This film is nothing more than a showcase for Crawford's star power. Vintage Joan at her best. Forget the movie and just enjoy the beautiful panther of a woman she was.
Carol Burnetts’ spoof “Torchy Song” was hilarious. I can’t watch this without thinking about her sendup, especially her delivery of “and spoil that line?” 😁
Joan was a real talent! She started as a dancer and Wow does it show! She had star power, that's for sure. A beauty who got tougher as she got older. What a career and Quite a woman!
Crawford did have one of the best pair of legs in the business. She was a hoofer on Broadway in the 20s. Started dancing at a hotel in Kansas City after she quit school.
Joan's dancing partner was the great Charles Walters who also directed the film. Marc Wilder was originally cast but Joan was so nervous that she asked Walters to perform it with her. So the next year he gave Marc a solo with Debbie Reynolds in "The Tender Trap"
I read that Joan had the hots for Charles Walters. Joan told people that she was going to land Charles. However, people who knew Charles told Joan that Charles lived with a man in a relationship and would not be interested in Joan. Joan was not deterred and she proceeded to show up at his house unannounced with the intention of bedding him down. She tried every trick she knew to excite him but none of it worked. This was one man she could not get. Anyway that is how the story goes.
If he was also the director, it could also mean that Crawford did not have an on-set affair with him; as was her custom. I say could because, I think that would have made no difference to Crawford.
I know nothing about professional dancing, but my gut tells me this could be an accurate portrayal of the business of show business. Nothing personal against the performer, but brutally honest when necessary.
I think this mirrored the way she worked in real life. You get the job done or your out. She held herself to a very high standard and was unforgiving if she thought you weren't.
i have to admit it...did no know about Joan Crawford until yhe movie Mommy Dearest came out..but I have to say..this eoman was amazing...grat actress...dancer..and geourgeous
MGM never let a good song go to waste. This is the same recording of "You're All The World To Me"" that Astaire danced around the room and ceiling in "Royal Wedding".
Yes, thanks for the reminder. A wonderful song with a melody that's more appealing, in my opinion, when heard as an instrumental-only rather than with the somewhat cluttered lyrics.
Here, in her 50's, she was still in great shape - can't deny that - and she moved very well - not a great dancer perhaps but she moved well. Many gals even today who are in their 50's probably wish they could have a figure like her's.
@@Juliaflo yes, I just posted on that, then saw your comment... It's hard to get Carols movie parodies out of your mind when you see the original film.. This one especially.
@@lisanealy1703 I read that Joan liked Carol's version of "Mildred Pierce" retitled "Mildred Fierce," but was offended by Carol's "Torchy Song." Easy to see why.
Wow.. You all act like 50 is a dinosaur. Cher anyone? Marlene Dietrich in her 70s? Jane Fonda...what..80? I could go on but ..you get it. women can and do look great at all ages.
The song has had 2 names. Originally it was called "I wanna be a minstrel man" Then later for the Fred Astaire film it got changed to "You mean the World to me" as the composer had control he was at liberty to rename his music as and when suitable.
Cannot watch this without seeing Carol Burnett 'Torchy' parody. And dang if Carols legs---'and ruin that line?!' ---- Aren't just as perfect as Joan Crawfords. I love Crawford movies but shes perfect for parody, drag impersonation just like her nemesis, the equally great Bette Davis.
CHARLES WALTERS WAS THE DIRECTOR HERE..... ALSO...HE CAN BE SEEN AS JUDY GARLAND.S DANCE PARTNER IN SEVERAL EARLY 40'S FILMS...HE WENT ON DIRECT "GOOD NEWS" AMONG OTHER HITS...LOVE HIS DANCE STYLE...
Yes, they often "recycled" their instrumental tracks in various films (especially during the '50s, when television forced the studio to "improvise", through restricted production budgets).
Check out Carol Burnett's spoof on this movie! It's funny! Now I see where "the pose" came from.. lol.. the Carol Burnett spoof is called "Torchy Song" :)
Oh c'mon Joan Crawford was an amazing actress too, her acting isn't old or theatrical with the years she was better and better. For me she's the epitome from Hollywood: Great acting, star power and broken mind :/
@@belenheredia2024 Don’t get me wrong. There was only one Bette. But Joan was a star. She knew what she wanted and got it. Right or wrong, she was one amazing broad! 😄
I think her dancing is fine, but her facial expressions are so joyless and grim they contradict the music. Love Joan, but this is one of her starchy performances that can only be appreciated as camp.
Nunovia Gottdamnedbizzness Honey, the exercise in the boudoir was with other guys not a “wife.” The dancer is Charles Waters, the film’s director, who was Gay.
There’s a glaring problem with this scene and in fact the whole the movie: there is not a character playing the show’s director. There are only stage hands, producers, chorus members, others. Is Jenny directing herself?
Was this movie a hit? Was Mayer happy? I hope he promoted the hell out of her return to Metro. It was the least he could do. But I don't know enough about her career. I do know that She was the stars to end all stars. The only one to come close was Garbo but one can't compare the two, because Garbo's fame was of a different kind. She was from Europe and her type of fame couldn't last, she didn't adapt. But Joan was a worker bee.
It wasn't blackface. The meaning of blackface - used to refer to the practice of wearing makeup to imitate the appearance of a Black person. The use of such makeup was associated with minstrel shows in the United States from the 1830s until the mid 20th century; it is now regarded as highly offensive. "he appeared in blackface"
She was her own worst enemy. If she allowed herself to take more of a vulnerable position in her roles, and was not always looking to be a vamp, she would have had a more enduring career.
.. a more enduring career? She is one of Hollywood's longest-lasting stars with a 50-year career that started in 1925 and her star power never dimmed. It was cancer that cut her career short in 1977, not her lack of vulnerability. With the kind of timeless staying power Crawford possessed, I believe I would trust her instincts before I would trust anyone else's. Just saying. Even her less stellar roles have become iconic in other ways; i.e., nothing the woman ever did was forgettable since the viewing public is compelled to never look away. Few stars had that kind of fascinating hold on the public's imagination, both on screen and off.
A bit over 50 and she looks like she's 30! This film was marred by a freakish number "Two Faced Woman", with Joan in blackface, of all things. That number should have been cut. She wanted to use her own singing voice, but MGM hired India Adams to dub her. This was her last film for MGM.
This is part of the movie for real. They reused the music from the earlier film. Not uncommon. An instrumental version of Over the Rainbow was used in I Wake Up Screaming (1941). Music from Street Scene (1931) was reused for many films including again I Wake Up Screaming. The other films were Cry of the City, Kiss of Death, Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Dark Corner, Gentlemen's Agreement and How to Marry a Millionaire.
Joan made this film while Christopher was tied to his bed and Christina was home scrubbing floors that were already clean. Christina was also home preparing wire hangers for her mother.
Compare Joans version of this number with Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire in the Band Wagon. Joans character is so unpleasant that it's not possible to sympathize with her. Her triumphant return to MGM in Technicolor splendor a deliberate sabotage. She is in the wrong movie. Her musical talents are awful. Horrible, it should never have been finished when it started to stink the place up. Poor Joan.
By this time (they had lost their chain of Loew's Theaters, and were losing money and dropping longtime contract players, including Clark Gable) MGM was in a bad way financially. In a Cyd Charisse musical number that was cut from "The Band Wagon" they recycled the red and white costumes from "An American in Paris". In Ann Miller's Charleston tap number from "Deep in My Heart", they did the same thing with the 1920's costumes from "Singin' in the Rain". And "Music is Better than Words" from "It's Always Fair Weather" sung by Delores Gray, showed up two years later in the movie "Designing Woman", sung by Gray!
The same year, in the film "The Bandwagon" Cyd Charisse danced to the same recording of the song "Two Faced Woman" that Crawford did in this film, but Charisse's version was eliminated from "The Bandwagon's" release print. Cyd Charisse's elegant performance of the production number of this song was far superior to Crawford's performance of this number.
