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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
JOAN CRAWFORD IS SENSATIONAL..., December 9, 2001
This review is from: Autumn Leaves [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This unheralded film is a gem. Joan Crawford plays a single, middle aged woman, named Millicent "Millie" Wetherby, who lives a sterile, lonely life. She is self-employed as a typist and works out of her home. The only people she seems to see are her clients and her landlady (Ruth Donnelly). Hers is a solitary existence. One day, she meets a younger man, Burt Hanson (Cliff Robertson), who despite their age difference manages to sweep her off her feet. Despite her concerns about this May/December romance, she falls in love with the irrepressible Burt. After some persuading, she agrees to marry him. Her happiness is palpable. Once the honeymoon is over, however, her nightmare begins, as she discovers that the man she loves seems to be someone other than the man whom she married. Burt had apparently been married before and had unexpectedly come upon his wife (Vera Miles) and his father (Lorne Green) in a compromising position together. This had the effect of putting Burt into some sort of fugue state. The net result was that it caused Burt to become mentally unbalanced. How Millie handles this and what happens to her and Burt make for as engrossing film. This is a wonderful, poignant melodrama that sees Ms. Crawford give a sensational performance as the vulnerable, yet strong, Millie, who confronts the demons in Burt's closet and, ultimately, makes them go away. A very young and boyish Cliff Robertson gives a suitably engaging performance as the hapless Burt. Ruth Donnelly is terrific as Millie's landlady. It was especially nice to see Ms. Donnelly in this film, as she had been in a number of Ms. Crawford's early films. Lorne Green and Vera Miles round off the strong supporting cast. The soundtrack is wonderful, as the title song of the movie is sung by musical great, Nat "King" Cole. It truly is a beautiful song and a fitting one for this excellent film.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
JOAN CRAWFORD IS SENSATIONAL..., August 5, 2005
This unheralded film is a gem. Joan Crawford plays a single, middle aged woman, named Millicent "Millie" Wetherby, who lives a sterile, lonely life. She is self-employed as a typist and works out of her home. The only people she seems to see are her clients and her landlady (Ruth Donnelly). Hers is a solitary existence. One day, she meets a younger man, Burt Hanson (Cliff Robertson), who despite their age difference manages to sweep her off her feet. Despite her concerns about this May/December romance, she falls in love with the irrepressible Burt. After some persuading, she agrees to marry him. Her happiness is palpable.
Once the honeymoon is over, however, her nightmare begins, as she discovers that the man she loves seems to be someone other than the man whom she married. Burt had apparently been married before and had unexpectedly come upon his wife (Vera Miles) and his father (Lorne Green) in a compromising position together. This had the effect of putting Burt into some sort of fugue state. The net result was that it caused Burt to become mentally unbalanced. How Millie handles this and what happens to her and Burt make for as engrossing film.
This is a wonderful, poignant melodrama that sees Ms. Crawford give a sensational performance as the vulnerable, yet strong, Millie, who confronts the demons in Burt's closet and, ultimately, makes them go away. A very young and boyish Cliff Robertson gives a suitably engaging performance as the hapless Burt. Ruth Donnelly is terrific as Millie's landlady. It was especially nice to see Ms. Donnelly in this film, as she had been in a number of Ms. Crawford's early films. Lorne Green and Vera Miles round off the strong supporting cast. The soundtrack is wonderful, as the title song of the movie is sung by musical great, Nat "King" Cole. It truly is a beautiful song and a fitting one for this excellent film.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joan Crawford shines in stellar later day performance, October 9, 2002
This review is from: Autumn Leaves [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"Autumn Leaves" has always been a personal favourite of mine. Being a fan of any stage in Joan Crawford's career I find her in "Autumn Leaves" to be both a powerful performer but also able to display a rather touching vulnerability in her performance as Millicent Wetherby a single early middle aged woman who is alone in the world and feels that that is the way it will always be. By this time in her career Joan Crawford's great days as a top flight star at MGM and then Warner Bros. were passed but in early 1955 Joan signed a 3 picture deal with Columbia pictures for a considerable sum of money and proved once again that she was expert at reinventing herself as a more mature performer in roles that further explored areas of her formidable character. The 3 films she starred in were "Queen Bee" 1955, "Autumn Leaves" 1956, and "The Story of Esther Costello" 1958. All were very different but all reaped good profits and kept Joan in "A" pictures till the end of the decade. "Autumn Leaves" directed by Robert Aldrich, who Joan would work with again in 1962 on the memorable "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" with Bette Davis, is I feel the best of the three and gives Joan an opportunity to work with a sympathetic character at a time when her roles where getting more and more domineering in character. Joan's character of Millicent (Millie) is a typist who is very efficient in her work but finds her personal life is non existent. She lives in a row of apartments which are run by her friend and landlady liz (Ruth Donnelly) who is in the same predicament with no man in her life. Millie by chance meets and falls in love, and marries a much younger man Burt Hanson (Cliff Robertson)only to find her new found love turn to horror when it is revealed he suffers from a mental health condition. She also has to deal with Burt's former wife and his conniving father, Vera Miles and Lorne Greene respectively, who are involved with each other, have caused the grief that Burt has gone through, and want Burt out of the way. "Autmun Leaves" is a dramatic and stirring story and is an early attempt to put a more realistic light on the tragedy of mental illness and the effects it causes. I feel this issue is handled in a mature and non judgemetal manner in the film and makes for a most engrossing story. Joan Crawford gives the role of Millie her all and she is just right in her early scenes as the lonely single lady just wanting some love in her life. Her later acting in the scenes where Burt's condition and family history becomes apparent to her is superlative. Her interactions with the characters played by Vera Miles and Lorne Greene are extremely powerful and it is interesting to see Lorne Greene in an early role just before he found everlasting stardom on "Bonanza". It's Joan however who keeps your attention and her development in the story from a victim through to some one who is capable of deciding her own future is excellent. It is by far her best performance in her later years. I strongly recommend "Autumn Leaves" to you if you appreciate a good mature story, strong acting and a production with a good heart to it. Joan Crawford fans will undoubtedly enjoy her work here. Her chemistry with the much younger Cliff Robertson is wonderful and reveals Joan's courage in taking on this quite difficult role at a time when film offers were not so numerous. Enjoy!!
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