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Joan Crawford is one of my favorite actresses. One of things that I like about her best is how her career went through so many different phases. Crawford was career-driven and perhaps more than any other movie star, she fought for her place in the sun. Among all the rest of them, she seemed like she earned it herself because she bypassed and beat all the odds. She was a jazz baby in the 1920s, saucing and dancing the Charleston; became a rags-to-riches Cinderella in the 1930s, playing to Depression-weary audiences; and solidified herself as a clotheshorse in the late 1930s.
Crawford had been with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for over eighteen years when she and studio head Louis B. Mayer dissolved her contract in 1943. The official statement was that the exit was a "mutual decision", but one has their doubts. Crawford, for one, had been slightly edged out of her home studio in the early 1940s. Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, and Luise Rainer had all hung up their coats and took their final bows, and MGM was in an ever-changing process of bringing in newer and younger talent. Women like Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr were getter more attention, although one thinks Crawford was most anxious about the late 1930s arrival of Greer Garson at the studio. Similar to the 1930s when Shearer got all the parts Crawford wanted, now it was Garson getting the roles Crawford felt she was suited well for. MGM fueled Garson's popularity by casting her in prestigious pictures, while the quality and popularity of Crawford's movies was dropping rapidly. I'm sure Mayer had grown weary of Crawford, who was now pushing forty, especially since her films were no longer making money. Crawford probably wanted to leave MGM to get better roles, and MGM wanted her gone so they would quit loosing money.
As it turned out, Crawford leaving MGM was probably the best thing for her. While she was understandably shaken and concerned about loosing the security of Hollywood's Tiffany Studio, she was also very determined to reinvent herself to stay relevant. Crawford's final pictures at MGM had gotten stale and repetitive, and she knew better than anyone that she needed to get out of that rut if she was going to do anything worth her time. Eventually, Crawford signed a contract with Warner Brothers, where she hoped a better future lied ahead of her. She had learned a thing or turn during her MGM days, however, and she turned down several scripts she felt were beneath her and would not progress her career. Crawford also faced stiff competition with other actresses at Warner Brothers, where two-time Oscar winner Bette Davis was the the Queen of the Lot and got the first choice of scripts. Rosalind Russell, Ida Lupino, and Ann Sheridan were also at the studio, and often got roles that Crawford probably wanted for herself.
In 1945, Crawford came across a script for MILDRED PIERCE, a highly sanitized big-screen dramatization of James M. Cain's novel. The part had been originally offered to Bette Davis, but she turned it down. Crawford felt the role was hers for the taking, and she actively pursued it. She had to overcome a few hurtles along the way. Michael Curtiz, the director assigned to the project, was against her casting from the start. As Crawford later recalled, Curtiz wanted Barbara Stanwyck in the role, but she was unavailable and Warner Brothers would not wait for her. Only after Crawford agreed to do a screen test did Curtiz applaud her work and approve of her taking on the title role. MILDRED PIERCE was the perfect vehicle to introduce Crawford's changeover from MGM to Warner Brothers. It incorporated ingredients of her rags-to-riches tales that she had popularized in the 1930s, but with a good dose of film noir's lights and shadows, a sub-genre Warner Brothers was perfecting. The film has so many layers, and one can tell why Crawford wanted the role: we see Mildred rise from the depths of poverty into running a multimillionaire restaurant franchise. She does this all while trying endlessly to satisfy her spoiled oldest daughter Veda, played brilliantly by newcomer Ann Blyth.
MILDRED PIERCE was a runaway hit with critics and audiences in 1945. Crawford received the strongest reviews of her career and she was quickly heralded as a fierce competitor for an Oscar. She received an Academy Award nomination that year, sharing the honor with Ingrid Bergman, Greer Garson, Jennifer Jones, and Gene Tierney. When Crawford won the Best Actress statuette on March 7, 1946, she was famously photographed receiving the award in bed. She was apparently ill the evening of the ceremony and took to her bed. Her adopted daughter Christina later remembered that Crawford faked the illness because of nervousness.
MILDRED PIERCE opened the door to the most successful phase of Crawford's film career. During the late 1940s, she starred in what one commentator called a "series of first-rate melodramas". She was definitely in her element, and she was ushered to the forefront of the Warner Brothers roster. Her next film was HUMORESQUE (1946), in which she chose to star in over the studio's objections. Warner Brothers felt that Crawford, now an Oscar winner, was too big a star to basically play second fiddle to John Garfield. Crawford, on the other hand, knew it would serve her well to be seen with Garfield, who was then at the peak of his success. HUMORESQUE was another big success, with Crawford earning positive reviews. Her next role came in POSSESSED (1947), which was another vehicle that Bette Davis had been touted for first. She had to decline the role because she was pregnant, and Crawford stepped in and received another Oscar nod for her performance.
Crawford was definitely on the top of her game in the late 1940s. This is probably the phase in her career when she was at her finest, at least acting-wise, and turned out several good performances.
Crawford had been with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for over eighteen years when she and studio head Louis B. Mayer dissolved her contract in 1943. The official statement was that the exit was a "mutual decision", but one has their doubts. Crawford, for one, had been slightly edged out of her home studio in the early 1940s. Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, and Luise Rainer had all hung up their coats and took their final bows, and MGM was in an ever-changing process of bringing in newer and younger talent. Women like Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr were getter more attention, although one thinks Crawford was most anxious about the late 1930s arrival of Greer Garson at the studio. Similar to the 1930s when Shearer got all the parts Crawford wanted, now it was Garson getting the roles Crawford felt she was suited well for. MGM fueled Garson's popularity by casting her in prestigious pictures, while the quality and popularity of Crawford's movies was dropping rapidly. I'm sure Mayer had grown weary of Crawford, who was now pushing forty, especially since her films were no longer making money. Crawford probably wanted to leave MGM to get better roles, and MGM wanted her gone so they would quit loosing money.
As it turned out, Crawford leaving MGM was probably the best thing for her. While she was understandably shaken and concerned about loosing the security of Hollywood's Tiffany Studio, she was also very determined to reinvent herself to stay relevant. Crawford's final pictures at MGM had gotten stale and repetitive, and she knew better than anyone that she needed to get out of that rut if she was going to do anything worth her time. Eventually, Crawford signed a contract with Warner Brothers, where she hoped a better future lied ahead of her. She had learned a thing or turn during her MGM days, however, and she turned down several scripts she felt were beneath her and would not progress her career. Crawford also faced stiff competition with other actresses at Warner Brothers, where two-time Oscar winner Bette Davis was the the Queen of the Lot and got the first choice of scripts. Rosalind Russell, Ida Lupino, and Ann Sheridan were also at the studio, and often got roles that Crawford probably wanted for herself.
In 1945, Crawford came across a script for MILDRED PIERCE, a highly sanitized big-screen dramatization of James M. Cain's novel. The part had been originally offered to Bette Davis, but she turned it down. Crawford felt the role was hers for the taking, and she actively pursued it. She had to overcome a few hurtles along the way. Michael Curtiz, the director assigned to the project, was against her casting from the start. As Crawford later recalled, Curtiz wanted Barbara Stanwyck in the role, but she was unavailable and Warner Brothers would not wait for her. Only after Crawford agreed to do a screen test did Curtiz applaud her work and approve of her taking on the title role. MILDRED PIERCE was the perfect vehicle to introduce Crawford's changeover from MGM to Warner Brothers. It incorporated ingredients of her rags-to-riches tales that she had popularized in the 1930s, but with a good dose of film noir's lights and shadows, a sub-genre Warner Brothers was perfecting. The film has so many layers, and one can tell why Crawford wanted the role: we see Mildred rise from the depths of poverty into running a multimillionaire restaurant franchise. She does this all while trying endlessly to satisfy her spoiled oldest daughter Veda, played brilliantly by newcomer Ann Blyth.
MILDRED PIERCE was a runaway hit with critics and audiences in 1945. Crawford received the strongest reviews of her career and she was quickly heralded as a fierce competitor for an Oscar. She received an Academy Award nomination that year, sharing the honor with Ingrid Bergman, Greer Garson, Jennifer Jones, and Gene Tierney. When Crawford won the Best Actress statuette on March 7, 1946, she was famously photographed receiving the award in bed. She was apparently ill the evening of the ceremony and took to her bed. Her adopted daughter Christina later remembered that Crawford faked the illness because of nervousness.
MILDRED PIERCE opened the door to the most successful phase of Crawford's film career. During the late 1940s, she starred in what one commentator called a "series of first-rate melodramas". She was definitely in her element, and she was ushered to the forefront of the Warner Brothers roster. Her next film was HUMORESQUE (1946), in which she chose to star in over the studio's objections. Warner Brothers felt that Crawford, now an Oscar winner, was too big a star to basically play second fiddle to John Garfield. Crawford, on the other hand, knew it would serve her well to be seen with Garfield, who was then at the peak of his success. HUMORESQUE was another big success, with Crawford earning positive reviews. Her next role came in POSSESSED (1947), which was another vehicle that Bette Davis had been touted for first. She had to decline the role because she was pregnant, and Crawford stepped in and received another Oscar nod for her performance.
Crawford was definitely on the top of her game in the late 1940s. This is probably the phase in her career when she was at her finest, at least acting-wise, and turned out several good performances.
