Mommie Dearest - A Movie Review

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"Mommie Dearest" is a drama that was released in 1981. The screenplay was written by Robert Getchell, Tracy Hotchner, Frank Perry and Frank Yablans and was adapted from a 1978 autobiography of the same name by Christina Crawford. The movie was met with mixed reviews but was a commercial success with $39 million in box office receipts against a budget of $5 million. The film won a Golden Raspberry for Worst Picture and was also voted worst picture of the decade. It has now gained a cult following as an unintentional comedy. CAST Faye Dunaway - Joan Crawford Diana Scarwid - Christina Crawford Mara Hobel - Christina Crawford (child) Steve Forrest - Gregg Savitt Howard Da Silva - Louis B. Mayer Rutanya Alda - Carol Ann Harry Goz - Alfred Steele Xander Barkeley - Christopher Crawford Jeremy Scott Reinbolt - Young Christopher Crawford The movie opens showing Joan's morning routine. She's up at 4 AM to get ready to go to the MGM studios. She washes her face and arms vigorously with hot water and then plunges her face into a bowl of ice and witch hazel to close the pores. She is obsessive about cleaning. When the new maid Helga thinks that the room is spotless, Joan can find something wrong with it; and then she loses her temper. Joan is in a romantic relationship with Hollywood lawyer Gregg Savitt. Joan's career at the moment is on a downswing. She wants a child badly but had seven miscarriages with husband Franchot Tone. Denied adoption applications through normal channels, with Gregg's help she is able to adopt a blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby girl named Christina...and then a boy named Christopher. If you want to see what happens next, watch the movie. But should you watch the movie? If you find a crazy woman mistreating her child entertaining, then I guess this is the movie for you; but I found it disturbing. And I really don't care for Diana Scarwid. Watch it once out of curiosity ("No more wire hangers ever!"); but I cannot recommend this movie. This movie is rated PG. Photo Credit: Pixabay