Product: The Hollywood Collection - Joan Crawford: Always The Star
Rating: 4.0
Joan Crawford A Consumate Professional, Always A Star.
Many things, both pro and con, have been written about Ms Joan Crawford,and some of it true. Who WAS she ? Many of the actors of Joan's era came from difficult backgrounds.The Depression hit America very hard and stars like Gable,Turner,Rooney,Shearer,Davis,Alice Faye,Gardner,Allyson,Garland,were nearly all from one parent families armed with a sense of desperation and ambition to be rid of poverty at any cost.It is no accident that Gable's first two wives were both women much older than he,the first of whom taught him to act,and the second helped him find work and got him to Hollywood. It is no accident that Crawford's first two husbands were Douglas Fairbanks Jnr a member of Hollywood royalty, and Franchot Tone, an actor from a wealthy family who became a leading Broadway actor.Joan,embarrassed by her lack of education, watched and learned from these two men and worked tirelessly at her craft with their help and support.Tone was keen to co-star with Crawford on the stage, but she was too terrified,too insecure to face a live audience.He grew tired of having to reassure Crawford over and over how beautiful,well groomed and perfect she was before they could go out to premiere or party. At first glance,it would appear that the Tyranical Joan was being the obsessive person daughter Christina had spoken of in her damning book. However, it was far more likely that Joan was secretly in great fear of letting herself down as she mixed with famous,wealthy,people from the film industry. She needn't have worried,as many of the men she had to impress,and indeed came to work for,had come from humble circumstances themselves.Each MGM star had their own carefully constructed persona for audiences to relate to. Joan's was as a working girl, an office worker,a factory hand. Millions of women all over the world loved her,she became a huge star.She starred in eight pictures with Clark Gable,they got along well together,had a long term affair,and he appears to have been the love of Crawford's life.This documentary does not dig for dirt,it instead studies the career of Joan Crawford and her need to keep working - well past what was then her use by date.Whilst married to Tone,they frequently went to the theatre together. Joan saw several plays that she felt would make good movies,solid vehicles for her.She told Irving Thalberg about them, he listened,bought the film rights and handed the leads to his wife Norma Shearer!The great tragedy in the lives of these Hollywood Stars (Marlene,Garbo,Turner,Shearer to name a few) was the trauma of growing old. When your looks are paramount to your work,your identity,it must become a terrible ordeal to see oneself aging,then wrinkled and old.All of these women became recluses in old age, Crawford refused all dinner invitations, gave away her devoted dog,and remained in doors.She was drinking heavily and must have been very lonely. She died of a heart attack.I recommend Joan Crawford - Always the Star, a tribute to a woman who after growing up in poverty,became the biggest woman box office star in Hollywood.