Product Details

• Actors: Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott, Melvyn Douglas, Clark Gable, Michael Wilding
• Directors: Charles Walters, Clarence Brown, David Miller, Frank Borzage, Friz Freleng
• Format: Box set, Black & White, DVD, Restored, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: February 12, 2008
• Run Time: 495 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000XNZ7NO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,833 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 (A Woman's Face / Flamingo Road / Sadie McKee / Strange Cargo / Torch Song)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Those looking for heavy doses of melodrama, good old-fashioned storytelling, and--of course--more Joan, look no further. The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 offers up a fine assortment of some of Crawford's popular second-tier titles that helped secure this unstoppable actress’ well-deserved seat in the court of Hollywood royalty. Spanning from 1934 to 1954, the five films take viewers on a journey over peaks and valleys of Miss Crawford’s tumultuous but often spectacular career and permits a glimpse into the star’s adeptness to the changing times of movie making. The first film, 1934’s Sadie McKee, captures a radiant Crawford, still riding high as the queen of MGM, playing the eponymous poor cook’s daughter who struggles to keep her principles intact through her rocky romances and unexpected rise to riches. Nobody plays an unlikely do-gooder like Crawford, and this splendidly entertaining film is one of her finest. 1940’s Strange Cargo features Crawford as a dive-bar singer and frequent co-star Clark Gable as a gritty prison escapee joining forces to flee a remote island. A religious parable, jungle adventure, and prison escape movie in one, Strange Cargo maintains suspense and action surprisingly well. A Woman Face (1941) is beautifully directed by one of cinema’s best, George Cukor, who provides Crawford with one of her most accomplished dramatic roles: Anna Holm, a woman whose face is horribly disfigured as a child. Anna’s physical appearance drastically alters her destiny, and becoming full of spite and bitterness, she turns to a life of crime. When the opportunity to correct her scars presents itself, the story takes a sharp turn into suspense-thriller and courtroom drama territory, eventually making its way to a totally improbable and predictable but equally exciting finale. Flamingo Road (1949), which went on to become a nighttime television soap opera in the ‘80s, sees Crawford as Lane, a hardened carnival dancer who finds herself stranded in a small town facing crooked men and parochial hypocrisy. Lane’s a tough cookie and unsurprisingly manages to cross the bridge from rags to riches while triumphing over her foes in a delicious reversal of fortune. The story may be hackneyed, but Crawford’s histrionics provide a juicy good time. This was her first foray into playing roles that are clearly too young for her, yet her portrayal is so earnest one simply doesn’t dare question the rather enormous leap in realism. Like pieced-together leftovers from much finer musicals, 1953’s Torch Song is the weakest movie of the bunch but still worth a gander. Here, Crawford plays an embittered and aging musical stage star whose unlikely romance with a blind pianist might turn around her lifetime of heartache. The film probably isn’t one of her career highlights but offers up some surprisingly poignant, all-too-real moments.

Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 comes with an abundance of extras including several interesting featurettes covering her career at Warner Brothers and her work with Clark Gable as well as several entertaining old-fashioned cartoons. There’s also some amusing Torch Song outtakes of Crawford aspiring to sing. (Once you’ve heard them you may understand why her voice was dubbed.) Many of Crawford's characters have been described as being only slight manipulations of the real Joan; a tough woman looking for a little respect and trying to make it in a man’s world. This collection should help vindicate her efforts. -- Matt Wold

Product Description

TORCH SONG (1953): Musical comedy legend Jenny Stewart, who has been hardened by the worst life has to offer, finds romance when blinded war- veteran Tye Graham becomes her new piano accompanist. STRANGE CARGO (1940): When eight prisoners escape from a New Guinea penal colony, they are picked up by another escapee named Verne and his girl friend Julie. Among the fugitives is Cambreau, a soft-spoken, messianic character who has a profound effect on his comrades. SADIE MCKEE (1934): As working girl Sadie McKee, Joan Crawford wears a maid’s uniform. And as any Crawford fan knows, she’ll shortly swap her white apron for black sable – even (or especially) if it means heartbreak along the way. In this rags-to-riches tale, Sadie wins the affections of the singer (Gene Raymond) she loves, the tycoon (Edward Arnold) she marries and the lawyer (Franchot Tone) she grew up with. That’s a lot of on-screen romantic fire, not all of it may be due to acting ability alone: The year after Sadie McKee was filmed, Crawford became Mrs. Franchot Tone. FLAMINGO ROAD (1949): Life in a small Southern town heats up when a sexy, savvy dancer is stranded there by a traveling carnival. She wins the hearts of two men and gets a taste of local politics when she butts heads with a corrupt sheriff. Apparently Crawford only accepted the role after Jack Warner ordered rewrites and spruced up the production. A WOMAN'S FACE (1941): Anna Holm is scheming con woman and blackmailer, a bitter woman shut off from society because of a disfiguring scar. The opportunity to undergo an operation to remove her scars presents her with a choice: open herself up to a whole new life or return to her old ways and the only life she's ever known.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 115 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'The People's' Movie Star, November 9, 2007

By 

JGC - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 (A Woman's Face / Flamingo Road / Sadie McKee / Strange Cargo / Torch Song) (DVD)

These are the Films of the first true Movie-Star, Miss Joan Crawford. I cannot wait for this DVD set, because it will include some of Joan's best movies!! And, the movies in this boxed set include Joan at her most stunning! "Sadie McKee" is absolutely my favorite movie, ever. Joan looks so beautiful in this 1934 MGM classic. I first saw this movie 5 years ago when TCM did a month-long Joan Crawford marathon; this was the first movie I ever saw with Miss Crawford and since then I became a huge fan and completely fell in love with this kind, beautiful and very talented actress! I also absolutely adore "Strange Cargo." This is one of Joan's best pictures with her number-one leading man, Clark Gable; and as far as I'm aware it is the only movie she ever made with Mr. Gable where she took second billing! After you view these movies you will see why Miss Crawford was the hardest working woman in Hollywood!

Isn't the picture on the cover of this set really beautiful! Below is a list of each movie included in this set, all movies are shown in pan and scan except for "Torch Song" which is in widescreen. (Scroll down, to see a list of each one of the special features included, as well)

Sadie McKee (May 9, 1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 90 mins.
(Joan played: Sadie McKee Brennan)
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
A working girl suffers through three troubled relationships on her road to prosperity.
What Miss Crawford had to say about this movie: Everything about "Sadie McKee" was right - Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone, the script, Clarence Brown's direction, Adrian's customs, the works.

Strange Cargo (March 1, 1940) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 111 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: Julie)
Brief Synopsis:
Devil's Island escapees are changed forever by a prisoner who thinks he's Jesus.
What Miss Crawford said about her last picture with Clark Gable: Two absolutely wonderful films and so different (also discussing "Susan and God") It's a shame I couldn't have retired right then, and come back to do "Mildred Pierce." Clark and I did our best work together in "Strange Cargo." We had always been close, sometimes too close, but now we knew each other as mature persons and the chemistry was still there and it added to the fire.

A Woman's Face (May 14, 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 105 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: Anna Holm aka Ingrid Paulson)
Brief Synopsis:
Plastic surgery gives a scarred female criminal a new outlook on life.
This is what Miss Crawford says about this picture: I have nothing but the best to say for "A Woman's Face." It was a splendid script and George(George Cukor, the director) let me run with it. I finally shocked both the critics and the public into realizing the fact that I was, at heart, a dramatic actress. Great thanks to Melvyn Douglas; I think he is one of the least-appreciated actors the screen has ever used.

Flamingo Road (May 6, 1949) (Studio: Warners)
Runtime Listing: 94 mins
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: Lane Bellamy Reynolds)
Brief Synopsis:
A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries.
Here are Miss Crawford's comments on this film: ...This script missed, Curtiz (the director) missed, I missed. I just didn't jell, that's all, and it's another time when my judgment screwed up completely, because we were shooting it I thought it would be good.

Torch Song (October 23, 1953) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 90 mins.
Color/BW: Color (MetroColor aka EastmanColor)
(Joan played: Jenny Stewart)
Brief Synopsis:
Musical comedy legend Jenny Stewart, who has been hardened by the worst life has to offer, finds romance when blinded war-veteran Tye Graham becomes her new piano accompanist.
Miss Crawford's comments on this movie: ...Back at Metro, after all those years... it was like a homecoming, and half the people on the set, the prop men and the grips.... they remembered me and I remembered them. I loved doing that film. It gave me a chance to dance again, to pretend to sing, to emote all over the place and in color yet! (Note: This is Miss Crawford's first staring role in a major motion picture that is entirely in color!) If I hadn't brought it off I'd only have myself to blame because all the elements were there.

This boxed set also includes a lot of special features, many of which I enjoyed very much. I especially got a kick out of Joan's "Torch Song" recording sessions! And, I enjoyed Joan's rendition of "Flamingo Road" very much because this is one of her first radio performances that I have heard and it also included a brief interview afterwards!

Sadie Mckee Special Features:
Goofy Movies Number Four (1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime listing: 9 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short which contains feature stories with humorous commentary.

"Happy Harmonies" "Toyland Broadcast" (December 22, 1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime listing: 6 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short of an animated cartoon. The toys present a musical revue on their own radio station.

Sadie McKee Trailer (1934) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 2 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White

Strange Cargo Special Features:
Crawford & Gable
Runtime Listing: 14 mins.

More About Nostradamus (January 18, 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 10 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short which includes a brief biography about Nostradamus and highlights some of his accomplishments.

Strange Cargo Trailer (1940) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 2 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White

A Woman's Face Special Features:
You Can't Fool A Camera (May 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 10
Color/BW: Black and White
Brief Synopsis:
This short starts out with a dramatization in a documentary-format. Then it ends showing some of the stars of the time with a salute to the actors who have entered the armed forces.
Note: On the disc it is subtlitled as "A New Romance of Celluloid," however I did not see this anywhere on the short.

Little Cesario (August 30, 1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 7 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is an animated MGM short.

Screen Guild Playhouse (April 19, 1942)
Runtime Listing: 30 mins.
Color/BW: N/A
Brief Synopsis:
Bette Davis gives a radio performance of "A Woman's Face." This is only an audio recording.
Note: This can not be fast forwarded.
Also Note: While this is playing, the screen just includes the "A Woman's Face" special features menu up.

Lux Radio Theater (November 2, 1942)
Runtime Listing: 57 mins.
Color/BW: N/A
Brief Synopsis:
Ida Lapino gives a radio performance of "A Woman's Face." This is only an audio recording.
Note: This can not be fast forwarded.
Also Note: While this is playing, the screen just includes the "A Woman's Face" special features menu up.

A Woman's Face Trailer (1941) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 3 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White

Flamingo Road Special Features:
Crawford at Warners
Runtime Listing: 12 mins.

Curtain Razor (May 21, 1941) (Studio: Warners)
Runtime Listing: 7 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is a Warners short/cartoon that features Porky Pig as a talent scout.

Screen Director's Playhouse (May 26, 1950)
Runtime Listing: 25 mins.
Color/BW: N/A
(Joan played: Lane Bellamy Reynolds)
Brief Synopsis:
Joan gives us a very special treat when she reprises her critically acclaimed role from "Flamingo Road" for radio! Joan's radio performance comes in at 22 minutes and afterwards there is a brief interview with Joan and the director, Michael Cortiz.
Note: This can not be fast forwarded.
Also Note: While this is playing, the screen just includes the "Flamingo Road" special features menu up.

Flamingo Road Trailer (1949) (Studio: Warners)
Runtime Listing: 2 mins.

Torch Song Special Features:
Tough Baby: Torch Song
Runtime Listing: 12 mins.

TV of Tomorrow (June 6, 1953) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 7 mins.
Color/BW: Color (Technicolor)
Brief Synopsis:
This is an MGM short which discusses television viewing "of tomorrow" in a very funny way.

Jimmy Fund Public Service Announcement (1953) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 3 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: herself in a public service message)
Brief Synopsis:
This is a commercial that Joan made which was shown before her movie, "Torch Song." Many fans, including myself have seen this scarcely-seen... Read more ›

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long awaited 2nd volume of Joan Crawford films is announced, October 25, 2007

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 (A Woman's Face / Flamingo Road / Sadie McKee / Strange Cargo / Torch Song) (DVD)

This is the long awaited second volume of the Joan Crawford Collection. Joan had a very long career in films spanning from the silent era and MGM into the 1970's. She was one of the few actresses to successfully make the transition from silents to sound, and this set gives you a sampling of her roles from 1934 to 1953. The following are the five films in this set and their extra features:

Sadie McKee (1934)
One of the last precodes, this film is a melodrama that has Joan Crawford playing a totally virtuous character throughout. She's a maid who is fired for telling off the head of the household (Franchot Tone). Next, her boyfriend deserts her for a chorus girl. She ends up marrying an alcoholic millionaire strictly as a matter of survival, but she does help her husband cure himself of his alcoholism. Afterwards she asks for a divorce so she can go look for her old boyfriend, who is now alone and quite ill. This movie introduced the song "All I Do is Dream of You" by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.
DVD Special Features: (waiting confirmation from Michael Crawford)
Vintage comedy short Goofy Movies #4
Classic cartoon Toyland Broadcast
Theatrical trailer

Strange Cargo (1940)
Andre (Clark Gable) is a convict in a French penal colony in South America. The first time he tries to escape saloon girl Julie (Joan Crawford) turns him in. His second attempt is successful, and this time he throws in his lot with several other escapees, one of which seems to always know what is about to happen, and is even able to draw accurate maps of escape routes. During this escape Andre runs into Julie again. At the conclusion of the escape Andre realizes the reason for the one prisoner's extraordinary abilities and has a change of heart. A very strange film and a strange role for Crawford, although I found it intriguing. Directed by Frank Borzage who is noted for his love stories involving crime, loss, and redemption.
DVD Special Features:
New featurette: Gable & Crawford
Vintage short More About Nostradamus
Classic cartoon The Lonesome Stranger
Theatrical Trailer

A Woman's Face (1941)
One of Joan Crawford's best performances as a woman whose scarred face embitters her and leads her into a life of crime until a surgeon (Melvin Douglas) decides to operate and remove her outer scars. However, her inner scars remain and she finds it hard to change even with the help of the good doctor. This film initially failed at the box office, but was recognized as a classic years later. Directed by George Cukor.
DVD Special Features:
Vintage Romance of Celluloid Short You Can't Fool a Camera
Classic cartoon Little Cesario
Two audio-only radio adaptations with Bette Davis and Ida Lupino
Theatrical trailer

Flamingo Road (1949)
Lane Bellamy (Joan Crawford) is a dancer touring with a carnival who falls in love with Fielding Carlisle. However, a marriage to a carnival dancer is not what Fielding's political handler, Titus Semple, considers a suitable move for his protege. Thus he has Lane framed and sent to jail and arranges a loveless marriage for Fielding with a girl more appropriate for the future he has planned for him. Once out of jail, Lane falls in love with and marries another prominent person, but their future together is threatened when Fielding comes to call. Directed by Michael Curtiz.
DVD Special Features:
New featurette: Crawford at Warners
Classic cartoon Curtain Razor
Audio-only radio adaptation with the film's stars
Theatrical trailer

Torch Song (1953)
This was Joan Crawford's return vehicle to MGM after having left ten years earlier, and is the weakest of the films in the bunch, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Instead it is great fun because it is such a camp classic. Too bad there's no commentary, because I would really like to know what went on behind the scenes in this one. It has everything - Technicolor, an over-the-top wardrobe for Joan, and of course there's Joan as a steamroller of a woman that no man can stand up to except a British pianist, blinded in WWII. And then there are the musical numbers - well, you'll have to see it for yourself.
DVD Special Features:
New featurette: Tough Baby: Joan Crawford and Torch Song
Audio bonus: Joan Crawford recording session
Public service announcement trailer: At Home with Joan Crawford
Vintage MGM cartoon: TV of Tomorrow
Vintage MGM short
Theatrical trailer

All films B&W and Mono, in 1.37 aspect ratio, except Torch Song, which is Color and 1.77 aspect ratio as originally shown in theaters. The details for the extra features come from a press release from Warner Home Video. This set is currently scheduled for release on February 12.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Joan, Hate the packaging..., April 2, 2008

By 

Movie Nut (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Joan Crawford Collection, Vol. 2 (A Woman's Face / Flamingo Road / Sadie McKee / Strange Cargo / Torch Song) (DVD)

I love having this set. It includes some of my favorite Crawford films, so I was very excited when the release date was announced. I ordered it right away, and just received it and again, while I love the films in the set, the box 'set up' really annoys me. The fold out type of case is not what I was expecting. Since I have Volume 1, where all the DVDs are in individual cases with cover art, this is what I was expecting. I really wanted to put all the DVDs together in my media cabinet in alphabetical order, with the hopes that someday all Joan Crawford's films would be available on DVD and I would have a complete shelf of Joan!!!
This may sound petty, but I feel that sometimes the studios are trying to save money by cutting back on the boxed sets yet they don't lower the prices for the consumer. I like to take DVDs with me to watch on a long car trip (no... I am not the driver on these trips!) so the individual cases work best for me- Overall I give this a 5 star rating for the films and for a wonderful actress who is unforgettable, but the box/packaging leaves me flat-