"The Damned Don't Cry" (1950)

Directed by Vincent Sherman (who was alive to DVD commentary)
Joan Crawford is a total BAD ASS!

So, with a title like that, you better buckle up.

Look…if another actress in this generation says there aren’t great roles for women, I’m going to slap them with this DVD.

Joan Crawford plays the highly charged character of Ethel Whitehead…or is it Lorna Forbes or is it…shit, she doesn’t even know. And that’s the badass bitch that is her character. As a young married woman living in the shadows and (most likely) fumes of awful oil derricks, through tragedy, she kicks the dirt from her heels and heads off to live the life she should’ve lived decades ago.

She stumbles on a escort service, which…practically overnight changes this wholesome Texas sweet girl, into a gum chomping, chain smoking vamp. She befriends a very friendly account (Kent Smith), who happens to work in the same building and in her newly minted salesman dosey-doe wrangles him into bookkeeping with the local restaurant. Seeing that he is capable…and honest…the man is then recruited to take on other accounts. But these aren’t ordinary accounts, which launches them both into extraordinary circumstances.

Based on the backstory of Virginia Hill…the mob moll of Ben “Bugsy” Siegel this movie moves FAST. The rat-ta-tat-tat dialogue will have you exhilarated with adrenaline (remarkable as this was made in the 50’s) and the subject matter could be today. A woman who just wanted the world. In fact there is a moment where she convinces the accountant to take the gig because…she warps the truth so much, YOU are convinced. Ethics are for chumps and we morally are grossed out by money but climb over each other to get it. Wow.

This is a massive accomplishment for Joan Crawford, considering the part was originally made to start off with a 16 year old. Here Crawford is in her 40’s and can switch to suit any man. Her blood runs ice cold when it needs to be. And, despite her fading looks, she still pulls off the fact that men still want her. Sure, there were probably younger and prettier, but there is something about her chameleon changes that ramp her into every man’s fantasy AND nightmare.

Is she a tramp, opportunist, poisonous snake? All could apply. But you get such a joy at her moxie. You even start to hate yourself for cheering for her. She’s as bad as they come…and she never even holds a gun. How’s that for girl power?