Joan Crawford Centennial Collection See Post#25 (1 Viewer)

[Charles H]

Other MGM Crawford films never released on home video include: OUR BLUSHING BRIDES, PAID, THIS MODERN AGE. A camp classic--ICE FOLLIES OF 1939 with Jimmy Stewart-- was released on laser disc as part of a Crawford collection. WB also controls GOODBYE MY FANCY and THIS WOMAN IS DANGEROUS (Crawford plays a gangster's blind gunmoll!!!) who falls in love with her doctor. Neither have been released on homevideo.
Columbia also owns Robert Aldrich's AUTUMN LEAVES, THEY ALL KISSED THE BRIDE, BESERK and THE STORY OF ESTHER COSTELLO. QUEEN BEE is the only Columbia available on dvd.

 

[Matt-R]

I'd like to see the "Our" trilogy released.
Our Dancing Daughters
Our Modern Maidens
Our Blushing Brides


It is sad how few of Joan's movies are on dvd.(She was "Hollywood Royalty" afterall ) However as others have said the "Mildred Pierce" restoration and documentary are great. Also suprisingly the "Strait Jacket" dvd has a few good features on it too.

 

[Garysb]

From TCM's UK site

When hardworking chorus girl Lucille Le Sueur left Broadway for the bright lights of Hollywood she was already displaying the aggressive networking skills of a woman determined to succeed in a tough and male dominated environment. Before long she had a new name, Joan Crawford, and had taken the first steps to becoming, possibly THE most important female star in Hollywood history.
This March TCM celebrates what might have been Joan’s 100th birthday. The truth is that this controlling woman was so aware of her image that she kept such details close to her chest. So we don’t know for sure that this is her 100th birthday, but with such a huge legacy we think it is worth celebrating Joan’s career and paying tribute to a woman who was extraordinary both on and off the screen.

On March 23rd TCM pays tribute to the great Joan Crawford starting with a TCM original documentary, Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star followed by Mildred Pierce (1945) at 2.35pm and The Women (1939) at 4.40pm.

 

[AlanP]

"BERSERK"
"CARETAKERS"
and of course the classic "DELLA" !!!!!!!!!

 

[John Hodson]

One Joan Crawford Collection coming up; from DVD Times:

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of The Joan Crawford Collection for 14th June 2005. This new collection features classics from the star whose career spanned more than 40 years with new to DVD releases of The Damned Don't Cry, and Possessed (1947) joined by the existing DVD releases of Mildred Pierce and The Women.

The Joan Crawford Collection will retail at $49.92 SRP. Individual titles will be priced at $19.97 SRP.

The Films:

The Damned Don't Cry - It's a man's world. And Ethel Whitehead learns there's only one way for a woman to survive in it: be as tempting as a cupcake and as tough as a 75-cent steak. In the first of three collaborations with director Vincent Sherman, Joan Crawford brings hard-boiled glamour and simmering passion to the role of Ethel, who moves from the wrong side of the tracks to a mobster's mansion to high society one man at a time. Some of those men love her. Some use her. And one a high-rolling racketeer abuses her. When the racketeer murders his rival in Ethel’s swanky living room, she flees a sure murder rap right back to the poverty she thought she had escaped. And this time there may not be a man to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

Features include:
1.37:1 Full Frame
English and French Mono
English, French and Spanish subtitles
Audio Commentary by Director Vincent Sherman
New Featurette The Crawford Formula: An Interview with Director Vincent Sherman


Humoresque - Glamorous socialite Helen Wright (Joan Crawford) takes what she wants clothes, alcohol, men uses them up and tosses them aside. Then she meets brilliant young violinist Paul Boray (John Garfield). But this is one toy she can’t break. Instead, her love for Paul brings Helen to the breaking point. In this acclaimed and profound exploration of desire, Crawford makes Helen a rich, layered character torn between selfless love and selfish impulses. Garfield matches her as the driven genius. Humoresque’s production values extend to the musical interludes, dubbed by Isaac Stern. Garfield’s dazzling technique is thanks to two real violinists hidden behind him one to do the fingering and one the bow work.

Features include:
1.37:1 Full Frame
English Mono
English, French and Spanish subtitles
New Featurette The Music of Humoresque (9:42)
Theatrical Trailer


Mildred Pierce - What Veda wants, her mother Mildred Pierce provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage, climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything," Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder? Just when you think you got this nominee for five other Oscars including Best Picture figured out, along comes a shocking twist ending!

Features include:
Documentary Profile Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star


Possessed (1947) - She loves him when he goes away for months. She loves him when he refuses to marry her. But when callow David Sutton chooses to marry someone else, Louise Howell's love for him takes a darker turn. Give her a gun and she’ll love him to death. Joan Crawford reteams with producer Jerry Wald of her Academy Award winning Mildred Pierce and claims a 1947 Best Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of tempestuous, mentally unstable Louise.

Features include:
1.37:1 Full Frame
English Mono
English, French and Spanish subtitles
Audio Commentary by Film Historian Drew Casper
New Featurette The Quintessential Film Noir


The Women - Be careful what you say in private. It could become a movie. Some gossip overheard by Clare Boothe Luce in a nightclub powder room inspired her Broadway hit that's wittily adapted for the screen in The Women. George Cukor directs an all-female cast in this catty tale of battling and bonding that paints its claws Jungle Red and shreds the excesses of pampered Park Avenue princesses. Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine, Mary Boland and Paulette Goddard are among the array of husband snatchers, snitches and lovelorn ladies.

Features include:
2 Vintage Documentaries:
From the Ends of the Earth
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Alternate Black-and-White Fashion Show Sequence with Different Footage
Scoring Session Music Cues
Theatrical Trailers of The Women and musical remake The Opposite Sex

 

[Eric Peterson]

I'll pick this up depending on price. I already own "Mildred Pierce" so that's an upgrade, and I watched and didn't care for "The Women" less than a year ago. The other three, I'm not familiar with on any level.

 

[Robert Crawford]

"Humoresque" and "Possessed" are very good. Since, I already own "The Women" and "Midred Pierce" I will only pick up those two titles.





Crawdaddy

 

[Herb Kane]

Crawdaddy.... The Damned Don't Cry - no?

Fabulous news!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm not really a big fan of that film, I prefer "Flamingo Road".






Crawdaddy

 

[Eric Peterson]

Thanks for the reccomendations Crawdaddy.

 

[Charles Ellis]

One big problem with this new collection: aside from The Women, it's all films from Joan's 1945-52 Warner Bros. period. The woman spent nearly 20 years at MGM with only Grand Hotel, The Unknown (as part of TCM's Lon Chaney set) and The Women to show for it on DVD!!!

Where's the 1931 version of Possessed with Clark Gable, Dancing Lady, Our Dancing Daughters, The Gorgeous Hussy, Paid, Mannequin, Strange Cargo, and A Woman's Face (her best performance at Metro!!)??? A second box is needed!!

 

[RafaelPires]

Exactly Charles,
when I saw the thread about a Joan Crawford collection, I got pretty excited. Of course I knew that Humoresque and Possesed would be part of the pack. But I got very disappointed to find out that none of her MGM made the list. And why to put in the collection previous releases as the Women and Mildred Pierce?
Ok, nothing is perfect, and I think maybe I am beeing ungrateful to WB, since it has been the most incredibly studio when the subject is classic dvds. I should think that way: At least we have 3 more JC's titles released.

But please WB, we need a Woman's face, The Shining Hour, Mannequin, not to mention the Crawford/Gable pictures. And I hope the next box sets will contain only new to dvd releases and not old dvd verions of titles already on the market.

 

[AlanP]

Pretty LAME, considering the wealth of films she did for METRO and WARNERS !!!!!
THEY NEED TO RETHINK THIS SET FOR BOTH JOAN AND BETTE, BAKC TO THE DRAWING BOARDS FOR BOTH.
TO ADD FILMS THAT ARE ALREADY IN WIDE RELEASE !!!!!!!!!!
WARNERS PLEASE RETHINK THIS ONE !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Roger Rollins]

Who's to say that more volumes won't follow?

I am grateful that WB is releasing 3 of my favorite Crawford films, and that I can finally trade in my horrendous snappers of MILDRED and THE WOMEN.

This is an excellent set, and surely the films will all be restored and remastered. Hopefully it will sell well enough to include more of the many excellent films Miss Crawford made at MGM and Warner Bros.

If anyone here has seen what HUMORESQUE or POSSESSED ('47) looked like when they were on TCM recently, you'd know how desperately these films need restoration, just as MILDRED PIERCE did.

This kind of thing takes a great deal of time, and money.
Give Warners a break. They know what they're doing.

All you have to do is look at the breathtaking new transfers of EASTER PARADE and THE BAND WAGON to realize why they are the best in the biz.

...and let's not forget to mention the underrated noir treat THE DAMNED DON'T CRY was never even released on VHS!
Now we get a gorgeous DVD with extras including a full commentary from its 90-something year-old director Vincent Sherman.

So to Warner Brothers, I say...THANK YOU!

 

[DavidBC]

I'm really excited about this and the Davis set, and even more excited about possible Volume 2's!

 

[Claude North]

I'll take whatever JC I can get. And, as stated in other posts, this is probably just the first wave of JC releases. After all, Fox released their Marilyn Monroe films in waves. Warners has so many of Joan's films that it probably makes more sense to release them gradually, especially if they are restoring them. Hopefully, response to this first set will be strong and encourage Warners to release more of her films.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Given that I have been considering both THE WOMEN (1939) and MILDRED PIERCE (1945) whenever I get to my planned "Comedies" and "Noir" DVD purchase binges, I'm glad now that I've put those plans on hold for the moment.

For the record, I've watched all of the Joan Crawford films in this Collection (and have them taped off Cable TV) except for THE DAMNED DON'T CRY (1950) - and, therefore, it's a good thing that it's been included since I wouldn't have purchased it otherwise, despite the Vincent Sherman Audio Commentary! It's a pity, though, that they didn't sneak GRAND HOTEL (1932) in too for good measure...but maybe they'll do that for their upcoming Greta Garbo Box Set!

Anyhow, I look forward to another volume in Warners' Joan Crawford Collection in the future which should hopefully contain, at least, TODAY WE LIVE (Howard Hawks, 1933), STRANGE CARGO (Frank Borzage, 1940) and A WOMAN'S FACE (George Cukor, 1941; dare I hope for the inclusion of the 1938 Swedish original starring Ingrid Bergman?).

 

[ChrisPearson]

Roger Rollins takes the right view in my opinion.

I think that both this and the Bette Davis set have been put out to keep Warners' schedule of boxed-set releases going during what is evidently a very busy year for them, hence the repeated titles. We've come to expect at least two classic boxes a month from Warner – that's a lot of releases. I'm sure the reaction would be much worse for Warners if they released nothing during June.

The fact that many of these titles are relatively minor is good news IMO – it surely means that both Joan and Bette's best remaining movies will get the lavish treatment they deserve in future boxes.

 

[Shawn Cornwell]

Looks like a great box set; I'm most excited about "Humoresque" and "Possessed" finally making it to DVD, and I'm very intrigued concerning the Sherman commentary on "Dammned Don't Cry." I already have "Pierce" (fortunately, I never got around to picking up "The Women") and will pass this disc on to a friend. With all those Gable costarers and "A Woman's Face" and "Flamingo Road" MIA I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more Joan on DVD. Warner can do no wrong IMO.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Warner doesn't need a break from any of us because they do know what they're doing in most cases, but they're not perfect. There is nothing wrong with Warner or any other studio receiving a few critical comments as long as such remarks are expressed in a respectful manner.







Crawdaddy