It's been over six years since I wrote this, and so many things have changed since then.
The poll does have them tied at the moment with 6 votes each - and one outlier who chose the Liz Taylor option.
It's not tied anymore....
Well, "despised" is a bad choice of words, which I frequently do.
But what endures beyond Mildred Pierce? More the later harridan roles and her personal reputation than Grand Hotel. For how long her career was it is an extremely weak filmography. I’m assuming the Young comparison is rhetorical. Who remembers “The Farmer’s Daughter”? “The Bishop’s Wife” is probably her most enduring film. Judy Lewis’ book was fair but hardly a rave review for Loretta. The successful tv converts who mostly left their screen careers in their prime have found time has been pretty kind. Their series mostly disappeared and they were mostly remembered in their prime. So and so who didn’t “do” television mostly made crappy movies through the sixties and seventies that often endured on television more than their early films in the 8O’s and 90’s. The long game might favour them as those late films are harder and harder to find though Crawford and Davis seem fairly defined buy their late era careers.Kate and Bette:
Pure classumness doesn't create quite the level stardom unless you throw in a dose of the slutty-bitch. It just doesn't. But if she hangs in there, remaining utterly tasteful can pay off long-term.
Sort of the reverse of the "politicians, ugly buildings and whores get respectable if they last long enough" sentiment. In the movies, the skanky-monster trope can bring you big box-office and media coverage, but good breeding and polished restraint (and critics' desire to align themselves with it) can permit you to cross the finish line, Parkinsonian smirk held high as the Tasteful Tortoise, while the Harlot Harridan hacks-and-coughs her Marlboro sputum and collapses before reaching the end of the race.
Too many metaphors?
Who's better remembered today: Loretta Young or her more overtly pathological twin sister, Joan Crawford? Sure, Crawford was huge back in the day and she played a lot of ho(e)s, on screen and in life. But which one had a daughter who wrote an ugly book about her?? (Okay, bad example).
Mildred is mostly a one off. Humouresqe is good. She did get nominated for Possessed but not really a classic. I like Flamingo Road but not a classic and that’s pretty much it. I think The Damned Don’t Cry is less than great. She’s a 45+ model? Miscast. Her seven years at WB were roughly 44-51. Two great films, 2 Best Actress nominations. Agreed it is her best period but that’s kind of the problem.
To each their own, I guess. I think Crawford was really in her element at Warner Brothers in the late-40s and early-50s. She was still attractive, and she seemed to allow herself to relax on-screen some. There isn't as much movie stat gesturing you see in her MGM films from the 1930s, and she even seems more like an actress than just a star.
Except for Bette Davis Warner’s wasn’t really a great studio for women. Warner’s had an eye for female talent but with the odd exception never knew what do with it once it emerged. DeHavilland, Wyman, Parker and Day all faired better on loan or after they departed. Vehicles like Johnny Belinda, Caged and Calamity Jane were more the exception than the rule. I don’t think Crawford escaped the reality they all faced. I think Mildred Pierce is her best film too, which isn’t really high praise. I like it a lot more than that. I think Flamingo Road is very watchable but The Damned Don’t Cry eludes me. Her filmography however is about as strong as Wyman’s who was only a leading lady for a decade. I like Crawford in the Warners period too, particularly the two Curtiz films. I still haven’t seen Possessed but I like Curtis Bernhardt. That the concept of the “women’s film” as a genre isn’t widely accepted has hurt the assessment of his work. I appreciate your insight.
