Mommie Dearest (Hollywood Royalty Edition)
Picture: B-
Sound: C+ Extras:
B+ Film: B+
Shortly after legendary actress Joan Crawford died on May 10,
1977, her adopted daughter Christina went to work on a tell-all book
chronicling what an abusive, monstrous person her movie-star mother was in
real-life. First released in October of 1978, Christina's memoir,
entitled Mommie Dearest, became a huge best-seller, and plans to
do a feature-film adaptation were soon underway.
Despite being made with serious intentions, the resulting film
version of Mommie Dearest was released on September
18, 1981 to mostly scathing reviews that felt the film itself
and Faye Dunaway's portrayal of Joan Crawford were both so over the
top that it could only be appreciated as unintentional camp.
And after a week or two in theaters, Paramount Pictures changed the ad
campaign (much to the chagrin of producer Frank Yablans) focusing on Faye as
Joan yelling, "No more wire hangers....ever" to accentuate the
camp.
Contrary to the misconception that it was a total box-office flop,
Mommie Dearest actually had the biggest September opening
weekend up to that point, and grossed a moderate (for the time) $19
million domestically during its theatrical run. But the film would
somehow go on to sweep the Razzies (then only in their second
year), including dishonors for Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Dunaway
tied that year with Bo Derek of Tarzan, the Ape Man),
Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Steve Forrest) and Worst Supporting
Actress (Diana Scarwid). Even more mystifying is the Razzies naming Mommie
Dearest the Worst Picture of the '80s and the Worst Drama
in their first 25 years. Needless to say, Mommie Dearest
is no way, no how bad enough to merit such dishonors, and proved early on
that the Razzies are too often more interested in getting the
publicity of ridiculing high-profile targets than going after the actual worsts
of a particular year.
That Mommie Dearest somehow "won"
Razzies over truly awful 1981 releases such as Heartbeeps and Tarzan,
the Ape Man is absurd. In fact, Mommie Dearest
is a picture of competence and solid old-fashioned storytelling compared
too much of the mind-numbing crap coming out of Hollywood in more-recent
years. And Dunaway's towering performance as Joan Crawford is really
more deserving of an Oscar nomination than a Razzie. Yes, she goes over
the top in some scenes, but here's a little something everyone should
realize: The Joan Crawford that Dunaway is playing is an egocentric,
obsessive-compulsive control freak prone to fits of intense rage, some of
which border on being complete nervous breakdowns, when
things don't measure up. In less
clinical terms, she's a mentally-ill woman in desperate need of
medication. Sure, some of her histrionics can make you chuckle, but she's
not a well woman, and her rants are only funny to a point since a scared little
girl is often on the receiving end of her madness.
A couple scenes, however, are simply too much.
Especially funny are a couple of shots it's hard to believe made the final
cut. I don't know how, for instance, seasoned veterans like director
Frank Perry (The Swimmer, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Man
on a Swing) and Yablans (Silver Streak, The
Fury, The Star Chamber) didn't expect audiences
to laugh when they follow the shot of Dunaway's Crawford yelling,
"No more wire hangers," with a shot of Crawford's adopted little boy,
Christopher, throwing the bed covers over his head. Or a scene where
Crawford physically attacks a teen-age Christina in front of a reporter.
Such moments make you wonder whether or not some of this was actually intended
as grotesque black comedy. But no matter how it was intended, there's no
denying that Mommie Dearest is deliciously entertaining trash.
As John Waters (a big fan of Mommie Dearest) says
during his very entertaining audio commentary on the new edition, if they
had removed or re-edited just a few scenes, the film wouldn't
have opened itself up to such ridicule. Waters also discusses why Mommie
Dearest has attained such a large gay following in the 25
years since its release. He says it's mainly because the
film concerns a glamour queen in colorful,
Old-Hollywood settings acting bitchy. He also mentions how Dunaway
(herself a notorious diva) refuses to ever talk about Mommie Dearest
to this day -- a shame because she really became Crawford to the point
where a lot of people now think of Dunaway as Crawford whenever the
real Joan Crawford is mentioned.
The picture on the Hollywood Royalty Edition looks similar to the
previous 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer on the regular edition DVD of Mommie
Dearest Paramount released 5 years ago. The image
is clear and the colors vivid with some grain visible in just a
few scenes. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is adequate, but the dated nature
of the dialogue is obvious, though the score sounds clearer. But the new
edition is a considerable improvement in terms of extras. In
addition to Water's feature-length audio commentary, the Hollywood Royalty Edition
contains three interesting, newly produced making-of featurettes that
include interviews with Diana Scarwid (who plays the grown-up
Christina), Rutanya Alda (who plays Joan's loyal assistant), Yablans,
Waters and a Joan Crawford female impersonator. There's also an extensive
photo gallery and the original theatrical trailer.
The underrated Perry, who passed away in 1995, and
producer Yablans reteamed a year later for another trashy guilty pleasure, Monsignor
(1982), starring Christopher Reeve as a Catholic priest with
questionable morals who keeps climbing up the Church
hierarchy. Like Mommie Dearest, Monsignor
was also heavily panned in a time when real movies were still regularly getting
made by real filmmakers and critical standards were much higher.
Meaning, in the movie wasteland of today, both
films deserve some critical reconsideration.
- Chuck O'Leary
