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Title: Mommie Dearest (1981)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Faye Dunaway | ... | Joan Crawford | |
| Diana Scarwid | ... | Christina Crawford (Adult) | |
| Steve Forrest | ... | Greg Savitt | |
| Howard Da Silva | ... | L.B. Mayer | |
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Mara Hobel | ... | Christina Crawford (Child) |
| Rutanya Alda | ... | Carol Ann | |
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Harry Goz | ... | Al Steele |
| Michael Edwards | ... | Ted Gelber | |
| Jocelyn Brando | ... | Barbara Bennett | |
| Priscilla Pointer | ... | Mrs. Chadwick | |
|
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Joe Abdullah | ... | Captain |
|
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Gary Allen | ... | Jimmy (Photographer) |
| Selma Archerd | ... | Connie | |
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Adrian Aron | ... | Wedding Guest |
| Xander Berkeley | ... | Christopher Crawford (Adult) | |
The relationship between Christina Crawford and her adoptive mother Joan Crawford is presented from Christina's view. Unable to bear children, Joan, in 1940, was denied children through regular adoption agencies due to her twice divorced status and being a single working person. Her lover at the time, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lawyer Greg Savitt, was able to go through a brokerage to adopt a baby girl, who would be Christina, the first of Joan's four adoptive children. Joan believes that her own difficult upbringing has made her a stronger person, and decides that, while providing the comforts that a successful Hollywood actress can afford, she will not coddle Christina or her other children, she treating Christina more as a competitor than a daughter. Joan's treatment of Christina is often passive-aggressive, fueled both by the highs and lows of her career, the narcissism that goes along with being an actress, and alcohol abuse especially during the low times. However, Joan sees much of ... Written by Huggo
Alright, this might not be too obscure of a movie but when it came out it wasn't well received and pretty much ignored causing it to have a huge cult following. The acting by Dunaway as Joan Crawford is so exaggerated that it seems unbelievable that it's a biographical tale. More than Crawford's story as an actress, this movie deals with the painful, abusive, and traumatic upbringing of her daughter Christina (she wrote the book that prompted the making of this movie). Some say Christina made a lot of it up to destroy her mother's reputation but others say it might be quite accurate. Either way, Dunaway's performance as the Screen Queen is uncanny. She embodies every quality of Crawford and watching the movie you forget that it's not really Joan but Faye in the role. Sure, this movie won Razzie Awards and the producers even tried to capitalize with its failure by billing it "The worst mother of them all." Dunaway even goes as far as telling interviewers beforehand that she will not talk about this movie. One can understand her seeing that she was campaigning for an Oscar nod and instead won the Razzie for worst actress but none of that matters because this movie is now seen as a great tragedy and you'll definitely get lost in the story wondering if everything is true. Oh, and the scenes with Faye Dunaway and Mara Hobel, who plays young Christina Crawford, are amazing. It's no wonder she won the Young Artist Award. Seriously, watch it. The "No more wire hangers" scene alone is enough to watch this great film.