And new never before revealed "secrets" as well. It boggles the mind, doesn't it?

http://www.huffingto...il2#postComment

Edited September 17, 201114 yr by alphanguy74

Regardless of how Joan Crawford (mis)treated her children, I think it's tacky of Christina to keep making money off distorting her mother's legacy (and with nude home movies to boot). Let it alone, girl, and get some help. Seriously.

When I think of Christina Crawford, I always think of her role on the Secret Storm....And that odd period where Joan, a good 40 years older than her, filled in for her for a few days...

I still wonder why nobody thought to save a kinescope of Joan's appearances on Secret Storm. I've never even seen footage of Christina on Secret Storm.

At least there is some audio:

*SHITS IN PANTS* *popping popcorn, turning speakers up loud, getting in jammies*

Ya know, she certainly sounds drunk, but by no means awful.

And the way dude says "WHY NOT!?" @5:39 in Part II is just the way Christina says it in Mommie Dearest.

It's Christmas in September! Never ever thought I'd get to hear this.

SFK some who were watching then said in the SS thread that she really was not bad at all. I think it's probably just the big age gap, and the Mommie Dearest fiasco, which made it notorious.

Because of Mommie Dearest, I never saw any Joan Crawford movies until recently when I watched Grand Hotel, Mildred Pierce and The Damned Don't Cry. Holy [!@#$%^&*]. She may have been an abusive cow IRL but what a compelling actress she was back in the day.

You should try Torch Song. It's trash, yes, and has some shocking moments involving blackface, but she has good chemistry with the guy who plays her love interest and the story is a little different than some of her other work.

*drools over that Secret Storm audio*

I'm a bit sad that Christina has never found any or made peace with this whole ordeal. She's still trying to milk money out of it and clinging on to those fifteen minutes of fame that ended thirty years ago.

There's a great interview out there somewhere with one of Joan Crawford's grandsons via Joan's daughter of his memories of Joan, Christina, and his goal to protect the dignity and legacy of Crawford as he runs a museum dedicated to her life or something like that. It was very enjoyable and interesting to read as especially his childhood memories of seeing his grandmother as well of reading his efforts to separate fact and fiction. His mother has always insisted her sister Christina is lying and that none of it ever happened. Of course Joan's other daughters were completely missing from the movie Mommie Dearest.

I personally have always loved her in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Mildred Pierce I think is a movie that ironically is a somewhat mirror reflection of Joan Crawford's own life--earning success the hard way and loads of trouble with her spiteful daughter.

Ann Blythe, who played the spoiled daugher Vida in Mildred Pierce always said that Joan Crawford was incredibly kind and caring with her. She took Blythe, a young ingenue, under her wing, and even felt so bad about having to slap Blythe in one of MP's iconic scenes that she apologized to her about it afterwards.

The truth is, Joan Crawford was an incredibly complex woman who, like her character in many movies, had to work her way up from literally nothing to make it. I do believe Christina when she says her mother was domineering, ultra-controlling and physically abusive. This was a different time back then when parents rarely if ever spared the rod to spoil the child. I imagine JC didn't hesitate to hit in order to keep her kids in line and it became abuse as she became increasingly unhinged and obsessed with maintaining perfection in her little world.

But I also think there was a LOT more to Crawford than her abuse of her children, a human side if you will. And Christina has dined out on this story for a long time. Having seen 4-5 films of Joan's (including Humoresque, Possessed and Baby Jane), I am struck by what an incredibly naturalistic, moving actress she is. She really was one of the best of her era. I am surprised at how positively I responded to Joan in her films because I was really ready to put her down as both an actress and human being.

I highly recommend seeing Joan Crawford in 'The Gorgeous Hussy,' based on the story of the woman, Peggy O'Neale Eaton, who nearly brought down the Andrew Jackson administration. Beulah Bondi plays Rachel Jackson, who dies before her husband is inaugurated.

There's a Christina interview up now, from Donahue, 1978.

This part mentions Secret Storm (about 9 minutes in).