Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5592 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-10-05
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 537 minutes

Synopsis
Sultry movie star Joan Crawford is immortalised in this collection of five films. A potent mixture of melodrama and film noir, MILDRED PIERCE tells the story of a wealthy restaurateur suspected of killing her second husband. Told in flashback, we learn of her troubled past, her uneasy relationship with her eldest daughter Veda, and the sacrifices she made to get to where she is now. A classic example of the old Hollywood star system, GRAND HOTEL offers a glimpse into high society, as the glittering guests arrive with their various personal dramas. In HUMORESQUE, a poor but talented violinist rises up in the music world with his mother's encouragement. But he also receives assistance from a married patron of the arts whose intentions are less than plutonic. Their romantic involvement ultimately leads to tragic consequences for them both. Psychodrama POSSESSED centres around a woman driven mad by an obsessive love that ultimately ruins her life. Rounding off the set, THE DAMNED DON'T CRY sees Crawford in the role of Ethel Whitehead, a strong woman who becomes embroiled in some unfortunate dealings with the mob. Seduced by the opulent mafia lifestyle, she dates several mobsters at once, blissfully unaware of the danger she faces. When a shooting occurs in Ethel's pristine new home, it looks like her number is up.

Customer Reviews

Grand Diva of Powerful Emotions
If you have not seen any films of Joan Crawford,then this the THE best collection for you by way of the introduction. It brings out her best films. All the dvds come with extras on Joan Crawford and the commentaries on the films. All the films have multi-lingual subtitles, dvd transfers are superb.

All the films in this collection,with the exception the Grand Hotel,are highly powerful and absorbing dramas on the human nature,frailties,desires and hopes. Don't give them a miss!!

MILRED PIERCE is the story that combines the elements of family drama with the elements of cine noir. There is a murder,there is greed for money,the visual treatment of the film is in the style of cine noir. Lot of play of shadow and light, lot of action happens in the night. In the core,the film,nevertheless remains a family drama,the story of a strong-willed Mildred Pierce,fighting in the world of men for success and security for the family after she is separated from her husband. She builds a successful chain of restaurants, prevails in the world of men until... well,I don't want to spill the beans further.

GRAND HOTEL. Although the film is alost 80 years old,it hardly shows the signs of being dated, It is because of the human interest stories involved behind the façade of the Grand Hotel. Ms.Crawford steals the show as a steno-secretary.

THE DAMNED DON'T CRY. A powerful morality tale about an ambitious woman,Ethel,who wants the best of life, for which she is willing to do anything. She leaves her working-class family,gets into modelling,climbs up materially with the help of the underworld,until one day the fate catches up on her and she vanishes, back to the little town,where everything started.She has made many morally dubious choices in life for her overbearing ambition but she was never deprave morally. She believed in "thou shalt not kill". That was her redemption.

POSSESSED is the story of a woman,Louise,who is obssessively in love with a man who does not requite her love. It is a psycho-thriller,because the story unfolds from the psychological perspective,told in many flashbacks. A highly absorbing film indeed!

HUMOURESQUE is another story of all consuming,overpowering love of a woman,Helen Wright, for a violinist,Paul Boray,for whom his music is everything in his life.