Joan Crawford is the Oscar-winning performer who starred in a number of classics before her death in 1977 at the age of 71. Let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1906, Crawford made her debut as a body double for Norma Shearer in “Ladies of the Night” (1925). She worked her way up into starring roles in several MGM titles, most notably the ensemble drama “Grand Hotel” (1932). Yet a dip in audience enthusiasm led to her being labeled “box office poison,” which would haunt her for several years.
Crawford moved to Warner Bros. in 1943, and just two years later, she was re-igniting the box office and scooping up a Best Actress Oscar for “Mildred Pierce” (1945). The role of an ambitious housewife working her way up from waitressing to owning a restaurant was indicative of the kinds of characters she would play throughout her career: strong, calculating, and ball-busting. She earned two additional Best Actress bids for “Possessed” (1947) and “Sudden Fear” (1952).
She was famously snubbed for “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962) for her performance as an invalid terrorized by her delusional sister (Bette Davis), a former child actress. Her co-star earned a slot within the category, yet Crawford got the last laugh when she convinced Anne Bancroft to stay home and let her accept her prize for “The Miracle Worker” in her stead. (Crawford did compete at BAFTA alongside Davis.) Their off-stage rivalry during filming was chronicled in Ryan Murphy‘s limited series “Feud: Bette and Joan” (2017), with Jessica Lange playing Crawford and Susan Sarandon portraying Davis.
Her reputation took a hit with the publication of her adopted daughter Christina Crawford‘s memoir “Mommie Dearest” in 1978, which alleged physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother. The book was turned into a film of the same name in 1981, with Faye Dunaway eerily transforming into the star. Critically derided in its time (with five Razzie wins including Worst Picture and Worst Actress), it has since gained a second life as a cult classic.
Tour our photo gallery of Crawford’s 15 greatest films, and see if your favorites made the cut.
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15. TROG (1970)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Freddie Francis. Written by Peter Bryan, John Gilling, Aben Kandel. Starring Michael Gough, Bernard Kay, Kim Braden, David Griffin.
Crawford’s career didn’t exactly end on a high note with “Trog,” a campy sci-fi oddity that would be her last venture in front of the camera. She plays Dr. Brockton, an anthropologist trying to communicate with a troglodyte found living in the caves of England (played by a guy in a cheap ape costume). Though it’s far from an undiscovered masterpiece, it’s nevertheless a fascinating cult curiosity that’s especially interesting within the context of Crawford’s career.
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14. AUTUMN LEAVES (1956)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Robert Aldrich. Written by Jean Rouverol, Hugo Butler, Lewis Meltzer, and Robert Blees. Starring Cliff Robertson, Vera Miles, Lorne Greene, Ruth Donnelly, Marjorie Bennett, Frank Gerstle.
A lurid soap opera masked as serious drama, “Autumn Leaves” casts Crawford as a middle-aged typist who falls in love with a younger man (Cliff Robertson) after he sweeps her off her feet. Once they’re married, she’s confronted by his first wife (Vera Miles), who claims he’s mentally deranged. Or is he? The story’s over-the-top material benefits from Robert Aldrich’s robust direction and Crawford’s empathetic performance.
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13. RAIN (1932)
Image Credit: United Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Lewis Milestone. Screenplay by Maxwell Anderson, based on the story by W. Somerset Maugham and the play by John Colton and Clemence Randolph. Starring Walter Huston, Beulah Bondi, Guy Kibbee.
Crawford apparently hated “Rain,” despite fighting tooth-and-nail for the role of Sadie Thompson, a prostitute in the South Pacific who finds herself at odds with a stern missionary (Walter Huston) determined to save her soul. Made during the pre-Code days, the film’s frank handling of sexuality undoubtedly turned off more conservative audiences, leading to its box office failure. This was the second adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s story, which was previously made as “Sadie Thompson” (1928) with Gloria Swanson and subsequently as “Mrs. Sadie Thompson” (1953) with Rita Hayworth.
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12. THE DAMNED DON’T CRY (1950)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Vincent Sherman. Screenplay by Harold Medford and Jerome Weidman, based on the story ‘Case History’ by Gertrude Walker. Starring David Brian, Steve Cochran, Kent Smith, Hugh Sanders, Selena Royle.
Vincent Sherman’s “The Damned Don’t Cry” centers on a bored Texas housewife (Crawford) who abandons her husband after her son dies suddenly. She heads for the big city, where she uses her physical charms to climb the social ladder one man at a time. But when she entangles herself with some violent gangsters, her life becomes endangered. Vincent Sherman’s noir melodrama offers Crawford yet another opportunity to camp it up as an ambitious hellcat who’ll soon meet her just deserts.
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11. HARRIET CRAIG (1950)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Vincent Sherman. Screenplay by Anne Froelick and James Gunn, based on the play ‘Craig’s Wife’ by George Kelly. Starring Wendell Corey, Lucille Watson, Allyn Joslyn, William Bishop, K.T. Stevens.
“Harriet Craig” casts Crawford as yet another ballbuster headed towards a swift comeuppance. She plays the title character, a domineering and calculating housewife obsessed with maintaining the perfect home and life. She’ll stop at nothing to have what she wants, even if it means sacrificing the happiness of her loving husband (Wendell Corey) and her cousin (K.T. Stevens). Eventually, her mistreatment of her staff and family will destroy her carefully-manufactured existence.
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10. STRAIT-JACKET (1964)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by William Castle. Written by Robert Bloch. Starring Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Rochelle Hudson.
The success of “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” provided several older actresses with lucrative roles in horror films, particularly “Baby Jane” star Crawford, whose campy, melodramatic performances proved a perfect match for the genre. In “Straight Jacket,” schlock-meister William Castle casts her as an ax-wielding maniac who spent 20 years in an insane asylum for murdering her husband in front of her daughter. Back on the streets and living with her grown-up kid (Diane Baker), her behavior starts to raise eyebrows.
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9. POSSESSED (1947)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Screenplay by Silvia Richards and Ranald MacDougall, story by Rita Weiman. Starry Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Geraldine Brooks.
This noir potboiler opens with Crawford wandering the streets of LA in a daze, mumbling the name “David” over-and-over again. Confined to a mental hospital, she traces through her past to find out what happened. The star’s operatic performance is able to overcome some of Curtis Bernhardt’s questionable directorial choices, which is heavy on German Expressionism and melodrama. The role brought her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress, which she lost to Loretta Young (“The Farmer’s Daughter”).
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8. THE BEST OF EVERYTHING (1959)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Jean Negulesco. Screenplay by Edith Sommer and Mann Rubin, based on the novel by Rona Jaffe. Starring Hope Lange, Diane Baker, Suzy Parker, Robert Evans, Stephen Boyd, Louis Jourdan, Brian Aherne, Martha Hyer.
“The Best of Everything” is like “The Devil Wears Prada” of the publishing industry, a glossy melodrama about the lives and loves of some determined working women (Hope Lange, Diane Baker, and Suzy Parker) in New York City. Ruling over them is Joan Crawford as the tough-as-nails boss. Jean Negulesco directs with vigor, shooting in widescreen Technicolor with chic art direction and costumes that creates a high class vision of 1950’s Manhattan. Perhaps best known for its Oscar-nominated title song, sang by Johnny Mathis.
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7. SUDDEN FEAR (1952)
Image Credit: ITV/REX/Shutterstock Directed by David Miller. Screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith, based on the novel by Edna Sherry. Starring Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston, Mike Connors.
Crawford earned her third and final Oscar nomination as Best Actress for this tightly-wound yet rather silly suspense thriller. She plays Myra Hudson, a successful playwright who fires an unruly actor (Supporting Actor nominee Jack Palance), then falls in love with him. After they’re married, she discovers her new husband is plotting to kill her with the help of his mistress (Gloria Grahame). But Myra’s got a few tricks up her sleeve. Crawford lost her bid to Shirley Booth in “Come Back, Little Sheba.” (Incidentally, she was competing against her future “Baby Jane” costar/rival Bette Davis in “The Star.”)
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6. HUMORESQUE (1946)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Jean Negulesco. Sceenplay by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold, based on the short story by Fannie Hurst. Starring John Garfield, Oscar Levant, J. Carrol Naish.
Jean Negulesco’s “Humoresque” is an A-list melodrama bolstered by scenery-chewing performances from Crawford and John Garfield. Adapted from Fannie Hurst’s short story, the film tells the story of a talented young violinist (Garfield) who rises from the slums to higher society thanks to the patronage of the neurotic woman (Crawford) who loves him. Franz Waxman earned an Oscar nomination for his score. (That’s classical violinist Isaac Stern doubling for Garfield’s hands and providing the string music on the soundtrack.)
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5. THE WOMEN (1939)
Image Credit: Mgm/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by George Cukor. Screenplay by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, based on the play by Clare Boothe Luce. Starring Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Phyllis Povah, Joan Fontaine, Virginia Weidler, Lucile Watson.
“It’s all about the men!,” the ads proclaimed, yet there’s not a single one to be found in the 130 speaking roles of George Cuckor’s “The Women.” Based on the play by Clare Boothe Luce, the film examines the lives of several Manhattan ladies, centering on housewife Mary Haines (Norma Shearer), whose sunny disposition turns sour when she learns her husband is sleeping with shopgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford). Rosalind Russell is a hoot as Mary’s gossipy cousin, Sylvia Fowler, who spreads the news to all her friends. The black-and-white comedy is noted for a Technicolor sequence featuring a fashion show (which Cukor reportedly hated and wanted to remove).
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4. GRAND HOTEL (1932)
Image Credit: George Hurrell/Mgm/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Edmund Goulding. Screenplay by William A. Drake, based on his play adapted from the novel ‘Menschen im Hotel’ by Vicki Baum. Starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Wallace Berry, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt.
This adaptation of Vicki Baum’s play concerns the goings-on at a place where “nothing ever happens.” The A-list cast includes Greta Garbo as a depressed ballerina; John Barrymore as the jewel thief who loves her; Lionel Barrymore as a dying accountant; Crawford as an ambitious stenographer; and Wallace Berry as her boss and boyfriend. Unabashedly melodramatic and glamorous, “Grand Hotel” set the standard for star-studded, soapy fun. It also holds the dubious distinction of being the only film to win the Oscar for Best Picture without receiving any other nominations.
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3. JOHNNY GUITAR (1954)
Image Credit: Republic/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Nicholas Ray. Screenplay by Philip Yordan, based on the novel by Roy Chanslor. Starring Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady, Ward Bond, Ben Cooper, Ernest Borgnine, John Carradine.
Nicholas Ray’s “Johnny Guitar” rises and falls on Crawford’s broad shoulder pads. She stars as Vienna, a tough-as-nails saloon keeper facing off against an uptight, repressed rival (Mercedes McCambridge) who wants her either run out of town or hanged, whichever’s quicker. There’s more than a little bit of sexual tension between the two women, and observant viewers cited this as an early example of LGBTQ subject matter sneaking its way into Hollywood films. Certainly Crawford’s campy performance — replete with an iconic black pants suit — does little to dissuade audiences from that notion.
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2. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Robert Aldrich. Screenplay by Lukas Heller, based on the novel by Henry Farrell. Starring Bette Davis, Victor Buono, Marjorie Bennett, Maidie Norman, Anna Lee.
Fans of Ryan Murphy’s “Feud: Bette and Joan” know all about the behind-the-scenes rivalry that played out between Crawford and Bette Davis during the making of this terrifying diva fest, and that off-screen tension undoubtedly helped the onscreen one. Davis is Baby Jane, a delusional former child star now terrorizing her paralyzed sister (Crawford). Clad in heavy makeup and outrageous outfits, Davis almost manages to out-camp Crawford, who’s surprisingly subdued and sympathetic. A huge financial success, the film won an Oscar for its costumes and earned four additional bids, including Best Actress for Davis. Crawford, sadly, was overlooked, though BAFTA recognized them both. (She famously got her revenge by manipulating a way to accept Anne Bancroft’s trophy for “The Miracle Worker” in her stead, much to Davis’ ire.)
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1. MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Michael Curtiz. Screenplay by Ranald MacDougall, based on the novel by James M. Cain. Starring Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett.
Crawford came roaring back after being labeled “box office poison” with this wildly successful noir melodrama that won her the Oscar as Best Actress. Based on the novel by James M. Cain, “Mildred Pierce” casts her as a mother determined to make a better life for her children. She works her way up from waitressing to start a successful restaurant chain, yet her ungrateful daughter (Ann Blyth) continues to be a thorn in her side, leading to a tragic series of events. An actress whose performances could sometimes verge on parody, Crawford finds exactly the right balance between camp and empathy with Mildred, creating a hard-edged, ball-busting woman whose heart is always in the right place (and who always has the perfect fur coat for any occasion).
