Autumn Leaves

Don't let the title (and the name "Joan Crawford" above the title) fool you into thinking this a bittersweet tale of a May-December marriage. No, this is Robert Aldrich doing to the woman's picture what he already did to the private-eye noir in the insane "Kiss Me Deadly." This film is crazy, paranoid, intense. The shadows are dark, Cliff Robertson is dangerously bonkers and Joan carries self-sacrifice to the point of symbolic crucifixion.

Not quite meaty enough, but an effective tear-jerker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGaX1hz7DCE&t=2220s [480p] [OPEN CAPTIONS spa]

Viewed May 20, 2017.

Joan Crawford elevates the material enormously, as usual, in this operatic melodrama.

I'm becoming more and more of a Joan Crawford fan. Her movies generally don't disappoint. Another dramatic one here and this featured a young Cliff Robertson.

The romance starts off sappy and the thriller aspects aren't that thrilling. The father subplot, which I believe had the greatest potential to make this darker/more thrilling, is nearly completely abandoned. Crawford and Robertson are fine here, but the content is less than inspiring. Disappointing for a person who has largely enjoyed the Aldrich films I've seen thus far.

Joan Crawford omg

Ano de centenário de Robert Aldrich filme #5 A verdade é que este filme deveria ser mais bem quisto do que de fato é, melodrama que não deve nada aos melhores dos anos 50, aqui Aldrich já exercita o seu hábil senso de iluminação para atrizes maduras que só reiteraria nos anos 60, além de um efetivo conduzir narrativo e um aprimoramento por parte do elenco de suas funções como condutores do que o diretor precisa.

"The collision of Aldrich's tough style with the soapy material makes for a film that never loses its queasy tension." - Dan Callahan