Everyone thinks of "Mommie Dearest" at the mention of Joan Crawford's name, but the actress had a remarkable career. Here, we rank Crawford's 18 best movies.
Autumn Leaves (1956) is interesting in how its two genres struggle with each other rather than blend.
When the Criterion Channel put together its “Frame of Mind” collection of films about psychiatry, it included two Joan Crawford films: 1947 s
Possessed, a noir melodrama, and
Autumn Leaves, from 1956. Another melodrama with noir elements,
Autumn Leaves is less successful than
Possessed but still interesting for the way its two genres struggle with each other rather than blend, and the way psychiatry’s invoked not just to tie up the plot but to resolve the tensions of the film’s story.
Directed by Robert Aldrich from a script by Jean Rouverol and Hugo Butler (who, blacklisted, were credited together as “Jack Jevne”), Lewis Meltzer, and Robert Blees, it’s the story of Millie Wetherby (Crawford), a lonely typist in Los Angeles. We see her isolation, and then see her meet Burt Hanson (Cliff Robertson). The significantly younger Burt takes a romantic interest i