I do not think there is any classic-era actress I enjoy hating more than Joan Crawford. I just can't stand her. Really! And if you disagree, that's okay, because you just aren't going to take away my joy on this subject.
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Stephen King recently reviewed the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce. It is a remake of a 1945 movie that starred Joan Crawford. You can catch Mildred Pierce on Saturday at 5pm (Pacific). Right after Lawrence of Arabia. Before Lawrence is The Land that Time Forgot. Just watch TCM all day! http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/321/Mildred-Pierce/
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Leonard Maltin gave the flick 3.5 out of 4 stars. I do not think Stephen King would be so generous.
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In his recent review of the HBO mini-series remake, Stephen King offered some great prose about the 1945 edition. Mostly his comments were about Joan Crawford, who he doesn't like much. Now that's a person really could be a character in a Stephen King novel!
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Explaining why Ingrid Bergman, Jennifer Jones and Gene Tierney seemed more likely to win the 1946 Academy Award for best actress, King explains that they were simply more likeable than dear Ms. Crawford.
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King bluntly explains, "Crawford was arrogant, overmannered, and difficult to work with. “I wouldn’t sit on her toilet,” Bette Davis once famously said."
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Arrogant she may have been; stupid she was not. Terrified of losing, she pretended to be sick on the big night. The film’s director, Michael Curtiz—originally dismayed to be saddled with such a difficult leading lady—accepted on her behalf. Crawford welcomed reporters into her bedroom only after her win was safely in the bag.
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King concludes with: "Winslet’s Mildred is a genuine star turn. How Joan Crawford would have loathed her." http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-20/stephen-king-reviews-hbos-mildred-pierce/
To get a real look at Joan Crawford, how about TCM's short with Christina Crawford. You might be familiar with her book -- Mommy Dearest! Anyway, Christina gives us this sweet bit of insight:
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"The act started long before she went out into public. The act started with her sitting at her dressing table putting on her make up. She would only have on her under garments. She would sit at this huge glass dressing table, wall to wall glass. Glass on her counter top, glass on her doors, glass on the entire wall. She would begin to put on the face of Joan Crawford. You could see her begin to take on that persona as the face took shape. I saw it a thousand times if I saw it once. By the time she was finished and then she put on her clothes and the ankle strap high heels, and out the door she went as "Joan Crawford."
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Joan was so over the top that if King ever did have a character like her, people would say it was unbelievable -- melodrama.
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