Plot
Mommie Dearest, best selling memoir, turned motion picture, depicts the abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother...screen queen Joan Crawford.

Release Year: 1981

Rating: 6.3/10 (5,834 voted)

Director: Frank Perry

Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest

Storyline
Based on the book about Joan Crawford, one of the great Hollywood actresses of our time, written by her adopted daughter Christina Crawford. Joan decides to adopt children of her own to fill a void in her life. Yet, her problems with alcohol, men, and the pressures of show business get in the way of her personal life, turning her into a mentally abusive wreck seen through the eyes of Christina and her brother Christopher, who unwillingly bore the burden of life that was unseen behind the closed doors of "The Most Beautiful House in Brentwood."

Writers: Christina Crawford, Robert Getchell

Cast:
Faye Dunaway - Joan Crawford
Diana Scarwid - Christina Crawford (adult)
Steve Forrest - Greg Savitt
Howard Da Silva - Louis B. Mayer
Mara Hobel - Christina Crawford (child)
Rutanya Alda - Carol Ann
Harry Goz - Alfred Steele
Michael Edwards - Ted Gelber
Jocelyn Brando - Barbara Bennett
Priscilla Pointer - Mrs. Chadwick
Joe Abdullah - Captain
Gary Allen - Jimmy
Selma Archerd - Connie
Adrian Aron - Wedding Guest
Xander Berkeley - Christopher Crawford (adult)

Taglines: The meanest mother of them all...

Release Date: 18 September 1981

Filming Locations: 355 S. Mapleton Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $905,920 (USA) (20 September 1981) (85 Screens)

Gross: $25,032,261 (Worldwide)

Runtime: 129 min

Trivia:
The movie's line "No wire hangers!" was voted as the #89 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.

Goofs:
Continuity: Before baby Christina arrives at Joan's mansion, Joan has a conversation with Gregg at the bar. His position, and the position of his whiskey glass, changes several times between shots.

Quotes:
Joan Crawford: [after giving Christina a pearl necklace as a gift] Oh, and Tina - if you don't get this part, for Chrissakes, don't hock 'em.

Words Can't Do Justice

Rating: 8/10

It seems almost pointless for me to add any comments here, since everyone else who's posted has done such a great job of summarizing this film's merits, but I can't resist. How do you rate a movie like this? On the one hand, it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen: completely lacking in coherence, shameful acting, writing so bad it seems to be making fun of itself. In fact, I'm still not convinced this movie isn't supposed to be a parody of Christina Crawford's book rather than a serious attempt to adapt it to the screen. On the other hand, it's such a rip-roarin' good time of a show that I'm tempted to give it 10 stars on the strength of its sheer entertainment value alone.

Faye Dunaway gives the most jaw-droppingly mesmerizing freak out ever captured on screen, whose bizarreness cannot even be topped by Halle Berry's Oscar acceptance speech. Dunaway must have realized early on that she was a rat in a sinking ship, but instead of deserting, she decides instead to devour the crew. I don't know if her performance comes anywhere close to capturing the real Joan Crawford, but if Crawford was even a tenth of a percent as loony as Dunaway portrays her here, I would have been high-tailing it to Canada if I were either of her children. The fabulous lines, many of which are quoted on this site, can't really be done justice when removed from the context in which they appear, and you really have to see the faces of the actors as they're delivering them to get the full effect. The wire hanger scene is of course a classic, but it's really the floor scrubbing scene immediately following, with Dunaway in kabuki makeup squatting on the floor like a Sumo wrestler, that remains more memorable. Watching Joanie jog is a sight to behold, especially when she starts talking to herself and scrunching her face up as if she's imitating Alvin or one of his chipmunks. There's the "I can handle the socks" moment, one of the most seductive moments (hee, hee) in film history, and of course the coup de grace comes when Joanie tackles Christina across the coffee table and begins banging her head into the floor like she's in a women's prison movie.

The editing in this film is atrocious. There's no sense of time; events follow each other in a loosely chronological fashion, but they don't make dramatic or narrative sense. Frank Perry, the director, must have been dozing off through much of this production; either that or his film crew carried out a mutiny, tied him up, threw him in a shed, and went ahead without him. But it seems churlish to criticize a film like this for its poor film making. It's like kicking a dead horse.

All I can say is, if you watch this movie with the right people in the right frame of mind (i.e. with alcohol), you will be howling. I watched this with a group in college, and we had to periodically pause the movie in order to allow everyone to recover before continuing. Thank you, Ms. Dunaway, for giving us "Mommie Dearest." The world will never be able to repay you for your kindness.

Grade: F or A+ (depending on your perspective and level of sobriety)

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