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Mommie Dearest DVD Review
Mommie Dearest DVD Credits:
Mommie Dearest Directed by:
Frank Perry
Mommie Dearest Written by:
Christina Crawford (book) Robert Getchell
Mommie Dearest Cast:
Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid
Mommie Dearest Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Mommie Dearest DVD Release Date:
5th June 2006
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Mommie Dearest Synopsis:

Mommie Dearest, best selling memoir, turned motion picture, depicts the abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother...screen queen Joan Crawford.

Mommie Dearest DVD Review:

Films aren’t always received the way they are meant to be received, but sometimes that is a good thing. Bad movies just disappear, unless they are bad enough to inspire a cult following. Mommie dearest was made to be dramatic, and the shocking scenes of child abuse certainly are dramatic, but the film is also riddled with lines such as “No wire hangers ever!” and “Christina…bring me the axe!” The way audiences chose to enjoy Mommie dearest also gave it a lace in film history. Many people quote and reference this film, despite the fact that it is merely extreme melodrama.

For years in Hollywood, Joan Crawford put on a magnificent display for the public. She adopted children and began to raise a wholesome family, which was perfect upon appearance. Crawford so desperately wanted to convey perfection to the public that her methods of child rearing often took a bizarre turn. She was competitive and almost seemingly jealous of her adopted daughter, horrified at the sight of her looking in the mirror and play-acting. This film is based on the controversial bestselling memoir by Christina Crawford, which shed light on the truth of the Crawford household.

Frank Perry directs and Faye Dunaway gives a fantastic performance as the notoriously frightening Hollywood star. The film jumps in as Crawford’s career has begun to slip. She has made a number of bombs, and has suddenly decided that she wants to adopt. She is unable to have children and she adopts herself a perfect media family. Her children are forced to give away all but one toy on their birthday, for charity. The housemaids are put through intense scrutiny as Crawford gets on her hands and knees to clean the floors properly with them. She is seen as a perfect star by the public, mostly because she seems neurotic and obsessive compulsive in real life. Her children become her best friends, her slaves, her punching bag and her image.

For some reason this film caught on and its campy style was loved and admired. I can’t imagine how this must have made Christina Crawford feel, as audiences laughed at the way she was mistreated, but it is a rather cheesy film. The Hollywood Royalty Edition has the film shine in all of the campy glory by adding a commentary track by famous cult director John Waters and a Joan Crawford impersonator. There are also three featurettes about the film and Joan. “The Revival of Joan is all about the biography which inspired the film and how the adaptation came about. “Life with Joan” is a making-of featurette and “Joan Lives On” is about the cult success of the film. There is also an original theatrical trailer and a photo gallery.

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Mommie Dearest DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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