"Joan Crawford
Is
Fascinating." -Hollywood Reporter
Academy Award®-winner Joan Crawford (Best Actress, Mildred Pierce, 1945) is at
her conniving and devious best as the Southern socialite who manipulates the
lives of those around her with tragic results. The poster art screamed,
"One female alone may be the queen bee. The other females serve only to
sacrifice themselves while tending the queen bee or defending her. The males of
the species exist only to serve the queen's pleasure…" and who better to
exact the role than Crawford?
Eva Phillips (Crawford) is married to Avery (Barry Sullivan), a wealthy mill
owner who has been driven to drink and bitterness by Eva's ruthless,
self-seeking machinations and frank infidelity. When Avery's sister Carol Lee
(Betsy Palmer) announces her engagement, Crawford maneuvers to prevent the
wedding to Judson Prentiss (John Ireland), the queen bee's secret lover.
William K. Zinsser in the New York Herald Tribune said of her performance,
"Miss Crawford plays her role with such silky villainy that we long to see
her dispatched."
®
