Having left school at the age of 12, Joan Crawford's Marian never learned to spell regret. And as perfect as the are together, her handsome attorney lover Clark Gable doesn't want to marry her to risk finding out her imperfections. It's a perfect relationship, but as much of a lady Joan becomes after leaving her factory town, she desires that quality called respectability. As much of an obvious gold digger she is, she's open about it, and that's what Gable likes about her, tired of the phoniness he's encountered before. But as his reputation grows and his political clout increases, she's a danger to him, something she refuses to be.
Almost semi-autobiographical, this parallels Crawford's rise up the ladder from uneducated chorus girl to extra to rising starlet, to by this time, superstar. It's also Gable's first hit, and the sparks fly from the moment she intrudes on Skeets Gallagher's business meeting and wins him over. Earlier, a drunken Skeets advised her to get out of her factory town and board the train to the other side of the tracks. If the sight of her tired mother Clara Blandick doesn't convince her that it's time, it's content suitor Wallace Ford. By the time Crawford has gotten in to deep, she fights the tears back as she's too far in, and her only choice to save him and her self respect is to get out.
This plot line sounds like the special dialog added to the Judy Garland speech in the middle of "Dear Mr. Gable". This isn't just your typical Joan Crawford tearjerker. There is something special about this film, for me not just being one of the very first Crawford film I recall seeing on home video, but in its tale of moral struggle and misplaced ambition as well. Crawford isn't just some beautiful ice statue; she has all the right ingredients for super-stardom, and under the direction of veteran director Clarence Brown, reaches it with no yellow brick road to skip down. With this film, her legendary status became assured.
Almost semi-autobiographical, this parallels Crawford's rise up the ladder from uneducated chorus girl to extra to rising starlet, to by this time, superstar. It's also Gable's first hit, and the sparks fly from the moment she intrudes on Skeets Gallagher's business meeting and wins him over. Earlier, a drunken Skeets advised her to get out of her factory town and board the train to the other side of the tracks. If the sight of her tired mother Clara Blandick doesn't convince her that it's time, it's content suitor Wallace Ford. By the time Crawford has gotten in to deep, she fights the tears back as she's too far in, and her only choice to save him and her self respect is to get out.
This plot line sounds like the special dialog added to the Judy Garland speech in the middle of "Dear Mr. Gable". This isn't just your typical Joan Crawford tearjerker. There is something special about this film, for me not just being one of the very first Crawford film I recall seeing on home video, but in its tale of moral struggle and misplaced ambition as well. Crawford isn't just some beautiful ice statue; she has all the right ingredients for super-stardom, and under the direction of veteran director Clarence Brown, reaches it with no yellow brick road to skip down. With this film, her legendary status became assured.