The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 (A Woman's Face / Flamingo Road / Sadie McKee / Strange Cargo / Torch Song)
starring: Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding, Melvyn Douglas, Mel Blanc
directed by: Charles Walters, Clarence Brown, David Miller, Frank Borzage, Friz Freleng
directed by: Charles Walters, Clarence Brown, David Miller, Frank Borzage, Friz Freleng
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Product Description:
Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 02/12/2008
Amazon.com:
Those looking for heavy doses of melodrama, good old-fashioned storytelling, and--of course--more Joan, look no further. The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 offers up a fine assortment of some of Crawford's popular second-tier titles that helped secure this unstoppable actress' well-deserved seat in the court of Hollywood royalty. Spanning from 1934 to 1954, the five films take viewers on a journey over peaks and valleys of Miss Crawford's tumultuous but often spectacular career and permits a glimpse into the star's adeptness to the changing times of movie making. The first film, 1934's Sadie McKee, captures a radiant Crawford, still riding high as the queen of MGM, playing the eponymous poor cook's daughter who struggles to keep her principles intact through her rocky romances and unexpected rise to riches. Nobody plays an unlikely do-gooder like Crawford, and this splendidly entertaining film is one of her finest. 1940's Strange Cargo features Crawford as a dive-bar singer and frequent co-star Clark Gable as a gritty prison escapee joining forces to flee a remote island. A religious parable, jungle adventure, and prison escape movie in one, Strange Cargo maintains suspense and action surprisingly well. A Woman Face (1941) is beautifully directed by one of cinema's best, George Cukor, who provides Crawford with one of her most accomplished dramatic roles: Anna Holm, a woman whose face is horribly disfigured as a child. Anna's physical appearance drastically alters her destiny, and becoming full of spite and bitterness, she turns to a life of crime. When the opportunity to correct her scars presents itself, the story takes a sharp turn into suspense-thriller and courtroom drama territory, eventually making its way to a totally improbable and predictable but equally exciting finale. Flamingo Road (1949), which went on to become a nighttime television soap opera in the `80s, sees Crawford as Lane, a hardened carnival dancer who finds herself stranded in a small town facing crooked men and parochial hypocrisy. Lane's a tough cookie and unsurprisingly manages to cross the bridge from rags to riches while triumphing over her foes in a delicious reversal of fortune. The story may be hackneyed, but Crawford's histrionics provide a juicy good time. This was her first foray into playing roles that are clearly too young for her, yet her portrayal is so earnest one simply doesn't dare question the rather enormous leap in realism. Like pieced-together leftovers from much finer musicals, 1953's Torch Song is the weakest movie of the bunch but still worth a gander. Here, Crawford plays an embittered and aging musical stage star whose unlikely romance with a blind pianist might turn around her lifetime of heartache. The film probably isn't one of her career highlights but offers up some surprisingly poignant, all-too-real moments.
Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 comes with an abundance of extras including several interesting featurettes covering her career at Warner Brothers and her work with Clark Gable as well as several entertaining old-fashioned cartoons. There's also some amusing Torch Song outtakes of Crawford aspiring to sing. (Once you've heard them you may understand why her voice was dubbed.) Many of Crawford's characters have been described as being only slight manipulations of the real Joan; a tough woman looking for a little respect and trying to make it in a man's world. This collection should help vindicate her efforts. -- Matt Wold
Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 02/12/2008
Amazon.com:
Those looking for heavy doses of melodrama, good old-fashioned storytelling, and--of course--more Joan, look no further. The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 offers up a fine assortment of some of Crawford's popular second-tier titles that helped secure this unstoppable actress' well-deserved seat in the court of Hollywood royalty. Spanning from 1934 to 1954, the five films take viewers on a journey over peaks and valleys of Miss Crawford's tumultuous but often spectacular career and permits a glimpse into the star's adeptness to the changing times of movie making. The first film, 1934's Sadie McKee, captures a radiant Crawford, still riding high as the queen of MGM, playing the eponymous poor cook's daughter who struggles to keep her principles intact through her rocky romances and unexpected rise to riches. Nobody plays an unlikely do-gooder like Crawford, and this splendidly entertaining film is one of her finest. 1940's Strange Cargo features Crawford as a dive-bar singer and frequent co-star Clark Gable as a gritty prison escapee joining forces to flee a remote island. A religious parable, jungle adventure, and prison escape movie in one, Strange Cargo maintains suspense and action surprisingly well. A Woman Face (1941) is beautifully directed by one of cinema's best, George Cukor, who provides Crawford with one of her most accomplished dramatic roles: Anna Holm, a woman whose face is horribly disfigured as a child. Anna's physical appearance drastically alters her destiny, and becoming full of spite and bitterness, she turns to a life of crime. When the opportunity to correct her scars presents itself, the story takes a sharp turn into suspense-thriller and courtroom drama territory, eventually making its way to a totally improbable and predictable but equally exciting finale. Flamingo Road (1949), which went on to become a nighttime television soap opera in the `80s, sees Crawford as Lane, a hardened carnival dancer who finds herself stranded in a small town facing crooked men and parochial hypocrisy. Lane's a tough cookie and unsurprisingly manages to cross the bridge from rags to riches while triumphing over her foes in a delicious reversal of fortune. The story may be hackneyed, but Crawford's histrionics provide a juicy good time. This was her first foray into playing roles that are clearly too young for her, yet her portrayal is so earnest one simply doesn't dare question the rather enormous leap in realism. Like pieced-together leftovers from much finer musicals, 1953's Torch Song is the weakest movie of the bunch but still worth a gander. Here, Crawford plays an embittered and aging musical stage star whose unlikely romance with a blind pianist might turn around her lifetime of heartache. The film probably isn't one of her career highlights but offers up some surprisingly poignant, all-too-real moments.
Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 comes with an abundance of extras including several interesting featurettes covering her career at Warner Brothers and her work with Clark Gable as well as several entertaining old-fashioned cartoons. There's also some amusing Torch Song outtakes of Crawford aspiring to sing. (Once you've heard them you may understand why her voice was dubbed.) Many of Crawford's characters have been described as being only slight manipulations of the real Joan; a tough woman looking for a little respect and trying to make it in a man's world. This collection should help vindicate her efforts. -- Matt Wold
Related Items:
- Daisy Kenyon (Fox Film Noir)
- The Bette Davis Collection, Vol. 3 (The Old Maid / All This, And Heaven Too / The Great Lie / In This Our Life / Watch on the Rhine / Deception)
- TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 2 (The Divorcee / A Free Soul / Night Nurse / Three on a Match / Female)
- The Joan Crawford Collection (Humoresque / Possessed (1947) / The Damned Don't Cry / The Women / Mildred Pierce)
- Portrait In Black / Madame X (Double Feature)
- see more
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Surprise!
I bought this set because it was the only way to get the DVD STRANGE CARGO which was directed by Frank Borzage (7th HEAVEN, STREET ANGEL, etc.). I took a look at SADIE McKEE because it was directed by Clarence Brown and was pleasantly surprised. It's a fascinating little melodrama that never goes over the top. It's alway fun to discover unknown titles that turn out to very entertaining.
Rating: 
- "Another Great Crawford Boxset"
After nearly 2 years since the last Joan Crawford boxset came out, comes this wonderful collection of Joan's films, which will more than satisfy those ardent Crawford fans, as well as the ordinary novie buff. In this set we get 5 classic Joan films; "A Woman's Face", "Sadie McKee", "Strange Cargo", "Flamingo Road", and my favorite "Torch Song". All the films come in full screen format, as that's the way they were filmed, except "Torch Song", which is in a beautiful widescreen edition. We get a good ... Read More
Rating: - Fantastic Set
All of the films are very entertaining, Flamingo Road could almost singularly define 'potboiler' and Crawford's at her best, if a bit ridiculous early-on as a 50-ish carnival 'dancing girl', i guess that was the point.She's terrific in the film once you get beyond the first few minutes.
And the price!At this writing (11/21/08) it is DEEPLY discounted at 52% off list- i paid way more than that last year, and it was worth it.Anyone reading, SNAP THIS UP at 23 bucks! Christmas stocking stuffer ... Read More
Rating: - ¡Adoro estas películas!
Nuevamente, cinco de mis películas favoritas de Joan Crawford; sin duda un acierto de la Warner el editar estas cintas en DVD. Sólo tengo ciertos reparos acerca del formato del box set, que es un poco engorroso de manipular, comparado con el box set N°1 de Joan, con cajas independientes. Otra cosa es la ausencia de subtítulos en español o francés; pienso que se le habría dado una difusión más amplia y dado más categoría a los discos. También pienso que le sobran unos cortos animados, que nada ... Read More
Rating: - Very good buy for the price
I enjoyed seeing a lot of the Joan movies that aren't the Blockbusters yet are very good movies!
- Surprise!I bought this set because it was the only way to get the DVD STRANGE CARGO which was directed by Frank Borzage (7th HEAVEN, STREET ANGEL, etc.). I took a look at SADIE McKEE because it was directed by Clarence Brown and was pleasantly surprised. It's a fascinating little melodrama that never goes over the top. It's alway fun to discover unknown titles that turn out to very entertaining.
- "Another Great Crawford Boxset"After nearly 2 years since the last Joan Crawford boxset came out, comes this wonderful collection of Joan's films, which will more than satisfy those ardent Crawford fans, as well as the ordinary novie buff. In this set we get 5 classic Joan films; "A Woman's Face", "Sadie McKee", "Strange Cargo", "Flamingo Road", and my favorite "Torch Song". All the films come in full screen format, as that's the way they were filmed, except "Torch Song", which is in a beautiful widescreen edition. We get a good ... Read More
- Fantastic SetAll of the films are very entertaining, Flamingo Road could almost singularly define 'potboiler' and Crawford's at her best, if a bit ridiculous early-on as a 50-ish carnival 'dancing girl', i guess that was the point.She's terrific in the film once you get beyond the first few minutes.
And the price!At this writing (11/21/08) it is DEEPLY discounted at 52% off list- i paid way more than that last year, and it was worth it.Anyone reading, SNAP THIS UP at 23 bucks! Christmas stocking stuffer ... Read More
- ¡Adoro estas películas!Nuevamente, cinco de mis películas favoritas de Joan Crawford; sin duda un acierto de la Warner el editar estas cintas en DVD. Sólo tengo ciertos reparos acerca del formato del box set, que es un poco engorroso de manipular, comparado con el box set N°1 de Joan, con cajas independientes. Otra cosa es la ausencia de subtítulos en español o francés; pienso que se le habría dado una difusión más amplia y dado más categoría a los discos. También pienso que le sobran unos cortos animados, que nada ... Read More
- Very good buy for the priceI enjoyed seeing a lot of the Joan movies that aren't the Blockbusters yet are very good movies!
