- “Summer Under the Stars” – Joan Crawford: On Aug. 27, TCM will be showing 12 titles starring one of cinema’s brightest luminaries. As to be expected, most titles are from Crawford’s years at MGM and Warners, among them Sadie McKee, Susan and God, Humoresque, and Possessed.
TCM ‘Summer Under the Stars’ – Aug. 27: 12 Joan Crawford movies, including MGM’s Sadie McKee and Warners’ Possessed
Turner Classic Movies’ “Summer Under the Stars 2025” continues on Aug. 27 with 12 titles featuring Joan Crawford, one of cinema’s biggest stars of the 20th century. Expectedly, most presentations are from Crawford’s years at MGM (1925–1943) and Warner Bros. (1944–1952). (See TCM’s Joan Crawford movie schedule further below. Most titles will remain available for a while on the Watch TCM app.)
Unfortunately, TCM’s powers-that-be have once again decided that no silents are better than score-less silents. They’d rather viewers not watch Sally, Irene and Mary; The Understanding Heart; The Taxi Dancer; or Twelve Miles Out, than watch these MGM releases without some kind of musical accompaniment. And you’d think that would be up for viewers to decide.
Below are brief comments about Joan Crawford’s “Summer Under the Stars” movies.
Rain (1932)
As a sex worker who seduces an arrogantly pious Christian missionary, Joan Crawford – on loan to United Artists – fully dominates the action while proving herself a first-rate “serious” actress in Lewis Milestone’s underrated South Seas drama Rain.
Based on John Colton and Clemence Randolph’s 1922 Broadway smash, itself an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s 1921 short story “Miss Thompson” (later retitled “Rain”), Rain tackled a difficult topic even for a movie released during the Pre-Code era. After all, the pious Christian (played by stage-trained scenery-chewer Walter Huston) ultimately proves himself to be as lustful as any other man.
Rain had been previously filmed as the silent Sadie Thompson (1928), which earned Gloria Swanson a well-deserved Best Actress Academy Award nomination. Raoul Walsh directed and was featured as the lead character’s romantic interest. Lionel Barrymore played the righteous Christian reformer.
In 1953, Miss Sadie Thompson starred a sensational Rita Hayworth under the direction of Curtis Bernhardt. José Ferrer (pious, sex-starved Christian) and Aldo Ray (handsome military love interest) costarred.
Jeanne Eagels played Sadie in the 1922 Broadway production.
Sadie McKee (1934)
Clarence Brown’s romantic drama Sadie McKee stars Joan Crawford as a working-class woman (“every girls has a price. And mine is high”) whose social ascendancy is directly connected to the men in her life, played by Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone, and Edward Arnold.
But what starts out as some clever social commentary about a country where everyone is supposed to be middle-class and have the same opportunities for success ultimately derails into wildly implausible melodrama.
Yet Crawford would have deserved an Academy Award nomination if it weren’t for a couple of bad slips, but silent era veteran Esther Ralston (Peter Pan, Children of Divorce) is first-rate in a supporting role.
Although associated with Debbie Reynolds and Singin’ in the Rain, Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed’s “All I Do Is Dream of You” was written for Sadie McKee. Gene Raymond gets to croon it at one point, making you yearn for snappy Reynolds and accompanying chorus.
Susan and God (1940)
Featuring a capable cast and several cleverly amusing situations, George Cukor’s Susan and God should be better known and better appreciated. Joan Crawford is fine as the titular Susan Trexel, a society dame who has become an ardent member of a new religious movement. But the scene-stealer here is Marjorie Main, who will take no dogmatic nonsense from anyone.
A Woman’s Face (1941)
Joan Crawford’s intense characterization in George Cukor’s psychological drama A Woman’s Face is reminiscent of her Mildred Pierce – even though the characters are radically different: Embittered Swedish tavern owner Anna Holm gains both a new, scar-less face and a new sense of self as a result of the miracle of plastic surgery. But is she a murderess?
Excellent black-and-white cinematography by Robert Planck, though in the past TCM has aired a less than pristine print.
Screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart (he cannot have written the inane final scene) and Elliot Paul, from Francis de Croisset’s 1932 play Il était une fois… (“Once Upon a Time…”), previously filmed in 1938 by Gustav Molander, starring the appropriately Swedish Ingrid Bergman as Anna.
Above Suspicion (1943)
In Richard Thorpe’s Above Suspicion, Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray are British newlyweds spending their honeymoon in Nazi-conquered Europe. But is that all they are?
In her last MGM vehicle as a contract star, Crawford may be a bit of a problem as an Englishwoman, but MacMurray is downright ridiculous. The plot is based on Helen MacInnes’ semi-autobiographical 1941 novel.
Above Suspicion turned out to be veteran Conrad Veidt’s final big-screen appearance. He died of a heart attack weeks after filming was completed.
The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)
A generally solid mix of film noir and melodrama, Vincent Sherman’s The Damned Don’t Cry stars Joan Crawford as an ambitious woman from the wrong side of the tracks who, after experiencing tragedy, takes a less traveled – but more thrilling – road to socioeconomic success by becoming enmeshed with gangsters. One of these is David Brian, the other one is Steve Cochran as a Bugsy Siegel type.
At his most seductive as racketeer Nick Prenta, Cochran was a far more effective and better-looking Clark Gable type. Yet, however inexplicably, he never made it as a box office draw.
Goodbye, My Fancy (1951)
Based on Fay Kanin’s 1948 hit Broadway romantic comedy-drama, Vincent Sherman’s Goodbye, My Fancy stars Joan Crawford as a liberal-minded U.S. Congresswoman who, upon her return to her near-alma mater* to accept an honorary degree, considers rekindling a past love with former college professor turned college president Robert Young.
But can the past ever be relived? Especially when real-world politics come into play?
One major problem with Goodbye, My Fancy: Crawford and Life magazine photographer and personal admirer Frank Lovejoy have below-zero chemistry. Lovejoy (The Hitch-Hiker, Julie) is not an unlikable actor, but the role required a 1950s Melvyn Douglas.
Note: Despite claims to the contrary, Goodbye, My Fancy does feature a clear and clearheaded attack on fascism – whether international or domestic. A daring stance at a time when the United States was in the throes of anti-Red hysteria and left-wing/progressive Americans – including those in Hollywood – were being hounded for their political views and associations.
Note: Madeleine Carroll had a personal hit with Goodbye, My Fancy on Broadway, eventually getting replaced by Ruth Hussey, who also received good reviews.
Note II: Goodbye, My Fancy was the third and final Joan Crawford-Vincent Sherman collaboration, following Warners’ The Damned Don’t Cry and Columbia’s Harriet Craig (see further below).
* Crawford’s character had been expelled for spending the night out. Guess with whom.
Torch Song (1953)
Back at MGM after a decade, Joan Crawford, pushing 50, plays a temperamental Broadway actress who shows costars and moviegoers alike that the eyelashes and the singing voice may be false (she’s inadequately dubbed by India Adams*) but the shapely legs and body are 100 percent real. Not that it would have mattered to ungodly handsome pianist Michael Wilding. See, he’s blind.
In all, Torch Song is far more enjoyable than it deserves to be. Blame it on the two charismatic stars, ably supported by Gig Young and Best Supporting Actress nominee Marjorie Rambeau.†
* It’s obvious that Joan Crawford is not the one performing the vocals, as the singing voice doesn’t in any way match her speaking voice. In fact, MGM might as well have used Mario Lanza.
† While watching Torch Song, in case you find yourself wondering how on earth Marjorie Rambeau could have been shortlisted for an Oscar, wait until the film’s final third or so, when the stage and film veteran (previously nominated for Primrose Path, 1940) gets her big scene with daughter Crawford.
The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
Outlandish situations can be found everywhere you look in David Miller’s melodrama The Story of Esther Costello, which features elements from, to name two titles, The Miracle Worker and The Spiral Staircase. Star Joan Crawford, however, is the ultimate, smartly garbed pro.
The story revolves around a young Irishwoman (British Academy Award winner Heather Sears) who became blind, deaf, and mute following an accident that also killed her mother. But could her dreary condition have psychosomatic roots?
Wealthy American Margaret Landi (Joan Crawford) wants to help, but her efforts may be ruined following the return of her scheming estranged husband (Rossano Brazzi).
Also in The Story of Esther Costello: Veterans John Loder (The Unholy Night), Bessie Love (The Broadway Melody), and, in her final film role, June Clyde (Hollywood Party).
Harriet Craig (1950)
Joan Crawford stars as the anal-retentive titular housewife in Vincent Sherman’s psychological drama Harriet Craig, which makes the mistake of ultimately taking the side of the frustrated husband’s character (played by Wendell Corey).
Crawford’s short hairdo may be unbecoming, but her performance looks just right. Watch her tell maid Ellen Corby (The Waltons) that a) she has been fired b) she’ll have to pay for the teacup she broke.
Screenplay by Anne Froelick and James Gunn, from George Kelly’s* 1925 play Craig’s Wife, previously filmed under the original title in 1928 (with Irene Rich and Warner Baxter) and 1936 (with Rosalind Russell and John Boles).
* Uncle of Grace Kelly.
Humoresque (1946)
Joan Crawford plays a fashion-conscious patron of both the arts and young, obnoxious musician John Garfield in Jean Negulesco’s romantic melodrama Humoresque, which offers two narratives – one good, one mediocre – for the price of one: Crawford’s sequences are pitch perfect, including the dramatic finale; Garfield’s sequences, however, are badly off-key.
Adapted by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold from Fannie Hurst’s 1919 Cosmopolitan story “Humoresque: A Laugh on Life with a Tear Behind It,” Humoresque features key elements borrowed from Odets’ own 1937 play Golden Boy (filmed in 1939 with Barbara Stanwyck and William Holden).
First-rate noirish cinematography by Ernest Haller.
Possessed (1947)
Best Actress Oscar nominee Joan Crawford gives her all – the mad slapping scene is a 1940s highlight – as the titular character in Curtis Bernhardt’s great-looking psychological romantic melodrama Possessed, about a married woman insanely consumed by love and desire for a younger man (Van Heflin). Have some understanding: The husband is played by Raymond Massey.
Note: This 1947 release has nothing to do with Clarence Brown’s 1931 drama Possessed, starring Crawford as a woman in the possession of wealthy attorney Clark Gable. On the other hand, Crawford’s 1947 character is to some extent similar to the one played by Best Actress nominee Gene Tierney in John M. Stahl’s 1945 blockbuster Leave Her to Heaven.
Immediately below is Joan Crawford’s “Summer Under the Stars 2025” movie schedule.
Joan Crawford movies: TCM schedule (EDT) – Aug. 27
6:00 AM Rain (1932)
Director: Lewis Milestone.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, William Gargan, Beulah Bondi, Guy Kibbee, Matt Moore, Walter Catlett, Fred Howard, Ben Hendricks Jr., Kendall Lee.
94m8:00 AM Sadie McKee (1934)
Director: Clarence Brown.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone, Edward Arnold, Esther Ralston, Earl Oxford, Jean Dixon, Leo G. Carroll, Akim Tamiroff, Zelda Sears, Helen Ware, Gene Austin.
90m10:00 AM Susan and God (1940)
Director: George Cukor.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Fredric March, Ruth Hussey, John Carroll, Rita Hayworth, Nigel Bruce, Rose Hobart, Constance Collier, Marjorie Main, Bruce Cabot, Gloria DeHaven.
117m12:00 PM A Woman’s Face (1941)
Director: George Cukor.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Conrad Veidt, Osa Massen, Reginald Owen, Albert Bassermann, Marjorie Main, Donald Meek, Connie Gilchrist, Gwili Andre, George Zucco, Henry Kolker, Robert Warwick, Henry Daniell.
105m2:00 PM Above Suspicion (1943)
Director: Richard Thorpe.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt, Basil Rathbone, Reginald Owen, Richard Ainley, Cecil Cunningham, Bruce Lester, Peter Lawford.
90m4:00 PM The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)
Director: Vincent Sherman.
Cast: Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran, Kent Smith, Hugh Sanders, Selena Royle, Jacqueline deWit, Morris Ankrum, Edith Evanson, Richard Egan.
103m6:00 PM Goodbye, My Fancy (1951)
Director: Vincent Sherman.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Young, Frank Lovejoy, Eve Arden, Janice Rule, Lurene Tuttle, Howard St. John, Viola Roache, Ellen Corby, Morgan Farley, Virginia Gibson, John Qualen.
107m8:00 PM Torch Song (1953)
Director: Charles Walters.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding, Gig Young, Marjorie Rambeau, Henry Morgan, Dorothy Patrick, James Todd, Eugene Loring, Paul Guilfoyle, Benny Rubin, Peter Chong, Maidie Norman, Nancy Gates.
90m9:45 PM The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
Director: David Miller.
Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi, Heather Sears, Lee Patterson, Ron Randell, Fay Compton, John Loder, Denis O’Dea, Sidney James, Bessie Love, Robert Ayres, June Clyde, Megs Jenkins.
103m11:45 PM Harriet Craig (1950)
Director: Vincent Sherman.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Wendell Corey, Lucile Watson, Allyn Joslyn, William Bishop, K.T. Stevens, Viola Roache, Raymond Greenleaf, Ellen Corby.
94m1:30 AM Humoresque (1946)
Director: Jean Negulesco.
Cast: Joan Crawford, John Garfield, Oscar Levant, J. Carrol Naish, Joan Chandler, Ruth Nelson, Tom D’Andrea, Peggy Knudsen, Craig Stevens, Paul Cavanagh, Richard Gaines, John Abbott, Robert Blake, Tommy Cook, Don McGuire, Fritz Leiber.
123m3:45 AM Possessed (1947)
Director: Curtis Bernhardt.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Geraldine Brooks, Stanley Ridges, John Ridgely, Erskine Sanford, Nana Bryant, Peter Miles, Douglas Kennedy, Monte Blue, Don McGuire, Rory Mallinson, Clifton Young.
108m
“Joan Crawford on TCM” notes
Joan Crawford “Summer Under the Stars” movie schedule via the TCM website.
“Joan Crawford on TCM: MGM & WB Years” last modified in August 2025.