“You want to bring the audience in so close to you. You want to put them in your lap, in the palm of your hand. It’s very exciting when you go to the theatre and you find you’ve done it in a couple of scenes.”
“[George Cukor] makes you feel you can do no wrong. He makes you have a sense of humor about yourself, which I never had until I worked with Cukor.”
Fantastic interview. It shows her in a different light (or, a different light for those out there who only have Mommie Dearest as their main image of Crawford – an unfortunate and outrageous situation for such a fine actress). She was always a hard worker, always very much interested in the work, and was fantastic in picture after picture. I am very moved by this interview, and how acting-focused it is. I love to hear people talk about their process, and the image of Joan Crawford working with the wheelchair in her house, practicing how to get through doors, so that she wouldn’t have to worry about it when she was on set, puts her in line with every actor working on the planet. That’s how it’s done. She was very serious about what she did, and what she didn’t know about film acting is, frankly, not worth knowing.
Two great clips. She’s mesmerizing to me.
Some things I’ve written on Crawford:
Johnny Guitar – well, that one I “wrote” with Mitchell
I agree, she was an amazing talent and MUCH more thoughtful and aware of her abilities than she’s ever given credit for (incidentally, I’ve read all your posts here about JC and the one on Berserk had me aching with laughter)! The full BBC interview excerpted here along with much of her television work and TV interviews is available from an independent seller @ joancrawfordbest.com/tv.htm#Rare (I have/had most of ’em but got them in theday of VHS, darn the luck-now they’re available on DVD!)
And–sorry to rant on so long, but I love her so–you’ve probably seen this but just in case..it’s Joan’s # from Torch Song with her REAL singing voice! http://www.youtube.com/watchv=_1BGE36hDCI