Product Details

• Actors: Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott, Sydney Greenstreet, David Brian, Gladys George
• Directors: Michael Curtiz
• Writers: Edmund H. North, Robert Wilder, Sally Wilder
• Producers: Michael Curtiz, George Amy, Jerry Wald
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302413451
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,297 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Joan Crawford portrays the most demure, well-spoken refugee from a busted-down carnival you've ever seen--but that doesn't mean she can't get tough when events warrant, and eventually, events do indeed warrant in this crisply shot 1949 black-and-white, post-Casablanca melodrama from director Michael Curtiz.

Crawford plays Lane Bellamy, who falls hard for Fielding Carlisle (Zachary Scott), who reciprocates but is being groomed for big things by wheezing political boss Titus (Sydney Greenstreet), who has no use for carny trash. Both Bellamy and Carlisle venture into loveless marriages, and Carlisle turns to drink, while Lane's subsequent husband (David Brian) is even higher on a greasy if not well-oiled political ladder ("I've got a soul that needs a lot of purging," he tells Lane). Interestingly, the film simply accepts politics as soulless and corrupt, as if there's any other kind.

Besides its still-fresh political cynicism, what keeps the film interesting is the showdowns between Crawford and Greenstreet, who both give performances representative of their distinguished careers. Crawford fairly hisses at the corpulent Greenstreet, "You just wouldn't believe how much trouble it is to get rid of a dead elephant." Greenstreet, clearly, forgets that this is Joan Crawford he's dealing with. --David Kronke

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joan's Best, December 3, 2003

By 

Review Lover "ReviewLover" (At a place...) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flamingo Road [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Joan Crawford is famous for over-the-top, scenery-chewing performances in acclaimed melodramas like 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?', and 'Queen Bee'. However bad her supporting cast (in particular, Queen Bee) one can always count on Ms. Crawford to turn in a convincing, if formulaic, performance. She was a character actor of the first magnitude, and while her on-screen personae rarely varied in tone, the performances in and of themselves are always good, if not excellent.

Far less well-known are Joan's performances in movies that required serious acting capability - the most famous of these is her portrayal of Mildred Pierce, in the movie of the same name. In 'Flamingo Road', Joan turns out another one of her understated and more subdued performances as Lane Bellamy, the down-on-her-luck sideshow girl who attracts the wrong sort of attention from the town's scheming sheriff Titus Semple.

The plot is straightforward - Lane is involved with the unambitious deputy Fielding Carlisle, whom Sherriff Semple has in mind as some sort of Puppet-Governor. She's clearly the wrong sort of girl for an aspiring political figure, and Semple frames her for prostitution, fuelling Lane's desire for revenge. She marries Dan Reynolds, another of Semple's big-business partners, thereby unleashing the fury of Sherrif Semple, with devastating results.

The simplistic plot allows Joan and her magnificent supporting cast to showcase their versatility as actors. Giving particularly strong performances are Zachary Scott as the weak-willed and tormented Fielding Carlisle, and Gladys George as the indomitable Luta-Mae Sanders, a friendly local brothel-keeper who gives Lane a job and a second chance. In his role as the thoroughly despicable Sheriff Semple, Sidney Greenstreet shines, giving a performance to match Joan's own, and creating a villain truly worthy of his comeuppance.

Filmed three years after Mildred Pierce, 'Flamingo Road' re-teams Crawford, Scott and director Michael Curtiz, who, as in Mildred Pierce, relies on understated drama and beautiful camera work to illustrate the innocence and pain that Joan's character endures. Curtiz does an excellent job in this regard, and there are some highly memorable set-pieces in this movie - namely, Lane and Fielding's first encounter, Sheriff Greenstreet's politely violent exchanges with Lane, and the finale - which, thanks to Curtiz's superior talents, hang together beautifully.

This is possibly the most underrated of all Joan's movies, and one with thoroughly deserves a conversion to DVD. In it, Crawford proves she is more than capable of being a flexible actress, and her performance is just one of several excellent performances waiting to be enjoyed in 'Flamingo Road'. Very highly recommended.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good movie, June 29, 2001

By 

Ei "crzybookmoovielover" (Seekonk, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flamingo Road [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Flamingo Road" is a film that delves deep into the world of politics, on the other side of the politics is Lane Bellamy, played by Joan Crawford. She was working in a dancing act in a carnival that blows through town. When the carnival takes off, Lane stays in town hoping to lead a normal life.... Not if Sheriff Titus Semple, played brilliantly by Sydney Greenstreet, can help it. The sheriff doesn't take to kindly to Lane, and tries to run her out of town. To bad, Field, played by Zachary Scott, is in love with Lane and wants her around. Semple has other plans for Field, like marrying his daughter. Of course, he gets his way, but he also gets something else much later in the film.... This is a great film from the 1940's. I used to watch old movies all the time, and this movie has brought me back into the classic movie watching mode. The acting, the screenplay, the directing....they are all so wonderful. Greenstreet and Crawford are fun to watch on screen together. They had great chemistry together. This movie has a great ending.....WATCH IT!!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "More Great Melodrama From Crawford", February 14, 2011

By 

Terry Richard "Terry Richard" (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Flamingo Road [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Joan Crawford continued her melodramtic streak in her third film for Warner Brothers after her Oscar-winning performance in "Mildred Pierce". In "Flamingo Road" Joan plays a carnival dancer who arrives in a small Florida town called Boldon City where she falls in love with a handsome, young man. However, the mayor of the town doesn't think Flamingo Road needs such a girl in it as he believes Lane (the Crawford Character) possesses the morals and the instincts of an alley cat. It is not long before the mayor and Lane butt heads as the mayor tries everything in his power to run the woman out of town.

Crawford was reunited with her "Mildred Pierce" director Michael Curtiz and her co-star from the same film Zachary Scott. Jerry Wald, a longtime Crawford producer on many of her films, produced "Flamingo Road".

The movie was only a modest hit with Joan asserting the movie "just didn't jell". She believed, "I missed and Curtiz missed" and that "this was one of my films that didn't work because of the editing. That can happen you know".

"Flamingo Road" was turned into a short-lived primetime soap opera for NBC in 1980 of the same name that made Morgan Fairchild a household name. In that serial Fairchild played man-hungry Constance while the character of Lane was relagated to supporting status.

The movie saw a VHS release in the late 1990's and came to DVD as part of the second Joan Crawford box set that featured four other Crawford films in 2008. "Flamingo Road" has never been released individually on a separate individual DVD.