Sudden Fear (1952)

One of Joan Crawford's best roles....

Not many fans of Joan Crawford are familiar with this film, but they should be. Attractive San Francisco location shooting and a superb supporting cast featuring Jack Palance, Mike (`Touch") Conners, and Gloria Grahame, raise the bar of this exciting, nail biter noir classic, despite a rather simple and familiar plot. What's fascinating about the film is how director David Miller takes a familiar plot and presents the drama within it in a most entertaining and absorbing fashion. Crawford plays a successful San Francisco heiress/playwright, Myra Hudson, who falls for Lester Blaine (Palance), an actor who unsuccessfully auditioned for one of her plays. They eventually meet on a train back to San Francisco and after a whirlwind courtship, the two eventually get married, but after a few months into the marriage, Myra later catches on that Lester and his old flame, Irene (Grahame), intend to kill her so he can inherit her fortune.

Note Director David Miller's brilliant cinematography--how he effectively telegraphs the use of ordinary objects--an initialed handkerchief, a key, a Dictaphone machine (even a small clockwork mechanical dog!), and his successful use of dissolves, light and shadow, and mise-en-scene to convey the terror and fear that not only registers on Crawford's expressive face within the frame, but is carried thru an entire scene. In this film, Crawford perhaps most successfully exhibits the strong, yet vulnerable characters she made a long career out of playing. Although the intended victim of a nefarious plot to take her life and her fortune, we see how Crawford's Myra Hudson consciously and methodically intends to turn the tables on her unfaithful paramour and his lover just as if she writing a plot synopsis outline for one of her plays.

This was Palance's first "starring" role after his smallish role in the classic "Panic in the Streets" with Richard Widmark. He admirably conveys both the aura of vulnerability and deceit necessary to charm Crawford's character into believing he is her doting, loving husband. While this is not in the same league as, say, "Mildred Pierce," it should be considered as one of Crawford's better films and, as it stands, it is a superlative achievement in film noir.

December 29, 2008

Quit your whining, this DVD rocks!

Alright, there are no special features. Alright, so there aren't even any subtitles. And there are a couple of seconds where the picture had grain- ok, I give. But overall, this film is excellently presented. I don't have any complaints about the sound or the picture- in fact, I thought it was remarkably clear considering that it hasn't been preserved as well as a lot of other pictures. Trust me, the plot more than makes up for any minor annoyances.

In an Oscar nominated performance, Joan Crawford plays successful playwright Myra Hudson. When she falls in love with a handsome actor named Lester (played by Jack Palance, nominated for Best Supporting Actor) everything seems perfect. But when she discovers her husband's plot to murder her, she designs a plan to reverse the gun.

This movie is great, and if you're not one of those people who whine when they don't get all the bells and whistles, you'll love it too. July 21, 2008

sudden fear

i think sudden fear is a very good example of the so called films noirs and also joan crawfords performace is very convincing as the frightned woman who tries to save her life as well as she can May 26, 2008

Great Movie But Awful Sound Quality by KINO

This is one of those great film noir classics and Crawford gives one of her great performances. However, all of this is marred by the poor sound quality by Kino. I had to turn up the volume on my TV all the way to hear it. Crawford (in her last Oscar nominated role) and this superb film deserve much better. March 23, 2008

A Great Joan Crawford Gem!

"Sudden Fear" is one of the top 5 best Joan Crawford films ever as well as one of the best suspense films Hollywood has ever made. The story is strong as Crawford plays a woman who's husband is plotting to kill her. Great acting, writing, and the direction of David Miller is superb. Miller also directed Crawford in 1957's "Story of Esther Costello". The picture was one of Joan's favorites and resurrected her career after many flops. The picture would go on to win 4 Academy Award nominations including one for Best Actress for Crawford, her 3rd. Even her daughter Christina liked it. Sit back and enjoy a wonderful Crawford film. However the DVD transfer, as many have said, isn't up to par. Don't expect perfect digital quality and extra features. Buy the film because it is a great movie and the fact that it's on DVD will enable us to have it for many years. Truely a must have for any Crawford fan and fans of film noir! October 22, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...