Description

Joan Crawford was one of the most incandescent movie stars ever, however she was also one of the most misunderstood. In this superbly researched, innovative, and personal resource, best-selling writer Donald Spoto moves beyond the most popular caricature—the violent, unpredictable mother pictured in her adopted daughter Christina Crawford’s memoir, Mommie Dearest—to provide us a three dimensional face of the very individual girl, her stunning job, and her terribly remarkable life and situations. Created with Spoto’s keen eye for detail, and centered on unique interviews and new archival info, Held provides a fascinating picture of the brave, highly formidable, and sexed girl whose push and power created her a precursor in the fledgling movie company. From her hardscrabble youth in Arizona to her beginning as a ballerina in post–World War I Ny to her climb to fame, Spoto traces Crawford’s fifty years of unforgettable shows in classics like Rainfall, The Ladies, Mildred Pierce, and Unexpected Concern, that are as surprising and vibrant today as once they were shot.