No matter what one might of thought of her as person, it’s hard to deny that Joan Crawford was very smart in selecting her film roles. Keen to stay within her range, by the 1940’s Ms. Crawford found herself in a string of roles that only she could play. Not your typical glamor girl, these were women who were uncertain, nervous, and never quite achieved complete romantic happiness.

In Possessed, a woman is found wandering the streets in the pre-dawn hours calling for her “David.” With unkempt hair, and devoid of makeup, she seems wholly unaware of Los Angeles daily life going on around her. Brought to a local hospital, she is interviewed by her attending physicians. Her story unfolds in a series of flashbacks. The woman is revealed to be Louise Howell (Crawford), a nurse, who some years earlier was charged with caring for Elizabeth, the sickly and unhappy wife of Dean Graham (Raymond Massey), a wealthy oil businessman. At the same time, Louise is having an affair with construction engineer David Sutton (Van Heflin), an unapologetic playboy trying to let her down easy. Instead, Louise’s obsession with David overtakes her life, and warps her view of reality. After Elizabeth dies in an accidental drowning accident, Louise stays on to take care of Dean’s young son. Dean’s college age daughter Carol (Geraldine Brooks), has suspicions that that Louise murdered her mother to get her hands on her father. With David continuing to ignore Louise, she does eventually marry Dean, though she doesn’t love him. Their relationship has its ups and downs until David reappears. Predictably, Louise quickly loses her mind. David takes an interest in Carol (or does he?), resulting in hallucinations for Louise.

Told entirely from Louise’s point of view, everything is extreme, and overwrought. Subtlety be damned, the emotions, dialogue, sound effects, everything really, were over the top, amidst lots of severe shadows and sharp light. Despite these extremes, Crawford shines. She was able to modulate some of Louise’s reactions; while the performance isn’t perfect, she makes Louise believable, while not breaking Hollywood’s cardinal rule that she appear in full makeup. It’s clear that Louise is trying to maintain appearances while inside, her world is crumbling. Crawford does much of this without dialogue. One of her best talents as an actress was her expressive face. It’s only when Louise submits to utter madness that she lets Louise dip into the totally unrealistic.

Though Joan Crawford gives a fine performance, but it’s a victim of her real life. In hindsight, we know so much about her life, it’s hard not to watch Possessed, and not giggle at some of the actresses alleged quirks that sneak through in the performance. She screams, sobs, and tries to vulnerable, sometimes in the span of just a few seconds. For anyone whose seen Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest, It’s likely that film will seep into your thoughts while watching Possessed.

The Warner Archive Collection has produced another fantastic black-and-white film in 1080p. Presented in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio, the contrast is stable throughout, while a layer of thick grain preserves the look of the film. Detail is excellent throughout.

Possessed‘s original mono track is presented in lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0, with identical left and right front channels. Although the dynamic range is limited by present-day standards, the track has solid fidelity. The dialogue is clear, and important sound effects provide the necessary impact. Given the tracks limitations, Warner Archive has done a fine job.

The extras have been ported over from Warner’s 2005 DVD of Possessed, which was also included in the first volume of The Joan Crawford Collection.

  • Commentary by Film Historian Drew Casper: A devoted Joan Crawford fan, USC Professor Drew Casper met the star late in her life, and provides personal reminisces, and a biographical overview. He provides extensive, of somewhat basic information on film noir, as well as a shot-by-shot analysis of the film. Casper clearly knows a lot about the film, and the subjects within, but sometimes his desire to get all the information out makes things feel jumbled.
  • Possessed: The Quintessential Film Noir (SD, 9:33) Several film scholars (including Drew Casper), discuss the development of what would become known as film noir, while arguing that Possessed is a classic of the genre.
  • Trailer (SD, 2:05)