Movie Classics

The Damned Don't Cry (1950)
Runtime: 103min
Director: Vincent Sherman
Actors: Joan Crawford, David Brian,
Steve Cochran, Kent Smith

A mobster, Nick Prenta (Steve Cochran) if found murdered, and the murder is soon linked to Lorna Hansen Forbes (Joan Crawford). What has a socialite like her to do with a gangster like him? We soon find out that Lorna was once Ethel Whitehead, a working-class girl living a hard and poor life with her husband. When a tragedy occur, she desides to leave the poor world behind and do whatever it takes to build a richer life. She works her way from career to career until she has worked her way into the hands of the mobster George Castleman (David Brian). What she doesn't know until later is that she has worked herself into a world of crime she and her bookkeeper friend Martin Blackford (Kent Smith) can't get out of.

The movie has gotten a good amount of bad critique, but I more than enjoyed it. Yes, this is a role we have seen Joan Crawford in before. Most of the time she plays these cynical, confident and sexy ladies who will do everything they can to get what they want, to change their lifes and work their way to the top. Still, I think Joan Crawford has a way of adding abit of necessary depth into the character she is portraying. All in all, I "believed" her and felt sorry for her in the end. Other memorable performances were David Brian as the cold and hard George Castleman and Kent Smith as Martin Blackford. The latter gives his character a two-faced quality than really takes you by surprise. Other than that, there are som beautifull imagery and fantastic costumes to behold.

screencaps by me