| | | Faye Dunaway is Joan Crawford.
Features: DVD, Widescreen
Outrageous and controversial, this is the story of legendary movie star Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) as she struggles for her career and battles the inner demons of her private life. This torment was manifested in her relationships with her adopted children, Christina (Diana Scarwid) and Christopher (Xander Berkeley). The public Crawford was a strong-willed, glamorous object of admiration, but Mommie Dearest reveals the private Crawford, the woman desperate to be a mother, adopting her children when she was single and trying to survive in a devastating industry that swallows careers thoughtlessly. The rage, the debilitating strain, and the terrifying descent into alcoholism and child abuse are graphically - and unforgettably - depicted in this film, based upon Christina Crawford's best-selling book.
"Vivid, well-crafted...brilliantly played by Faye Dunaway." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"Faye Dunaway practically chews the scenery as Joan Crawford." Terry Coli, DVD Verdict
"The story is controversial..." VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
Editor's Note
Based on the book by her adopted daughter Christina, MOMMIE DEAREST is the now-legendary tale of Hollywood superstar Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) and the lengths that she went to in order to maintain her public image. After several screen successes, Crawford's plan to stay on top in Tinseltown includes adopting two children, Christina and Christopher, whom she plans on spoiling with love and gifts. As her career flags and her lack of success in her relationships with men chip away at her constitution, Crawford's treatment of her children becomes more and more brutal. Though this domestic horror tale is so over-the-top it that it is often celebrated as high camp, Dunaway's performance remains nothing short of astounding.
Plot Summary
The sensationalistic film biography of one of the silver screen's most infamous female stars, Joan Crawford. Based on a tell-all biography by Ms. Crawford's adopted daughter, this movie presents a subjective vision of life behind the closed doors of the Crawford household -- a view into the sordid personal life of a narcissistic and domineering mother who sadistically beat her "precious" little children.
| Features | "Joan Lives On": The Film's Cult Following With John Waters & Joan Crawford Impersonator Lipsynka | | "Life With Joan": The Making Of The Film With Exclusive Behind-The-Scenes Stories | | "The Revival Of Joan": How The Sensational Biography Was Brought To The Screen | | Audio Commentary By Filmmaker John Waters | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital Mono | | Dubbed: French | | Interactive Menus | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | Photo Gallery | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Paramount |
| Release Date: 1/16/2007 |
| Running Time: 128 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1981 | | Catalog ID: 042084 | | UPC: 00097360420845 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Variety
"...Screen history....Dunaway does not chew scenery. [She] starts neatly at each corner of the set in every scene and swallows it whole, costars and all..." 09/09/1981New York Times
"...Dunaway's work here amounts to a small miracle, as one movie queen transforms herself passionately and wholeheartedly into another..." 09/18/1981 p.C15 Entertainment Weekly
"...Dunaway's Crawford isn't out-of-control acting, but a fiercely thought-through depiction of an out-of-control person..." 08/03/2001 p.47 Total Film
"[A] compelling watch..." 04/01/2004 p.129 |
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