Possessed
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Movie Reviews of Possessed
Movie Review: Much better than her other Possessed.....
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is wonderful. Crawford in my opinion gives one her best performances in this movie. The camera work and locations were right on target to portray her descending madness. This is one of her films you don't want to miss.....Movie Review: Been There
Summary: 5 Stars
As a person who has been treated in much the same way as Ms. Crawford has been in this film - I can say that it DOES affect a person in that way. You lose your grip on reality with sometimes tragic consequences. Brava!!!Movie Review: "I can be very objectionable..."
Summary: 4 Stars
Joan Crawford delivers one of her greatest performances in POSSESSED, which easily ranks up there with "Mildred Pierce" and "Humoresque" as her best movie vehicle.
As the film opens, a mysterious woman wanders dazed through the streets of Los Angeles. She is later admitted into a psychiatric hospital where, under the influence of drugs, she reveals her identity and the reasons why she has collapsed into a complete nervous breakdown. Louise Howell (Crawford), a live-in nurse to the wealthy Graham family, harbours a not-very-subtle infatuation for neighbour David Sutton (Van Heflin). Stifled by her devotion, David quickly makes his exit. After the apparent suicide of Mrs Graham, Louise goes on to marry her employer (Raymond Massey), despite the hefty objections of his teenaged daughter Carol (Geraldine Brooks). Already teetering on the edge of her sanity, Louise begins to become paranoid over Mrs Graham's death; and when David announces his plans to marry Carol, it may just be the final straw...
Here in POSSESSED (directed by Curtis Bernhardt and based on a story by Rita Weiman), Joan Crawford delivers one of her most fascinating performances. Louise is a woman walking the knife-edge of sanity and complete mental annihilation; she handles the job brilliantly. Van Heflin, as the resident heel of the piece, does well too, but his character is so completely unsavoury that the audience doesn't really care too much about his fate. Raymond Massey likewise plays down his role of Mr Graham.
Most of the male roles in Joan Crawford movies are very forgettable; you are meant to focus your attention solely on Ms Crawford, but in POSSESSED, Joanie had some competion in Geraldine Brooks, who plays Graham's teenage daughter Carol. It's almost a rehash of the Crawford/Ann Blyth dynamic in "Mildred Pierce"; especially when Louise knocks Carol down the stairs in one of the movie's most memorable scenes...or does she? Brooks adds some much-needed fireworks to the film.
The DVD includes audio commentary with film historian Drew Casper, featurette "The Quintessential Film Noir", and the trailer. Fans of Crawford will adore this moodily-lit Noir masterpiece. Also available as part of The Joan Crawford Collection (Humoresque / Possessed (1947) / The Damned Don't Cry / The Women / Mildred Pierce)
Movie Review: Psycho Drama of Unrequited Love
Summary: 4 Stars
"Possessed" is a story of an insecure obsessive woman, bent on having the man she loves whether he loves her or not. She does not want to share him with anybody, and when he decides to marry her stepdaughter, it is a murder waiting to happen. Joan Crawford plays Louise Howell, the star of this psychodrama. At the beginning, she is a nurse to a rich man's ailing wife, and also deeply in love with his engineer neighbor, David Sutton (played by Van Heflin). Her obsession and neediness with him makes him detest being around her. She cannot understand how their relationship has deteriorated and won't recognize it is time to move on. Her whole mission is to be only love in David's life.
As the movie opens in a small cafe in downtown Los Angeles, Louise is almost catatonic, dazed and whispering "David." There is a mystery to her and it is slowly revealed in flashbacks. She wanders the streets and is soon picked up and rushed to a hospital in an ambulance. As the physicians evaluate her and she slowly tells a story, a few good insights come to light as her psychosis is revealed.
The movie is a perfect vehicle for Crawford, as she is the beautiful, confused and aggressive Louise. Her guilt haunts her in delusions as she continues to stalk David. The anger she feels when he decides to marry her step-daughter is the fuse for the final vengeful act.
The film keeps your interest as a mystery mixed in with a beautiful mental patient's delusional thinking.
Movie Review: This guy picked the wrong woman to underestimate
Summary: 4 Stars
As pointed out by another review or two, this film definitely falls into the "Fatal Attraction" arena: Depending on your point of view, Joan Crawford's character either gets the "psychotic girlfriend from Hell" award or is a poor, wronged innocent who couldn't help but go a little crazy after the horrible treatment by her boyfriend, who's trying to shake her loose in order to chase the next hot thing. Truth to tell, a little of both is probably true.
It's better to go into this notable little "film noir"- notable for being understated and ultra realistic in some scenes (like the memorable opening) and dime-novel florid in others ("Don't leave me, David!!")- without knowing every little plot point. I will say this, though. This movie's worth your time just to see Joan's smirk as she's holding the gun. At that moment, wow, that's one woman you don't want to cross.
Warner Brothers' DVD of "Possessed" features a mostly crisp and sharp image, an interesting scholarly commentary by a film noir expert, the movie's enthusiastic trailer (they knew they had a crowd pleaser on their hands), and a short interview piece featuring three film buffs/college instructors discussing film noir in general and "Possessed" in detail.
It's a nice little package: great film and a handful of decent extras. You can't go wrong.