Possessed. One of Playboy’s Sexiest Women of the 20th Century. Mommie Dearest. The late Joan Crawford has been called many things, but throughout her 45-year career she has never once been accused of being dull.
In honor of what would be her 100th birthday (although Crawford was known to fib about her age), over the next month the UCLA Film and Television Archive will be screening movies that specifically encompass the strength, bawdiness and allure of this Hollywood icon.
The series, titled “Possessed: The Films of Joan Crawford,” will feature 11 films. These selected works vary from “The Unknown” (1927), a silent film in which Crawford portrays a beautiful circus fan with a fear of male hands, to closing night’s “Johnny Guitar” (1954), a gender-bender in which Crawford plays a saloon-owner who must overcome a butch female criminal.
The movies are iconic on their own as they display not only the life work of this gorgeous and notorious actress, but also the dramatic evolution of film sound and production. The opening film, a silent movie, will have live musical accompaniment by renowned composer Michael Mortilla. The rest of the 11 films include sound and music, and all are in full color. The selected movies also demonstrate Crawford’s abilities as an actress; she portrays a jazz dancer, Depression-era socialite, a prostitute, and even a role meant for a 20-something at age 44.
Crawford’s life story is just as dramatic and convoluted as her film career.
Born Lucille Fay LeSueur some 100 years ago, Joan Crawford survived economic disasters, was dropped by her studio MGM, and was even called “box office poison” before she went on to win an Academy Award. After four husbands and an order from her studio to stop messing around with co-star Clark Gable, Crawford had racked up millions of fans and several critics, her own daughter included.
Joan Crawford’s fame turned to notoriety when, after her death in 1977, her daughter Christina Crawford wrote a memoir/exposé on what a terrible mother Crawford had been. Christina (a UCLA alumna) claims that Crawford was an abusive alcoholic who cared more about her career than her four adopted children. This has since caused a huge rift between the children, one siding with Christina and the other two, twins Cindy and Cathy, defending their mother.
Son of Cathy, Casey LaLonde, will be sharing his own memories of the notorious Ms. Crawford. LaLonde recently found some sealed footage of his beloved grandmother in his basement, which he then sent to the George Eastman House in order to have it preserved. Since then, Crawford’s home videos have only been screened once in Rochester, New York.
On the third night of the series, LaLonde himself will appear to speak and introduce a 25-minute “Best Of” compilation of the home videos.
LaLonde remarks that the full-color film from the late ’30s-’40s includes World War II-era New York City, complete with zeppelins looming in the sky, as well as more personal clips. “(They show) my aunt Christina, who wrote “Mommie Dearest” of course, having two birthday parties,” said LaLonde, before adding. “There’s a big mystery around some of these films.”
One of the clips depicts Crawford on vacation with a man LaLonde cannot identify, possibly due to controversy surrounding their relationship.
“He was married; she was having, I hate to say, an affair with him,” he said. LaLonde is fascinated about the situation. LaLonde said at one point the duo can be seen “out hunting, and she’s carrying a shotgun … it’s stuff fans have never ever seen before.”
Joan Crawford’s last words were supposedly “Damn it … Don’t you dare ask God to help me,” shouted to her maid who had begun to pray aloud.
In honor of her “100th” birthday, one need not pity this woman of great fame and scandal. Instead, her life and career should be celebrated and admired from the big screen, where she will live on forever.
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