Joan Crawford Works Her Way Up Flamingo Road with Histrionic Elan

            A tawdry yet invigorating excursion into melodramatic territory via the title locale, Warner Bros. 1949 Flamingo Road reunites star Joan Crawford with the studio’s preeminent director Michael Curtiz for another florid, noirish tale a few years after Mildred Pierce, their rewarding 1945 collaboration that revived Crawford’s career and brought her an Academy Award, while also re-establishing her screen persona at Warners as a tough, indomitable heroine, making her a fine fit for Road’s Lane Bellamy, a world-weary carnival dancer who finds herself down-but-not-out in the small town of Bolden City, wherein she seeks to find a better lot in life, but instead encounters initial setbacks and adversaries to rival those found in many a Crawford picture, including Pierce. Curtiz, transferring the Robert Wilder-Edmund H. North screenplay (from Wilder’s 1942 novel and (with wife Sally) 1946 play) to the screen, manages to keep the often-lurid material constantly engrossing, while allowing Crawford ample opportunity to convey both Lane’s steely reserve and a somewhat more benevolent nature not often seen in subsequent Crawford vehicles. A deft supporting cast, including the overpowering Syndey Greenstreet in one of his final roles as Titus Semple, the town’s ominous sheriff determined to make life hell for Lane, and an appropriately grandiose Max Steiner score aid star and director in keeping the action enticingly entertaining for the film’s fast-paced 94 minutes.

          For the Hungarian-born (as Mihály Kertész in 1886) Curtiz, Road would provide another notable work in perhaps his most remarkably successful decade as a filmmaker. Starting his durable career in 1912 in Hungary, Curtiz would also work in Danish, then Austrian cinema before being brought to Warner Bros. in 1926 for one of the greatest director-studio collaborations found in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Quickly establishing himself as a reliable, talented professional who could tackle any genre with aplomb, Curtiz would helm such memorable 1930’s classics as Doctor X, Captain Blood, Marked Woman, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels with Dirty Faces and Dodge City. Curtiz reached his peak during the 1940s with mammoth critical and/or box office success coming via The Sea Hawk, Yankee Doodle Dandy, This is the Army, Pierce, Life with Father, directing Doris Day to stardom in Romance on the High Seas and his Oscar-winning work in the definitive classic film (or film, period) for many, Casablanca. The confidence and skill honed over years as a top director are evident throughout Road, as Curtiz seemingly effortlessly moves the plot contrivances along, drawing the viewer in and keeping their interest regardless of how plausible some of the situations appear, while showcasing Crawford’s sometimes ornate dramatic style and the prime efforts of a sturdy group of Warner’s contract players with precise and verve as conflicts mount for the characters, creating fine opportunities for a rich array of emoting by Crawford and Company. During the 1950s Curtiz would add more intriguing titles such as The Breaking Point, Young Man with a Horn, We’re No Angels, The Proud Rebel and one of Elvis Presley’s best, King Creole to an already stacked filmography, along with another gigantic hit via 1954’s White Christmas, before ending his career with 1961’s The Comancheros, just before his passing in 1962.

           Entering her third decade as one of cinema’s most indestructible leading ladies after first breaking through at MGM with 1928’s Our Dancing Daughters, thereby becoming one of the studio’s biggest box office draws, first as a carefree flapper, then as a charming but determined beauty working her way from rags-to-riches in a manner similar to what Crawford pulled off herself, and often opposite her male counterpart in some ways, Clark Gable, Crawford had reinvented herself at Warners after leaving MGM in the early 1940s, and by the time of Road had developed a more mature persona as a sage, often cynical matron encountering a world of heartache and corruption during the course of a film, such as her frequently suffering protagonists in Pierce and to possibly even greater impact following that triumph with glorious turns in Humoresque (at her most alluring, dramatically and otherwise, and matching up superbly with the equally forceful John Garfield) and another Oscar nomination for possibly her most challenging work as the mentality unbalanced woman driven to distraction by the callous Van Heflin in 1947’s Possessed.

With Road, Crawford has no trouble suggesting the down-to-earth Lane’s knowing street smarts culled from years of hard knocks, but unlike many of her hard-bitten characters to come in vehicles such as The Damned Don’t Cry, Harriet Craig, Torch Song and the compulsively watchable Queen Bee, in Road Crawford still finds enough humanity in the role to place the audience firmly on her side, especially once Lane crosses paths and raises the ire of Titus, leading to the most riveting sequences in the film as they combat each other and Crawford and Greenstreet constantly vie for top thespian honors in these toe-to-toe passages wherein both Lane and Titus appear to relish the thought of the other being six feet under, yesterday. Following Road, Crawford would witness a downturn in her fortunes at Warners, finally leaving the studio for yet another comeback with Oscar-nominated work in 1952’s engrossing noir thriller Sudden Fear, then continue through the decade apace with titles such as Nicholas Ray’s wonderfully female-centric Western Johnny Guitar, May-December romances with Jeff Chandler and Cliff Robertson, respectively, in Female on the Beach and Autumn Leaves, then closing out the 1950s on a high note as the established career woman unbending towards the newer talent in the office in The Best of Everything, before entering a final phase as a horror queen in the 1960s via her legendary teaming with Bette Davis in perhaps Crawford’s final top-quality production, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, followed by a series of lesser exploitation thrillers, of which her committed performance in William Castle’s Strait-Jacket stands out, until her final movie, 1970’s woebegone Trog.

In his final year in films after a sensational run at Warners and elsewhere, starting with his peerless Oscar-nominated work as Kasper Gutman in 1941’s The Maltese Falcon before further marking himself as one of filmdom’s most singular character players via (among others) Casablanca, Christmas in Connecticut and The Hucksters, Greenstreet creates an indelible image as the sweaty, vengeful Titus.  Maintaining an eerie, hate-filled focus on Lane belying the portly sheriff’s often seemingly lackadaisical nature and utilizing one of the most sinister leers imaginable, Greenstreet paints his portrayal with venomous flavor, making a viewer clearly understand Titus is willing to use any diabolical measures necessary to rid himself of Lane or anyone else who questions his authority over the town, and his dirty dealings therein. With the magnetic Greenstreet and Crawford both in top form as not-to-be-trifled-with types, it’s wonderful to watch Titus and the unintimidated Lane battle it out to gain the upper hand, with the shifts in power as Lane keeps crossing swords with Titus (including an unforgettable elephant reference) keeping one held in diverting fashion as the plot twists unfold and the stakes are elevated for the adversaries. After this fitting final go-round at Warners as a colorful villain, Greenstreet would exit the studio with a cameo in It’s a Great Feeling, then end his career at MGM opposite James Stewart and Spencer Tracy in the WWII thriller Malaya, before passing in 1954 at age 74.

As Fielding Carlisle, the deputy sheriff who quicky takes a fancy to Lane, Zachary Scott reunites with Pierce costar Crawford but, unlike his slick and sneaky (if also kind of sexy) playboy in Pierce, in a more empathetic role as a kind, supportive contact for Lane. Scott does a fine job delineating Fielding’s conflicted state over his feelings for Lane and his dependency on his boss, Titus, who obviously doesn’t share his underling’s enthusiasm for the new girl in town. David Brian, making his first major screen appearance as Dan Reynolds, the big-time businessman who catches Lane’s eye and vice-versa, shows confidence and  a natural affinity of the camera, and would continue his breakout year with solid work in the superb drama Intruder in the Dust and as Bette Davis’ object of attraction in King Vidor’s torrid Beyond the Forest, which would serve as a perfect “Warner’s 1949 Melodramatic Mayhem” double feature with Road. As the roadhouse proprietresses who gives Lane a chance, Gladys George brings an earthy, knowing good-naturedness to her scenes. Others showing up to good advantage include Gertrude Michael as Millie, Lane’s wisecracking coworker at a restaurant, Tito Vuolo as Pete, who runs the self-named diner wherein Lane toils, Virginia Huston as Fielding’s tony, right side of the tracks girlfriend Annabelle and Fred Clark, gearing up to be one of the most recognizable character actors in films and television. 

Released in April of 1949, Flamingo Road garnered praise for Crawford’s latest addition in her screen gallery of spirited delineations of women impervious to any obstacle thrown their way, or at least able to survive them, usually while moving up the ladder of success in the same manner Crawford managed to do time and again throughout her singular career. Although Road failed to match the critical and box-office results of some other recent Crawford endeavors, specifically Pierce, along with some decent reviews the public demonstrated a strong Crawford fanbase was still eager to catch her yet again in larger-than-life action, with the film nearly doubling its production cost in rentals at a time when television was starting to draw viewers away from the silver screen. Over the years Road has continued to entertain those who discover the classic via airings on t.v. and through physical media, including a recent Blu-ray from Warner Archive presenting the best print ever of the movie, whose long-term popularity led to a television series bearing the same name in the early 1980s. Fans of Crawford, Curtiz, melodramas, and/or classic movies will be rewarded with an enthralling experience taking what is sure to be an eventful stroll down the striking theatrical paths found on Flamingo Road.