"Sudden Fear" on 7/30/2023 at 3pm ET / 1pm MT
Jul 26, 2023 16:47:10 GMT
Andrea Doria, Fading Fast, and 2 more like this
Post by topbilled on Jul 26, 2023 16:47:10 GMT
Joan Crawford earned her third Oscar nomination for her incredible performance in SUDDEN FEAR. This was an independent production shot on the RKO soundstages and released through the studio. Crawford took a reduction in her usual salary-- which was said to be anywhere between $150,000 and $200,000 per film at this point of her career-- in a deal that saw her get a percentage of the film's profits. Because SUDDEN FEAR was a smash hit at the box office, outperforming her most recent pictures at Warner Brothers, she made considerably more than $200,000 for her efforts. Hey, who says Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, the most popular leading men of Hollywood, were the only ones to ink lucrative deals!
For her leading man, Crawford selected Jack Palance who played a villain in 20th Century Fox's PANIC IN THE STREETS, and in Paramount's SHANE which had its release delayed. In those pictures the actor was billed as Walter Jack Palance. SUDDEN FEAR marks the first film in which he was billed just as Jack Palance, which he used for the rest of his career.
Palance was sexually involved with costar Gloria Grahame (who wasn't) during production, which unnerved Crawford who liked maintaining control over her leading men and casting dynamics. Grahame despised Crawford with a passion, which meant the actresses barely spoke to each other on the set. All that veiled animosity between the two gals works "beautifully" on screen since the story has Palance cheat on wife Crawford with girlfriend Grahame, and Crawford's character getting wise to them.
Crawford had recently parted company with Warner Brothers, so this was her first actual freelance film since coming to Hollywood in the mid-1920s. She had either been under contract to MGM or WB during this whole time. Her next picture, interestingly, would take her back to her old stomping grounds at the Lion, for a starring role in MGM's TORCH SONG. After which she signed a multi-picture deal with Columbia where she had some more important starring roles in even more heightened melodramas.
One thing that I mentioned in my review of SUDDEN FEAR, which I will share here in the thread after our screening on Sunday, is the truly excellent job Crawford does conveying emotions without dialogue. You can see her silent film training in evidence...especially from her work with Lon Chaney. One thing I always admire about Crawford is how as her career goes on, she uses all the tricks she has learned in previous assignments, so her filmography is definitely a work in progress and anyone can see how she reached the zenith of her powers as a dramatic actress.