In "That's Entertainment III", comparisons of Joan Crawford and Cyd Charisse performing "Two-Faced Woman" in both "Torch Song" and "The Band Wagon" are shown separately and side to side, making the viewer wonder which version should have been kept and which version should have been cut. I suppose that Crawford needed a number to make this backstage musical seem realistic, but she looks absurd in the tropical makeup, especially when she rips off her black wig to reveal her orange like hair. she's obviously an unhappy woman, breaking down in bed and crying, yet treating everybody backstage as if they were her servants and as if they were beneath her. Mike Crawford in real life, Stuart loves her audience, stopping to sign autographs and being very friendly with them. She's also cordial with her secretary, Maidie Norman, who ironically would later play Elvira in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane". In short, she's a contrast of emotions and moods, and on paper, I'm sure this look like a meaty role to Miss Crawford.
The story surrounds her growing affection for pianist Michael Wilding whom she discovers is blind, and probably the only one who is completely honest with her outside of Norman and Harry Morgan, plays her director who speaks in a monotone voice with her, basically telling us that he understands her but feels sorry for her. Crawford has Wilding fired but quickly regrets it, and soon her hard eyes begin to soften as she sees him looking into her soul rather than just at her person. Marjorie Rambeau, as Crawford's mother, gives an interesting performance in a smaller role that won her an Oscar nomination.
Certainly, outside of a few major outburst, Crawford isn't all vicious, so unlike "Valley of the Dolls" diva Helen Lawson, she's someone that you can like both onstage and off. She certainly still has those dancing feet that made her famous in the late 1920's, but there is something scary about the way she has aged, with those arched eyebrows, Mamie Eisenhower hairstyle and of course those tremendous shoulders that had Carol Burnett spoofing this on her variety show.
This is an easy movie to watch and memorable for being silly fun, but among the MGM musicals, it ranks as second-rate. The strange colors for Crawford's apartment and some of her wild wardrobe don't exactly seem like a welcome return for Crawford who had been away from MGM for a decade. Director Charles Walters also appears as the dancer she tells off in the opening sequence, giving the film some authenticity in the dance department. India Adams dubbed for both Crawford and Charisse. some of the sets were also utilized in Kiss Me Kate, another more memorable MGM musical from that same year.
The story surrounds her growing affection for pianist Michael Wilding whom she discovers is blind, and probably the only one who is completely honest with her outside of Norman and Harry Morgan, plays her director who speaks in a monotone voice with her, basically telling us that he understands her but feels sorry for her. Crawford has Wilding fired but quickly regrets it, and soon her hard eyes begin to soften as she sees him looking into her soul rather than just at her person. Marjorie Rambeau, as Crawford's mother, gives an interesting performance in a smaller role that won her an Oscar nomination.
Certainly, outside of a few major outburst, Crawford isn't all vicious, so unlike "Valley of the Dolls" diva Helen Lawson, she's someone that you can like both onstage and off. She certainly still has those dancing feet that made her famous in the late 1920's, but there is something scary about the way she has aged, with those arched eyebrows, Mamie Eisenhower hairstyle and of course those tremendous shoulders that had Carol Burnett spoofing this on her variety show.
This is an easy movie to watch and memorable for being silly fun, but among the MGM musicals, it ranks as second-rate. The strange colors for Crawford's apartment and some of her wild wardrobe don't exactly seem like a welcome return for Crawford who had been away from MGM for a decade. Director Charles Walters also appears as the dancer she tells off in the opening sequence, giving the film some authenticity in the dance department. India Adams dubbed for both Crawford and Charisse. some of the sets were also utilized in Kiss Me Kate, another more memorable MGM musical from that same year.