Visually, the film has never looked better which, in this case, is important as Crawford placed so much emphasis on appearances throughout her life. The picture seems slightly brighter, and the details are sharp. The 1080p video quality, transferred from a 4K master, is the star here. Steve Forrest ( Spies Like Us) portrays Crawford's boyfriend, Hollywood Lawyer, Gregg Savitt with a mixture of tenderness and cold, harsh steeliness that merely seems like window dressing whenever he is on screen with Dunaway. Dunaway brings Crawford to life and lays all of Crawford's demons out on display in an array of increasingly crazy scenes. She had her hair cut off by Crawford when she found Christina playing with Crawford's makeup, forced Christina to eat a raw steak, and beat Christina with a wire hanger when Crawford found it in Christina's closet.ĭunaway, Hobel, and Scarwid beautifully reenact the tumultuous relationship Crawford had with her adopted daughter throughout both of their lives.

Her oldest, Christina (Mara Hobel The Hand/Diana Scarwid What Lies Beneath), seemed to bear the brunt of Crawford's scorn. This caused her to drink heavily which sometimes caused her to be abusive to her children. In June, as part of the 40th-anniversary celebration, the Paramount Presents series released the movie on Blu-ray.Ĭrawford's (Dunaway) career was taking a downward turn after she was described as box office poison. In 1981 it was adapted into a feature film starring Faye Dunaway (Network). After Joan died, Christina wrote Mommie Dearest - a scathing, biographical book describing the abuse Joan inflicted on her two children, Christina and Christopher. Joan also adopted twin girls, Cindy and Cathy. After several miscarriages, she decides to adopt, which turned out to be more difficult than she thought.Įventually, though, she got her wish and adopted Christina in 1939 and Christopher four years later. However, the one thing she desired most, a child, is something she could never have. Beginning as a silent films actress, she transitioned to 'talkies' with ease. Joan Crawford was an icon of the silver screen.

Mommy dearest 1981 the movie