a man named Matt who will kill without giving it a second thought. The conflict in this film is that Crawford is losing her eyesight and must undergo surgery to try and reverse her declining eyesight before she is blind entirely. Her doctor refers her to Dr. Ben Halleck, portrayed by Dennis Morgan. Morgan is reluctant to perform the surgery, as it is experimental, but Crawford pressures him to do so, figuring that she doesn't have much to lose.
At this point in the film, the movie kind of switches gears from a noir to more of a melodrama. As Crawford works to recover from the operation, she and Morgan begin to fall in love. Crawford accompanies Morgan on a few "house calls" where she sees the empathy and kindness that he displays toward his patients and their families. She also has dinner at Morgan's home one night where she meets his adorable daughter and seems to instantly bond with her.
The tension throughout this segment of the film is whether or not Morgan will find out about Crawford's past. The FBI is on her trail as is the private detective that her boyfriend hires to keep tabs on Crawford to see if there is more going on between her and Morgan, aside from her convalescence.
This film was okay, Crawford was fine in her part and Morgan turned in the same type of dependable performance that he usually does. However, this film couldn't decide whether or not it wanted to be a noir or a melodrama, and it wasn't captivating enough to be a melodramatic noir like Mildred Pierce. While I didn't hate it, I don't think I'll need to watch this film over and over. Crawford called this her worst film. I think she has worse films out there, Ice Follies of 1939 comes to mind, but this definitely isn't among her best.
In this film, Crawford plays Beth Austin, the head of the gang of criminals who pull off heists in high class locales. Crawford's character was specifically recruited for her class as she could get the gang into nicer locations and provide a believable front. The gang pulls off a casino heist by impersonating police officers and make off with $90,000. Crawford is also dating one of the gangsters, a man named Matt who will kill without giving it a second thought. The conflict in this film is that Crawford is losing her eyesight and must undergo surgery to try and reverse her declining eyesight before she is blind entirely. Her doctor refers her to Dr. Ben Halleck, portrayed by Dennis Morgan. Morgan is reluctant to perform the surgery, as it is experimental, but Crawford pressures him to do so, figuring that she doesn't have much to lose.
At this point in the film, the movie kind of switches gears from a noir to more of a melodrama. As Crawford works to recover from the operation, she and Morgan begin to fall in love. Crawford accompanies Morgan on a few "house calls" where she sees the empathy and kindness that he displays toward his patients and their families. She also has dinner at Morgan's home one night where she meets his adorable daughter and seems to instantly bond with her.
The tension throughout this segment of the film is whether or not Morgan will find out about Crawford's past. The FBI is on her trail as is the private detective that her boyfriend hires to keep tabs on Crawford to see if there is more going on between her and Morgan, aside from her convalescence.
This film was okay, Crawford was fine in her part and Morgan turned in the same type of dependable performance that he usually does. However, this film couldn't decide whether or not it wanted to be a noir or a melodrama, and it wasn't captivating enough to be a melodramatic noir like Mildred Pierce. While I didn't hate it, I don't think I'll need to watch this film over and over. Crawford called this her worst film. I think she has worse films out there, Ice Follies of 1939 comes to mind, but this definitely isn't among her best.