Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Mikel3 I just watched this on TCM free on-demand recently. It was a good film based on an intriguing story of a woman wronged who gets her revenge. The actors were in fine form for the most part. Sidney Greenstreet was the standout performance at his slimiest best. I was very impressed by him. Joan Crawford is always good yet I've seen her better than she was in this film. She seemed a bit too laid back for the type of revenge driven character she was supposed to be in this story. David Brian was impressive as the political boss that Joan falls in love with, he expressed a winning combination of strength and gentleness. Zachary Scott was also good as Joan's weakling lover that serves as the catalyst for her revenge. My only complaint is the ending was too neatly tied up and abrupt considering all the slow buildup that came before. I give this film a 6 out of 10 stars. With a better more believable ending I would have given it 8 stars.

chuck-reilly "Flamingo Road" (1949) is a turgid drama involving crooked southern politicians, equally crooked policemen and women of ill-repute. It drives its points home with a sledgehammer and has plenty of fun doing it. It's also the perfect star-vehicle for Joan Crawford in her prime movie-making years. Similar to many of her other roles, Joan plays Lane Bellamy, a down-and-out waitress seeking a better life. But Joanie runs into more hard luck when she's deemed a persona-non-grata by the local police chief, played by Sidney Greenstreet at his snarling best. Old Sidney is a king-maker when it comes to state politics and he's groomed weak-willed Zachary Taylor to be the next governor. Unfortunately, Zach has fallen hard for Joan, so she's soon picked up on a fraudulent morals charge and thrown into the slammer. Out of sight and out of mind, is Greenstreet's thinking. This does not help Mr. Taylor, however, as he hits the bottle with a vengeance now that his sweetheart is out of the picture. But Joan is released from jail after 30 days and eventually hooks up with multi-millionaire David Brian. He's also politically involved and stands directly in Greenstreet's way to obtain more graft and influence. So Sidney decides that Dave and Joan both have to go. But being the resourceful woman she is, Joan is all for beating Sid to the punch. In the meantime, Zachary Taylor, after being discarded by his mentor Greenstreet, drinks himself into a stupor and kills himself. His death doesn't make much sense except to tie up a loose end of the plot as the showdown between Sidney and Joan races to its inevitable conclusion. You don't have to be a fortune teller to figure out who comes out on top during that encounter. "Flamingo Road" was a hit with the public and Ms. Crawford continued with these types of characters (and films) until they wore out their welcome. Director Michael Curtiz may have been "slumming" when he made this movie, but he probably collected a nice paycheck in the process. Gladys George has a small but pivotal part as the savvy matron of a local road house. Fred Clark also appears as a newspaper writer who actually thinks that honest politicians exist. He's the only one in this film that holds that opinion. There's plenty of drinking, understated sex and carousing going on in "Flamingo Road." The best line is delivered by David Brian. "Having fun is like an insurance policy. The older you get, the more it costs." That was true in 1949 and is still true today.

Spikeopath Flamingo Road is directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted to screenplay by Robert Wilder from his own play of the same name (with Sally Wilder). It stars Joan Crawford, Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, David Bryan and Gladys George. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Ted D. McCord. When circumstance sees Lane Bellamy (Crawford) stuck in Bolden City, she quickly finds herself embroiled in a love affair and involved in a war with political tyrant Sheriff Titus Semple (Greenstreet).The Moody kind always cause trouble. Southern Gothic - cum - politico melodrama with noirish tints, Flamingo Road gets above average due to high tech credits and a superbly nasty turn from Greenstreet. Essentially the pic is about a girl from the other side of the tracks making her way up the social ladder, but she has to lock horns with a nasty piece of work and battle with affairs of the heart. Flamingo - Affluent - Road! It's strong on narrative terms, the screenplay neatly blending the greed of political posers with almost perverse social wiles. Curtiz (Mildred Pierce/The Unsuspected) and McCord (Johnny Belinda/The Breaking Point) keep it brisk and atmospherically moody, while the impressive Greenstreet - all sweaty, ambiguous and devilish, is surrounded by a more than competent cast of supporting players. What of Crawford? Wisely "requesting" that Curtiz be given the director's job, she's compelling and classically committed to the role. It's true to say she is too old for the character, something which her fans are known to hate reading, while both the actors playing her love interests are almost 10 years her junior - which is a bit of a reality stretch for the era. However, such is her acting ability, she gets you on side quickly, with the makers shooting her in soft focus and the writer giving her good work to use off of the page. A strange movie in some ways, but intriguing and sharp and it's never dull. While the quality on show from both sides of the camera is most pleasing. 7/10

dougdoepke Delicious Hollywood hokum. The plot reads like one of those tawdry 25-cent paperbacks those of us of a certain age used to find in the back of a drugstore. Poor but plucky working girl Crawford climbs (sleeps) her way to the top of back-room politics, despite the odds. Never mind that dear Joan is at least ten years too old for the part, or that David Bryan's crooked boss reforms unbelievably because of Joan's true love. After all, this is the dream factory and here it's hitting on all 8 cylinders. Instead, concentrate on the superb cast that includes those two born schemers, Sydney Greenstreet and Zachary Scott. The grotesque close-ups of the rotund Greenstreet must have jarred a lot of people in its day, as he blackmails his way to the top of the corruption dog-pile. At the same time, he also gets to punch and kick the hapless Scott, whose sole claim to respectability is a socialite wife and a big hat. You just know that heart-of-gold Joan and the conniving over-weight bully will sooner or later come to blows.There's one brief scene in the movie really worth savoring. Sheriff Greenstreet plops onto a porch chair at Lute May's roadhouse (think bordello) for his regular afternoon nap. Fluttering around him is an intimidated Negro attendant. Everything seems normal. But suddenly the pampered Greenstreet can't find the usual chair on which to set his sheriff's hat. So the hapless attendant gets thirty seconds of condescending lecture on the overriding dignity attached to the sheriff's hat having a place to sit. Humiliated, the Negro fetches one. Now a scene like this could easily have ended up on the proverbial cutting-room floor. It adds nothing to the plot, (except to character and race relations). The fact that it remains on screen, however, is testimonial to Hollywood's occasional brilliance in the unlikeliest places. Anyway, the movie may not rise to Oscar level, but it does deserve some kind of award as one of Hollywood's timelessly tacky classics.