The Damned Don't Cry

source: The Damned Don't Cry

After the death of her son, a woman leaves her husband to go to the big city. There, she gets involved with an accountant (Kent Smith) and two mobsters (David Brian, Steve Cochran). As is often the case in her later movies, Joan is playing a character much younger than her actual age and it's very unconvincing. It's also one of those movies where all the men seem to think she's just the most stunning beauty ever and that will cause you some strain from all the eye-rolling. A blend of film noir and one of the many melodramas Joan made at MGM in the '30s, this just doesn't do a lot for me. I was bored most of the time. It's obvious from these leading men that Warner Bros. was in dire trouble in the '50s. When Kent Smith is the most charismatic actor in the movie you are making a snoozer for sure.

When the dumped body of notorious racketeer Nick Prenta (Steve Cochran) is found in the desert near the resort Desert Springs, the police officers investigate his belongings in his house. They find a movie and when they watch it, they see the socialite Lorna Hanson Forbes (Joan Crawford) with Nick in the swimming pool. They go to her house and find that she is missing and after a further investigation, they discover that she has never existed and the discovery of her association with the organized crime baffles the authorities. Meanwhile Ethel Whitehead (Joan Crawford) returns to the poor house of her estranged parents and recalls when she was married with the rude worker Roy Whitehead (Richard Egan). When their six year-old son Tommy is hit by a truck and dies, Ethel leaves Roy and travels to New York. The ambitious Ethel finds a job and sooner she befriends the gangster Grady (Hugh Sanders). When she meets the accountant Martin Blankford (Kent Smith), Ethel convinces him to work for Grady. Sooner the powerful mobster George Castleman (David Brian) invites Martin to work for the mafia and Ethel becomes his lover, changing her name to Lorna Hanson Forbes and joining the dangerous world of murders and betrayals of the organized crime. "The Damned Don't Cry" is a film-noir with a tale of ambition, murder and betrayal. Joan Crawford performs the role of an ambitious woman from the working class that finds social ascension in the men's world using her glamor and different lovers. The story is based on the mysterious Virginia Hill, a woman without past that belonged to the upper-class and her lover Bugsy Segall, one of the most famous gangsters of the 40's. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Os Desgraçados Não Choram!" ("The Bastards Don't Cry!")

Look. Let's get this outta the way right now. Joan Crawford was a fine -- even amazing -- screen actress. She herself said she was terrified of acting in the theatre, on a stage. That's not what she did, and she knew it. Here, in "The Damned Don't Cry," at age 46, she's unafraid to show herself in minimal makeup as the mother of a young boy. Her character, "Ethel," is supposed to look haggard and careworn. Joan does. But she plausibly passes as the mother of a six-year old boy. Joan Crawford can't act? Really? Review her stunning reaction close-up as she watches her son get run over on his bicycle by a truck. A naked, warts-and-all close-up electrifying and heartbreaking in its raw emotion. Even today, as brief as it is, it's almost hard to watch. The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent -- except for Sara Perry as Joan's mother. She's not "bad." But among an intense cast of excellent, if not-quite-A-list actors, her line readings are exactly that -- line readings. Contrast Perry's performance with Morris Ankrum's as Joan's father. In an instant -- his first glimpse of his daughter, Joan, through the screen door -- and in every subsequent scene, he forcefully establishes his character and develops it. Ankrum has little to do, throughout the film. Yet he's so solid an actor that he continually exposes layers of the hard life, spent dreams and vestiges of a loving heart, of this man. Kent Smith -- utterly believable (and again, perfectly cast) as the noble but amorous accountant. David Brian -- never better. Ten years younger than Miss Crawford (yes, he was only 36 when he filmed "The Damned Don't Cry"), Brian was apparently born young middle-aged. He effectively looked the same in every screen appearance for over 40 years. Like Crawford, Brian often isn't given credit for his acting chops. Though never given the opportunities to show his range, as was Crawford, Brian was never less than honest, on screen, compelling and dangerous. Steve Cochran? 13 years younger than Miss Crawford. 33, in other words, to Miss Crawford's 46. Name a 46-year-old actress today who would dare appear on screen with a 33-year-old love interest. Convincingly. Cochran is all male. You practically smell his armpits on the screen. Where are today's equally testosteroned leading men? Uh, nowhere. Matthew Broderick? Jude Law? Colin Farrell? Are you kidding? Plus, Cochran can actually act. Watch his character arc from tough-guy hood, to clumsy suitor, to sensitive lover to betrayed patsy. Like Crawford, you love the guy, but you never quite trust him -- never know when he might explode. Terrific! Selena Royle, another casting coup, embodies Patricia Longworth perfectly -- from her first uncertainty as to the bloodstain on her carpet to her flashback scenes as a socially confident if venal leech. But it's Crawford's picture from start to finish. (Weren't they all?) Yes, Harold Medord's script from Gertrude Walker's story is melodramatic. So are real lives, sometimes. This superlative cast makes almost everything work. Except for the too-cute-by-half final lines, uttered by the journalists on the scene. That moment, and every moment that Sara Perry is on screen as Joan's mother, suddenly jerk us out of what almost feels like a documentary. A powerful documentary, thanks to a roster of actors whose likes we may never see again.

Joan Crawford portrays a young woman on the edge of poverty who decides to change her life for the better. Unfortunately, she thinks that money is the answer to every problem. A smart drama, though formula most of the time. An excellent cast includes David Brian, Steve Cochran and Kent Smith. This is a film worth seeing.

This is a terrific film. It was very intelligently written and deserves more attention as one of the better Film Noir pieces (though you don't typically think of Joan Crawford as a Noir actress). Its cynical view of life, snappy dialog and betrayals make it a must see for buffs of this genre. The only problem, and for me it's a serious one, is Ms. Crawford. While her performance is good, she was all wrong for the part due to her age. She was 46 years-old yet plays a sexy siren that men would die for,...and in one case, the guy is probably half her age. Joan played a lot of roles like this well into her 50s and it just made no sense. A younger actress like Ava Gardner would have been perfect for these roles. So, my advice is try to ignore this problem and enjoy the film anyway--I found that after a while I was able to put it aside and see she still did a good job acting and the film, overall, was exceptional. The plot involves a woman who is very selfish and wants more out of life, so she leaves her dull husband. She has a very deliberate plan to claw her way to the top and "the top" means being a gangster's girl--but not just any thug, but the BIG CHEESE himself! But, once she's made it, things get complicated. Tune in to see what unfolds--you'll be glad you did.

Already a major star for nearly 25 years as the 1950's rolled in, a maturing Joan Crawford was more handsome than beautiful, which isn't bad for a movie star if she's not afraid of becoming a camp icon. Crawford gets some great monologues and a fairly decent story, but the script and direction are not at their best in this rising from the gutter mob moll Cinderella story. The film opens up with the discovery of a corpse and the search for a socialite (Crawford) mixed up with him. The wealthy society widow, having no tax returns filed with the IRS, turns up in a factory town, banging on the door of an elderly couple who turn out to be her estranged parents. From here, the film flashes back to her life there, an unhappy marriage to factory worker Richard Egan, the sudden shocking end of that marriage thanks to the final straw breaking, and her entrance into big city society through modeling, through political connections and through mob boss David Brian who has his finger in every political pie. Biting off more than she can chew, she refuses to get out, and an intelligence you don't get in a factory town makes her a rare female entry in a man's world, and one that could destroy her life...or worse. Nineteen years before this, the young and beautiful Joan Crawford escaped from a factory town in the MGM pre-code drama "Possessed" and became a politician's mistress under the respectability of being a young widow. That film had the benefit of Crawford's youth and earthiness, a young Clark Gable, the solid direction of Clarence Brown, but most importantly, the MGM gloss. This has the benefit of Crawford's toughness (mixed with hidden vulnerability), an interesting film noir set-up and a fairly glossy atmosphere. It's obvious that even as stunning as Crawford still is, she wouldn't have it as easy as her character of Ethel/Lorna has it here, and that she'd become so tough in only a short period of time. Steve Cochran as a nasty thug who aggressively pulls Crawford into his web and Selena Royle as a society matron with shady contacts are decent in supporting roles. It's an amusing melodrama that Crawford makes more tolerable, but also an example of why she faced decline as the 1950's marched on. Vincent Sherman directs with the determination to make this rise above what it is, but that's simply just an impossible task.

I have to say that this is one of my very favorite films. A truly entertaining movie. Briefly, Joan Crawford plays a good woman who's world is turned upside down by a tragic event. She decides to climb her way out of poverty by using everyone she comes in contact with and falling in with a lot of shady characters. She makes her way to a life of glamour and wealth, only to see it all fall apart when her bad karma comes back to haunt her. For all the Joan Crawford jokes - this is actually quite a good movie. The dialogue is crackling and all the actors are very good. Joan does not go over the top and gives a convincing portrayal of a woman who has lost her moral compass - but then regains it in the end. There are of course some melodramatic moments, but not too many. The production values are top notch - lots of location shooting - mainly in Palm Springs, to really get you into the setting of the film. I would classify this film as a film noir - it starts out as who-done-it and features noir stalwart Steve Cochran. If you are looking for an entertaining flick - you can't go wrong with this one!

Capitalizing on the success of MILDRED PIERCE, Warner Bros. played it smart by giving JOAN CRAWFORD another script she could really relate to. She plays a character who starts out like a domestic shrew, realizes there are bigger fish to lure into her net, gives herself fancy airs while rubbing shoulders with gangsters who can introduce her to the cream of society, and ends up giving another Joan Crawford performance that her fans are sure to appreciate. The men around her are relegated to supporting roles, but at least David BRIAN and KENT SMITH do have a chance to prove they had more than a little acting talent. And STEVE COCHRAN does another nifty job as a ruthless gangster smitten with the lady who appears to be quite a bit older than he is--but, hey, this is a Joan Crawford movie so what does age matter? It's got a lot of melodramatic flourishes as it goes from rags to riches for the anti-heroine that Crawford could play in her sleep. Victor Sherman does the directing in a competent style but there's no Eve Arden around for some sassy quips and his direction isn't quite as sharp as Michael Curtiz's was for MILDRED PIERCE. It's not top-level Crawford, but it IS intriguing and that's about all that her fans could ask for.

This is a Crawford star vehicle from start to finish; the only scene she isn't in is the short opening. After five minutes sans Crawford she from then on dominates every scene, every shot, every dialogue. Which gets a bit grating if you don't think she's the most riveting performer in cinema history. At least her great rival Bette Davis had the nerve to act opposite other great actors. Joan's co-actors here are all nonentities, bland scene fillers who get out of her way to let her emote and flutter those famous eyelashes. And suffer. Oh how she suffers! From her poor beginnings as a drudge slaving in the kitchen, seeing her only son dying under a speeding lorry; this poor woman is spared nothing. Fortunately she has her stunning (well.....) looks to help her get ahead ( men are constantly raving about her throughout the movie; it was probably in her contract). The men she meets are either pathetic weaklings or violent misogynists. Saintly Joan endures and suffers, and her public loved her for it. Personally the Crawford Cult is a complete mystery to me, and this movie a total, hammed-up ego trip. Girl Power? Star Power, more like.