Harem dancer with a traveling carnival stays behind in a lumber town after the caravans are forced to pack up and run; she's got three dollars in her purse and isn't about to run from anybody! Luckily a pliable, well-meaning deputy takes an interest in the girl and gets her a job waiting tables, but their romance is spoiled by his superior, a crooked, back-stabbing sheriff with political ties. Robert and Sally Wilder's play becomes florid, engrossing vehicle for Joan Crawford, providing the tough, mercurial star with another of her great, gritty roles from this sumptuous era. Crawford may be a little mature for a cheesecake dancer, but she acquits herself well with this overheated, overwrought scenario. Sydney Greenstreet sweats and grunts imposingly enough as Sheriff Titus (who calls all his cohorts "Bub"), while Zachary Scott and David Brian are the well-cast men in Crawford's love life. Brian, in particular, matches up extremely well with the ballsy broad from across the tracks; he doesn't go in for a lot of nonsense--and she doesn't give him any. The editing in the opening is sloppy (showing us a clip of a scene that takes place later) and Max Steiner's melodramatic score is too emphatic with the shuddery notes (when Brian takes a sip from a whiskey sour, the strings rise and fall as if this were an Agatha Christie mystery). The picture certainly isn't art, though it's quite enjoyable on a camp level and Crawford is always worth a look. **1/2 from ****
Review of Flamingo Road
Flamingo Road
(1949)
Loosey-goosey Warner Bros. potboiler...as juicy and wonderful as it is ridiculous
8 September 2010