Joan Crawford Collection Vol. II
A Woman’s Face (1941)
It was director George Cukor who helped Crawford break free of her usual screen persona in 1939’s The Women, and in this dark thriller the masterful director brought out one of the leading lady’s best performances. Based on the play “Il Etat Une Fois” (It was one time”) by Francis de Croisset, A Woman’s Face casts Crawford as a horribly disfigured woman whose inner pain motivates her to live a life of evil. A kind doctor gives her a chance to remove her outer ugliness, and shows her a path to love and happiness, but can she adjust to this after years of such darkness? This conflict allowed Crawford to show her broad range as a talented actress, a task she felt essential at that point in her career. Despite excellent reviews for the film, and especially for Crawford, Cukor, and the leading man Melvyn Douglas, the film did not succeed initially at the box-office. It was only after re-release in later years that it finally earned its place as a true classic within the incomparable pantheon of M-G-M’s finest dramas.
DVD Special Features:
-Vintage Romance of Celluloid Short You Can’t Fool a Camera
-Classic cartoon Little Cesario
-Two audio-only radio adaptations with Bette Davis and Ida Lupino
-Theatrical trailer