Supelice Dreadfully Boring

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

blanche-2 In the old days of Hollywood, glamorous leading ladies were finished getting starring roles around age 30. Many times they were reduced to horror films, badly produced B movies, and television. If they want to strip their glamour and gain weight, they could do character roles. However, Joan Crawford, whose contract was terminated by MGM at the age of 35, continued to make good films throughout the '40s and into the early '50s. One of them was this one, Sudden Fear, for which she served as executive producer. In that capacity, she chose the screenwriter, the actors, the director, the composer, the cinematographer - and they were all top drawer.The story concerns Myra Hudson, a woman born into a wealthy family who became a successful playwright. She marries an actor, Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) and then realizes that he and his mistress (Gloria Grahame) are plotting to kill her.Crawford registers the bliss of new love, the pain of betrayal, hysteria, and then the steel to pull herself together and take action. Really it is one of her best roles. This is a woman who knew how to play to her strengths.Sudden Fear is exciting, suspenseful, atmospheric, and highly entertaining. Of course, if I saw Jack Palance and Gloria Grahame together, I'd know something was up. The first choices for the Lester role were Gable and Marlon Brando. Palance is excellent as a masculine, romantic man hiding a violent and psychopathic personality. As his flirtatious mistress Irene, Grahame is perfect.While there is no actual sex, there is a lot of raw desire and innuendo in this film.The end of the film has very little dialogue, and you'll be glued to the screen.It's sad to see once great stars like Lana Turner, Merle Oberon, and others reduced to poor circumstances in film, and sadder still that they knew that once they were at the top of the heap. Crawford at least fought the good fight and in Sudden Fear proved that she was still a force.

Spikeopath Sudden Fear is directed by David Miller and adapted to screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith from the novel written by Edna Sherry. It stars Joan Crawford, Jack Palance and Gloria Grahame. Music is by Elmer Bernstein and cinematography by Charles Lang Jr. "Miss Hudson, in your own native city of San Francisco, there's an art gallery in the Legion of Honor in which there's an oil painting of Casanova. It's quite obvious that you have never seen this painting. For your information, Miss Hudson, this is what Casanova looked like. He had big ears, a scar over one eye, a broken nose, and a wart on his chin, right here. I suggest, Miss Hudson, that when you return to San Francisco, you visit this gallery and see this painting!" The above is the response Lester Blaine (Palance) gives to Broadway playwright Myra Hudson (Crawford) who has just rejected him for the lead role in her latest play on account of his looks. Later that day the pair meet up on a train heading for Frisco and Myra is swept off of her feet. They court and marry, but once finances come into play and Irene Neves (Grahame) arrives on the scene, something far more sinister begins to rear its head… It takes a while to get going, but once Sudden Fear hits its stride it's a suspenseful noirish delight. Filmed on locations in San Francisco and with Lang Junior bringing the chiaroscuro while Miller dabbles in deftly placed shadows and tracking cameras, there's a visuality that's vital to the edgy atmosphere of the story. It's pretty obvious quite early on what is happening in the plotting but this never affects the suspense, Miller builds it slowly and then unleashes the chills at the midpoint, garnering top performances from the three principal players in the process. It's ready made material for Crawford, where she gets to run through her repertoire of female emotions, while Palance enjoys playing the villain and Grahame slinks in to view in the way that only she can. Some trimming of the running time wouldn't have gone amiss, and some of Myra's stamina powers in the final quarter stretch the faith a touch, but all told it's a very good "woman in peril" noir that is crowned by a terrifically exciting ending. 7.5/10

Wael Katkhuda This is The Forth film I saw for Joan Crawford after seeing (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962 , Mildred Pierce 1945 and Grand Hotel 1932) and to me her best performance was in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?Now about this film : I don't know what to say, it's not a bad movie and it's not a good one. in the first 45 minutes the film is so boring the film show us a love or to be specific a blind love between an old-woman and a young man played by (Jack Palance) and you know from the beginning that he is a bad guy in these cases when you knew from the beginning the bad guy you become angry unless the film made it in a professional way ,( but not this one) cause Jack Palance face is evil so how could Miss.Crawford loved him I just don't know besides in all of his films he played the bad guy.( so nothing new) the big problem is that Joan Crawford couldn't convince anyone that she was in love with him although she is doing and performing it well she just didn't convince me there isn't a chemistry between these to leading stars. Then after the 45 minutes when she discovered that her lovely husband is a NEMESIS the movie began to get much better and it continuous till the end. but there were many scenes in the second part are funny and made me laugh ( although they didn't suppose to made you feel that way) such as the two imaging scenes they are just not real and when she made herself falling down the stairs if I were her I would probably broke my neck! As for Joan Crawford performance she is doing a good job here especially at the closet scene she did it in a great way and when she see here emotions after looking at herself at the mirror and feeling terrible about becoming a killer that was great one to. if you are Joan Crawford Fan(like me) see this Film , but don't expect too much.

PWNYCNY If anyone has any doubt about Joan Crawford's greatness as an actor, then watch this movie. Her performance is sensational as the playwright who accidentally finds out that she is being set up. The story is compelling and conveys the sense of foreboding and suspense which grabs and keeps the audience's attention. Jack Palance gives a strong and convincing performance as a conman who marries Ms. Crawford. He is suave, urbane and sinister. Yet this movie is a Joan Crawford showcase. She is the center of the story and she succeeds in making this movie a most effective work of cinematic art. The cinematography is outstanding; it captures and conveys the sense of terror as the audience is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride toward a final, exciting conclusion.