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(More customer reviews)These are the Films of the first true Movie-Star, Miss Joan Crawford. I cannot wait for this DVD set, because it will include some of Joan's best movies!! And, the movies in this boxed set include Joan at her most stunning! "Sadie McKee" is absolutely my favorite movie, ever. Joan looks so beautiful in this 1934 MGM classic. I first saw this movie 5 years ago when TCM did a month-long Joan Crawford marathon; this was the first movie I ever saw with Miss Crawford and since then I became a huge fan and completely fell in love with this kind, beautiful and very talented actress! I also absolutely adore "Strange Cargo." This is one of Joan's best pictures with her number-one leading man, Clark Gable; and as far as I'm aware it is the only movie she ever made with Mr. Gable where she took second billing! After you view these movies you will see why Miss Crawford was the hardest working woman in Hollywood!
Isn't the picture on the cover of this set really beautiful! Below is a list of each movie included in this set, all movies are shown in pan and scan except for "Torch Song" which is in widescreen. (Scroll down, to see a list of each one of the special features included, as well)
Sadie McKee (May 9, 1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 90 mins.
(Joan played: Sadie McKee Brennan)
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
A working girl suffers through three troubled relationships on her road to prosperity.
What Miss Crawford had to say about this movie: Everything about "Sadie McKee" was right - Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone, the script, Clarence Brown's direction, Adrian's customs, the works.
Strange Cargo (March 1, 1940) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 111 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: Julie)
Brief Synopsis:
Devil's Island escapees are changed forever by a prisoner who thinks he's Jesus.
What Miss Crawford said about her last picture with Clark Gable: Two absolutely wonderful films and so different (also discussing "Susan and God") It's a shame I couldn't have retired right then, and come back to do "Mildred Pierce." Clark and I did our best work together in "Strange Cargo." We had always been close, sometimes too close, but now we knew each other as mature persons and the chemistry was still there and it added to the fire.
A Woman's Face (May 14, 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 105 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: Anna Holm aka Ingrid Paulson)
Brief Synopsis:
Plastic surgery gives a scarred female criminal a new outlook on life.
This is what Miss Crawford says about this picture: I have nothing but the best to say for "A Woman's Face." It was a splendid script and George(George Cukor, the director) let me run with it. I finally shocked both the critics and the public into realizing the fact that I was, at heart, a dramatic actress. Great thanks to Melvyn Douglas; I think he is one of the least-appreciated actors the screen has ever used.
Flamingo Road (May 6, 1949) (Studio: Warners)
Runtime Listing: 94 mins
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: Lane Bellamy Reynolds)
Brief Synopsis:
A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries.
Here are Miss Crawford's comments on this film: ...This script missed, Curtiz (the director) missed, I missed. I just didn't jell, that's all, and it's another time when my judgment screwed up completely, because we were shooting it I thought it would be good.
Torch Song (October 23, 1953) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 90 mins.
Color/BW: Color (MetroColor aka EastmanColor)
(Joan played: Jenny Stewart)
Brief Synopsis:
Musical comedy legend Jenny Stewart, who has been hardened by the worst life has to offer, finds romance when blinded war-veteran Tye Graham becomes her new piano accompanist.
Miss Crawford's comments on this movie: ...Back at Metro, after all those years... it was like a homecoming, and half the people on the set, the prop men and the grips.... they remembered me and I remembered them. I loved doing that film. It gave me a chance to dance again, to pretend to sing, to emote all over the place and in color yet! (Note: This is Miss Crawford's first staring role in a major motion picture that is entirely in color!) If I hadn't brought it off I'd only have myself to blame because all the elements were there.
This boxed set also includes a lot of special features, many of which I enjoyed very much. I especially got a kick out of Joan's "Torch Song" recording sessions! And, I enjoyed Joan's rendition of "Flamingo Road" very much because this is one of her first radio performances that I have heard and it also included a brief interview afterwards!
Sadie Mckee Special Features:
Goofy Movies Number Four (1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime listing: 9 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short which contains feature stories with humorous commentary.
"Happy Harmonies" "Toyland Broadcast" (December 22, 1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime listing: 6 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short of an animated cartoon. The toys present a musical revue on their own radio station.
Sadie McKee Trailer (1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 2 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
Strange Cargo Special Features:
Crawford & Gable
Runtime Listing: 14 mins.
More About Nostradamus (January 18, 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 10 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short which includes a brief biography about Nostradamus and highlights some of his accomplishments.
Strange Cargo Trailer (1940) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 2 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
A Woman's Face Special Features:
You Can't Fool A Camera (May 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 10
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
This short starts out with a dramatization in a documentary-format. Then it ends showing some of the stars of the time with a salute to the actors who have entered the armed forces.
Note: On the disc it is subtlitled as "A New Romance of Celluloid," however I did not see this anywhere on the short.
Little Cesario (August 30, 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 7 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is an animated MGM short.
Screen Guild Playhouse (April 19, 1942)
Runtime Listing: 30 mins.
Color/BW: N/A
Brief Synopsis:
Bette Davis gives a radio performance of "A Woman's Face." This is only an audio recording.
Note: This can not be fast forwarded.
Also Note: While this is playing, the screen just includes the "A Woman's Face" special features menu up.
Lux Radio Theater (November 2, 1942)
Runtime Listing: 57 mins.
Color/BW: N/A
Brief Synopsis:
Ida Lapino gives a radio performance of "A Woman's Face." This is only an audio recording.
Note: This can not be fast forwarded.
Also Note: While this is playing, the screen just includes the "A Woman's Face" special features menu up.
A Woman's Face Trailer (1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 3 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
Flamingo Road Special Features:
Crawford at Warners
Runtime Listing: 12 mins.
Curtain Razor (May 21, 1941) (Studio: Warners)
Runtime Listing: 7 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is a Warners short/cartoon that features Porky Pig as a talent scout.
Screen Director's Playhouse (May 26, 1950)
Runtime Listing: 25 mins.
Color/BW: N/A
(Joan played: Lane Bellamy Reynolds)
Brief Synopsis:
Joan gives us a very special treat when she reprises her critically acclaimed role from "Flamingo Road" for radio! Joan's radio performance comes in at 22 minutes and afterwards there is a brief interview with Joan and the director, Michael Cortiz.
Note: This can not be fast forwarded.
Also Note: While this is playing, the screen just includes the "Flamingo Road" special features menu up.
Flamingo Road Trailer (1949) (Studio: Warners)
Runtime Listing: 2 mins.
Torch Song Special Features:
Tough Baby: Torch Song
Runtime Listing: 12 mins.
TV of Tomorrow (June 6, 1953) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 7 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short which discusses television viewing "of tomorrow" in a very funny way.
Jimmy Fund Public Service Announcement (1953) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 3 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: herself in a public service...Read more›
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 (A Woman's Face / Flamingo Road / Sadie McKee / Strange Cargo / Torch Song)
TORCH SONG (1953): Musical comedy legend Jenny Stewart, who has been hardened by the worst life has to offer, finds romance when blinded war- veteran Tye Graham becomes her new piano accompanist. STRANGE CARGO (1940): When eight prisoners escape from a New Guinea penal colony, they are picked up by another escapee named Verne and his girl friend Julie. Among the fugitives is Cambreau, a soft-spoken, messianic character who has a profound effect on his comrades. SADIE MCKEE (1934): As working girl Sadie McKee, Joan Crawford wears a maid’s uniform. And as any Crawford fan knows, she’ll shortly swap her white apron for black sable – even (or especially) if it means heartbreak along the way. In this rags-to-riches tale, Sadie wins the affections of the singer (Gene Raymond) she loves, the tycoon (Edward Arnold) she marries and the lawyer (Franchot Tone) she grew up with. That’s a lot of on-screen romantic fire, not all of it may be due to acting ability alone: The year after Sadie McKee was filmed, Crawford became Mrs. Franchot Tone. FLAMINGO ROAD (1949): Life in a small Southern town heats up when a sexy, savvy dancer is stranded there by a traveling carnival. She wins the hearts of two men and gets a taste of local politics when she butts heads with a corrupt sheriff. Apparently Crawford only accepted the role after Jack Warner ordered rewrites and spruced up the production. A WOMAN'S FACE (1941): Anna Holm is scheming con woman and blackmailer, a bitter woman shut off from society because of a disfiguring scar. The opportunity to undergo an operation to remove her scars presents her with a choice: open herself up to a whole new life or return to her old ways and the only life she's ever known.
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