Flamingo Road [VHS]
Joan Crawford portrays the most demure, well-spoken refugee from a busted-down carnival you've ever seen--but that doesn't mean she can't get tough when events warrant, and eventually, events do indeed warrant in this crisply shot 1949 black-and-white, post-Casablancamelodrama from director Michael Curtiz.Crawford plays Lane Bellamy, who falls hard for Fielding Carlisle (Zachary Scott), who reciprocates but is being groomed for big things by wheezing political boss Titus (Sydney Greenstreet), who has no use for carny trash. Both Bellamy and Carlisle venture into loveless marriages, and Carlisle turns to drink, while Lane's subsequent husband (David Brian) is even higher on a greasy if not well-oiled political ladder ("I've got a soul that needs a lot of purging," he tells Lane). Interestingly, the film simply accepts politics as soulless and corrupt, as if there's any other kind.Besides its still-fresh political cynicism, what keeps the film interesting is the showdowns between Crawford and Greenstreet, who both give performances representative of their distinguished careers. Crawford fairly hisses at the corpulent Greenstreet, "You just wouldn't believe how much trouble it is to get rid of a dead elephant." Greenstreet, clearly, forgets that this is Joan Crawford he's dealing with.--David Kronke