Product Details

• Actors: Joan Crawford, Spencer Tracy, Alan Curtis, Ralph Morgan, Mary Philips
• Directors: Frank Borzage
• Writers: Frank Borzage, Katharine Brush, Lawrence Hazard
• Producers: Frank Borzage, Joseph L. Mankiewicz
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302413486
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,797 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #95 in

  Video > Drama > Love & Romance > Crumbling Marriages

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Crawford at her MGM best, July 7, 2002

By	Simon Davis - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

MGM's "Mannequin" came along at a crucial period in Joan Crawford's illustrious career at the studio. After a dozen successful years during which Joan rescued many an ordinary script and turned it into a solid money maker she was finding that tastes were changing and with it there was a noticeable decline in her Box Office value at the studio. "Mannequin" stopped that decline from going any further and it was backed up the following year by Joan making the very wise career move of taking on the role of Cristal Allen in the classic "The Women" 1939. That ensured her another lease of life as a top MGM star in the early Forties which she consolidated with such films as "Susan and God" and "A Woman's Face".

"Mannequin" is also unique in that it displayed the only ever teaming of Joan with the great Spencer Tracy another great MGM star with years of successes behing him and ahead in the future. It is certainly the teaming of these two giants as much as the production itself which ensured that "Mannnequin" became the big hit that it was.

The film has been passed off as yet another Crawford shopgirl melodrama where Joan climbs the ladder of success and ultimately finds herself torn between the man from her past and that of the future. While that is certainly the bare bones storyline of this film the production benefits from what I feel are sincere performances and some very good writing. Indeed the dialogue of Joan's character Jessica Cassidy has a strangely modern ring to it at times with her wanting to get on in the world on her own terms and to not be obligated to others.

The earlier section of the film is very vivid in its depiction of tenement life and the desperate character who are its inhabitants, for example the characters of Joan's no good lay about father, her downtrodden world weary mother(Elisabeth Risdon in a superb performance) and in particular her cynical brother Clifford played by Leo Gorcey . Into her life comes flashy no good Eddie Miller played by Alan Curtis, who promises to never make anything of his life but at least offers her a slim hope of getting out of the tenements. They are married and on their wedding day they encounter megarich John Hennessey (Spencer Tracy) who falls immediatly in love with Joan's character. The glow of marriage soon dims for Jessica as she has to support her no good husband and finds herself turned out of the apartment which she thought was legally their home. All ends happily when after black mail attempts, John losing his business and misunderstandings Jessica finds happiness with the man who really valued her all along and in the final appropriate line tells John that he is an achiever and "get back to work where he belongs"

Joan Crawford reveals a new maturity in her acting in "Mannequin". Here she displays a mature and restrained performance and there is a great deal of thought gone into her characterisation. She was an actress who was expert at reinventing herself to suit each new decade and the changing tastes of movie audiences and while "Mannequin" has alot of the depression era morality about it it heralds the beginning of the next phase of her career that saw her reach new heights in the early 40's. She and Spencer Tracy, not the best of friends during the making of this production, team well here and Tracey's no nonsense approach to screen acting combines well with Joan's always commanding presence on camera. It was a pity that two such great MGM stars were never teamed again.

Director Frank Borzage a capable MGM director and one that guided Joan Crawford through many melodramas in the 1930's displays his sure hand here in this piece and never allows the material to get too sentimental. "Mannequin" has some good situations complemented by good writing and I feel this is why it rises above some other Crawford vechicles of this period. Joan for the first time also has a more mature 40's look in this film. Its as though it is anticipating her distinctive "Mildred Pierce" look that became her trademark in the early 40's.

MGM was the ideal studio for the 1930's Joan Crawford and "Mannequin" provided her with her last "shopgirl in a dilemma over men" role. It's an interesting and highly entertaining film and will have Crawford lovers very pleased with the result. Enjoy watching Joan climb that society ladder one last time!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FROM RAGS TO RICHES..., December 15, 2001

By	Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an absorbing melodrama which stars Joan Crawford as Jessie Cassidy, a hard working, ambitious young woman out of the Hester street tenements. Sick of the life she leads, with her no account father and brother, and her mother who is little more than a slave to them, she is determined to lead a better life. Opportunity knocks when she falls in love with good looking, no account Eddie Miller (Alan Curtis) and impulsively asks him to marry her and take her away from the tenement life. He agrees, and they marry. On their wedding day they are befriended by self made millionaire John Hennessy (Spencer Tracy), who came out of the Hester Street tenement life himself.

Miller sets his new wife up in a pleasant three room apartment, and she is happy, though she continues to work. She soon discovers, however, that her husband merely borrowed the apartment, when they are forced out by the tenants of record. Miller also has an aversion for an honest days work. He is the easy money type and resembles the father whose lifestyle she sought to escape. Her Eddie seems to be cut from the same bolt of cloth as her ne'er do well father.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hennessey seems to have fallen for Jessie and has correctly sized up Eddie himself as a loser. Eddie and Jessie ultimately get divorced, when Eddie comes up with yet another unpalatable get rich quick scheme that even Jessie cannot stomache.

After her divorce, Jessie ends up marrying Mr. Hennessey with whom she ultimately falls in love. Still, Eddie's continued presence on her horizon is like a thundercloud raining on her parade, as he threatens to destroy the happiness that she has achieved. She comes to a crossroad, however, when Hennessey's business goes belly up, and she is faced with a decision she had not anticipated having to make.

This is a terrific film with wonderful performances by the stellar cast. It is a superb, though somewhat predictable, melodrama. All fans of Joan Crawford will enjoy this 1938 film, as well as those who enjoy vintage movies.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does Joan Crawford want Spenser Tracy's love or his money?, July 2, 2001

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Do not let the title mislead you, "Mannequin" is not about a store doll that comes to life, but rather about about a young woman played by Joan Crawford who cannot afford to let her true feelings show, let alone ever give in to them. Spencer Tracy plays John Hennessey, who was born in poverty on Hester Street but who know lives on Park Avenue because of his prosperous shipping company. Hennessey end up befriending a newlywed couple from his old neighborhood, Jessie (Crawford) and Eddie Miller (Alan Curtis). Jessie had married Eddie to escape form her boring home life, but she soon discovers Eddie has no intention of earning an honest living, let alone ever working hard. When Eddie notices Hennessey's interest in Jessie and his financial problems begin to grow, he comes up with a with a plan: Jessie will divorce him, marry Hennessey for his money, divorce him after six months and then rejoin Eddie. Jessie does indeed divorce Eddie and marry Hennessey, but with no intention of ever going back to Eddie, who has gotten into bootlegging, does not like this idea and threatens to tell Hennessey of the entire scheme. Meanwhile, Hennessey's company is facing a crippling strike which ends up forcing Jessie to decide what is more important: love or money. This 1938 M-G-M film was directed by Frank Borzage, who does a nice job of making the more melodramatic moments of "Mannequin" work. Tracy's performance is on target as always, but Crawford is the one who impresses me with her restrained performance this time around. The end result is that this film is a lot better than you would have ever expected it to be.