SUDDEN FEAR (1952)

In SUDDEN FEAR, Joan Crawford is Myra Hudson, a wealthy heiress-playwright who at first rejects the advances of the romantic lead in her latest play, then falls in love with him. They marry, and all seems cozy … until a sexpot (Gloria Grahame) shows up, the actor's ex-partner in crime and under the covers. Resuming their affair, the two plot to get hold of Myra's money (which, ironically, Myra has already bequeathed him). Myra remains blissfully unaware of this … until she discovers a recording on her dictation machine of the pair's plans. This scene is both fascinating and painful to watch. We see Crawford's Myra, often in extreme close-up, reacting first in disbelief, then confusion, then grief, all of which culminates with her running to the bathroom to throw up. Imagine the skill and bravery required for such nakedness! Requiring a similar range of emotions is a breakfast scene between Myra and and her faithless husband after she has laid awake all night planning revenge. It starts with duplicitous, lovingly inane "good mornings," and then he asks, "Aren't you going to kiss me?" Myra does, and then says, the irony perhaps lost on him but not us: "I was just wondering what I'd done to deserve you." She then smiles at him, and as she turns and walks toward the camera, out of his view, her smile fades to grim disgust. It's a classic Crawford moment. What makes this film ultimately so memorable is not necessarily the plot (which can occasionally seem implausible) nor the camera tricks (which, especially in the fantasy sequence, looks dated today), but rather Joan Crawford's performance. And as a well-deserved acknowledgment of her acting talents, she was nominated for her third, and final, Oscar for FEAR, a movie which almost makes me the Crawford fan I never was.