Joan Crawford: The Best of Everything

[Note to Readers: If you've come across any larger covers for magazines that don't yet have larger covers here, please send 'em in as a jpg attachment.]

7/09/14

PHOTOS:

1966: At Dublin's Gresham Hotel to discuss Ireland Pepsi bottling plans for the coming year, one and two.

1968: A screen shot from Berserk.

7/08/14

ARTICLES (September 21, 1969): Added text and 4 photos from the Southern Illinoisan re Joan's opening of a Pepsi plant outside of Marion, IL. ("Mrs. Halterman ripped her stockings enroute to the stage, but after talking with Miss Crawford, she exclaimed 'Oh, it was worth it.'") Thanks to the Marion Illinois History Preservation site.

7/06/14

MAGAZINES--N and O:

Added 32 larger covers. And a new link to a super-big New Movie cover from 1930.

7/04/14

MAGAZINES--M, part 1:

Added new covers for Holland's Mikro Gids, France's Mon Copain and Mon Cine, and Israel's Movie.

Added a new link for 4 super-big Modern Screen covers.

Added 26 larger covers to the page.

7/03/14

LETTERS:

1942: A generic response/photo sent to fans re They All Kissed the Bride.

1945: An extremely open 2-page letter to a serviceman stationed in Europe: thoughts on neuroses of men coming home from the war, gossipy takes on Linda Darnell and Clark Gable, her true feelings about her post-Metro relationship with LB Mayer.

1953: Personally warm letter to a fan, also mentioning Torch Song and the upcoming Johnny Guitar.

1954: To a fan-couple with thanks, birthday wishes, past-summer travel news, and non-news of upcoming projects.

1969: To a Holiday Inn Pepsi party planner for doing a great job.

PHOTOS:

1955: A candid with former President Truman in New Orleans; and another candid.

1956: Candid with roses shot by George Dorrill.

1962: Color street candid holding a copy of Portrait of Joan.

7/02/14

PHOTOS:

1950: Publicity for Harriet Craig.

1951: Publicity for Goodbye, My Fancy shot by Bert Six.

1952: Publicity for This Woman Is Dangerous shot by Bert Six.

1953: Publicity for Torch Song with Michael Wilding.

7/01/14

PHOTOS:

1942: Publicity for They All Kissed the Bride with Melvyn Douglas.

1943: Candid at NYC's Sherry-Netherland hotel with Radie Harris.

1947: Candid with Laraine Day and Leo Durocher.

1949: Color publicity for Flamingo Road.

6/29/14

PHOTOS:

1938: Publicity shot by Laszlo Willinger. And a screen shot from The Shining Hour.

1939: Candid at home in pool.

1941: Screen shots from A Woman's Face -- With Conrad Veidt: one, two, three, and four; with Osa Massen; with gang; solo one and two. (Plus a bigger, better replacement for slapping Massen.)

6/26/14

PHOTOS 1940:

Strange Cargo -- Screen shots: one, two (with Gable), three (with Lorre), and four (with Gable).

Susan and God -- Film still, and screen shot with Fredric March.

Publicity shot by Laszlo Willinger.

6/24/14

PHOTOS:

1935: I Live My Life -- On the set, one and two; and a screen shot with Brian Aherne.

1936: The Gorgeous Hussy -- Film stills one and two; and a publicity photo with Robert Taylor and inset of Franchot Tone.

1939:

The Women -- Funny screen shot with Rosalind Russell. And a bigger, better replacement on the set with designer Adrian.

MGM publicity one (by Willinger) and two.

6/22/14

PHOTOS:

1933: Publicity shot by Clarence Sinclair Bull.

1934:

Sadie McKee -- Screen shot and film still with Gene Raymond; screen shots with Edward Arnold one and two; screen shots with Franchot Tone one and two.

Forsaking All Others -- Film stills with Clark Gable one, two (see the '30s hose), and three. And a publicity shot with Gable and Robert Montgomery.

6/19/14

PHOTOS:

1930: "USA!" publicity by Hurrell.

1931: Possessed -- Publicity shot and screen shot.

1933: On the MGM lot with 11-year-old Jackie Cooper. (See also Cooper's account of sleeping with Joan 6 years later.)

10 Years of BOE: 2004 - 2014

This website, "The Best of Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia," debuted on March 23 exactly 10 years ago.

In the months leading up to this day, I've thought long and hard about how to best express what honoring Joan online for the past decade has meant to me. Here's a biographical bit from an initial draft:

I first became a true fan of hers in ’87, when I was 22. When there was no TCM, and just barely any VHS tapes. If I wanted to see any Joan Crawford movies, I either went to my university library and checked one out and then watched it in a tiny library viewing room on a plastic chair, or I “splurged” ($20 on a college kid’s non-income was splurging) on renting a video-player to hook up to my 12-inch black-and-white TV. (The only Joan movies then available for rental at Austin video stores: Grand Hotel, Autumn Leaves, Johnny Guitar, Strange Cargo.)

It was also in 1987 that I ordered from a local graphics store a 3’ x 4’ poster featuring Joan from a Hurrell photography show in Chicago 10 years earlier. I still remember how proud I felt carrying the mounted poster home under my arm on the college shuttle bus, how much I wanted people on the bus to KNOW THIS ABOUT ME: I LOVE JOAN CRAWFORD.

This poster has hung in the living room of every one of the 14 places I’ve lived since 1987 (except for my 3 years in NYC, where I flew off to live with only a suitcase too small to fit it in). An artwork, a beauty, a symbol, a guardian. Representing everything from Joan’s movies that I’ve watched (and gotten goosebumps from) to her perseverance to, more mundanely, my own perseverance and what has continued to be important to me, and a touchstone, for over a quarter of a century.

But why create this website? And why continue working on it for a decade? What I wrote 10 years ago on the "About" page of this site still very much holds true today:

After participating in various Joan message boards for a couple of years, I realized that people were often posting very helpful and informative info re Joan that was subsequently being forgotten as the later messages scrolled on... And most of the Joan websites available primarily seemed to focus either on the camp aspects of her later career or on her "glory days" from MGM through Warners; or else the webmaster would get bored and discontinue the site on a whim.

Neither the Camp nor the Glamour Girl (nor the, um, "discontinued") approach, I feel, is adequate for a star and woman whose career spanned an incredible 50 years from the Silents through the Television Age and whose various incarnations defy easy categorization. On this site, I don't just want to show pretty pictures from the '30s or make fun of her grand guignol era; instead, I want to show where Joan Crawford came from as well as every step of her journey, including what she had to say about what was going on around her. The woman had a brain and guts and opinions and talent as well as a face, and her longevity as an actress was hardly reliant solely on lucky breaks or pure sex appeal; she worked to get to the pinnacle of her field and subsequently worked to maintain her career and status long beyond what anyone thought tenable.

I'm extremely in awe of both her talent and her business acumen, as well as of her beauty and style, and this site is intended to honor all of these aspects of this astonishing woman and actress, as well as to be a repository for otherwise-scattered information.

Joan Crawford's contributions to film, and to the entertainment world and pop culture in general, have been immense, and her personal story inspiring. I'm proud to be able to make this small contribution in recognition of her talent and legacy.

What I wrote 10 years ago at the conclusion of the Joan biography on this site expands a bit on why she continues to fascinate both me and, perhaps, the rest of the world:

Whatever the path that leads to the discovery of Joan's body of film work, Cukor was right: Joan Crawford will never die. Obviously, celluloid and the VHS and DVD have in themselves already granted immortality to certain films and their stars. And the media certainly have been fascinated by Joan Crawford for the past 80-odd years. But that's either a cold, "officially historical" kind of permanence (in the former case) or an ephemeral, arbitrary focus of the spotlight (in the latter case). Crawford's own immortality has been achieved, and will continue to be achieved, on an individual and personal level, as it has been since her film debut in 1925---every time a viewer has gotten, or will get, a jolt from Dangerous Diana's exuberant Charleston, or Vienna's eyes blazing as she stands atop that staircase, or Lane Bellamy's death-wrestle with Titus Semple, or Myra Hudson's nerve-wracking wait in the closet, or Flaemmchen's freshness and verve, or Helen Wright's lushly gorgeous angst, or Sadie Thompson's indignant anger, or Crystal Allen's bitchy audacity, or Janie Barlow's naive spunk, or Blanche Hudson's masochistic ordeal...

A single initial jolt of emotional recognition, of connection. Followed later, perhaps, by sheer admiration not only for the woman's artistry, but also for her intense struggle for expression and survival in a world that counted her out on numerous occasions.

A bow to a brave, audacious soul. Joan Crawford lives.

She does indeed.

In closing: A huge heart-felt THANK YOU to all of the readers of this site who have taken the time over the past decade to send in their Joan facts, photos, articles, remembrances, and reviews. This site would be a much, much lesser place without all of your contributions. I am deeply grateful for all of your help.

Thanks also to all of the fellow Joan fans that I've met over the years in both New York City (from 2006 to 2010, during my visits to her Ferncliff crypt and at various showings of her movies at the Chelsea, as well as some random sightseeing ventures! Special shout-out to NYC's John for squiring me around town one evening from the Rainbow Room to a Chelsea drag club, and to Jersey's Mike O'Hanlon for driving me out to Ferncliff!) and in San Francisco (2006, at Ann Blyth's hosting of "Mildred Pierce" at the Castro). As I wrote 10 years ago on the "About" page of this site:

Before, my friends had been merely tolerant of my Crawford obsession, but when I got online I discovered that there were other people just like me out there who really looooved her! (It's always a happy day when you find you're no longer "merely tolerated"!

Here's to worldwide Joan Aficionados (aka "Joanuts") -- past, present, and future. May this site continue to honor the Joan Crawford legacy, satisfying long-time fans and gaining converts, for decades to come.

Yours in Joan,

Stephanie Jones

Austin, Texas

March 23, 2014

If you've enjoyed this site for the past 10 years... Please consider donating to help with its upkeep.

JOAN CRAWFORD EVENTS

If your city, group, or self is presenting a Joan Crawford-related event in the
coming weeks or months, please e-mail me so I can post the info below.

Austin's Paramount Theatre presents as part of its 2014 Summer Classic series:

May 24 and 25: The Women

July 5 and 6: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

July 21 and 22: Mildred Pierce

LATEST AND UPCOMING RELEASES

Let me know if you have updates to add here.

March 4, 2014. Montana Moon, Our Blushing Brides, I Live My Life, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, and The Bride Wore Red on DVD from Warner Archives.

May 6, 2014. The Women on Blu-ray. Order from Warner Bros. or Amazon.

SPECIAL PHOTOS

March 2006: Ferncliff Mausoleum and Flower Photos

July 2006: Ann Blyth at the Castro

May 2007: Ferncliff Mausoleum and Flower Photos

March 2008: Ferncliff Mausoleum and Flower Photos

March / May 2009: Ferncliff Flower Photos

Visitors to this page since the site's debut on March 23, 2004: