The road of the successful

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Movie
German title The road of the successful
Original title Flamingo Road
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1949
length 94 minutes
Rod
Director Michael Curtiz
script Robert Wilder ,
Edmund H. North
production Jerry Wald for Warner Brothers
music Max Steiner
camera Ted D. McCord
cut Folmar Blangsted
occupation

The Street of the Successful (OT: Flamingo Road ) is an American feature film with Joan Crawford directed by Michael Curtiz . The film became one of the studio's most successful theatrical productions for 1949.

action

Tangled dancer Lane Bellamy is stranded in Boldon City one day when the vaudeville show she appears on is banned from appearing. Lane makes the acquaintance of the charming deputy sheriff Fielding Carlisle, who is completely under the influence of Titus Semple, the actual ruler of the city. A romance begins between Lane and Fielding when Titus cuts in. He has big plans for Fielding, who is about to marry the daughter of an influential family. He has Lane arrested under a pretext and expelled from town. Chance comes to the rescue; She gets a job in Lute Mae Sanders' brothel, where the male members of the better society meet regularly to conduct business discreetly or just to have fun. On the occasion, Lane meets the rich Dan Reynolds, the only one in town who dares to stand up to Titus. The two soon fall in love and Dan takes Lane with him on his travels to Washington and New York. One day Lane and Fielding meet again and the old passion boils again. Titus goes out of his way to destroy Lane and therefore spreads calumnies that ruin Dan economically. In one final showdown, Lane accidentally shoots Titus in a scuffle. Dan promises to wait for her should she be sentenced to prison.

background

For her portrayal in As long as a heart beats , Joan Crawford won the Oscar for best leading actress at the Academy Awards in 1946 and the next films Humoresque and Unrestrained Love remained at the high level. Towards the end of the decade, however, Crawford faced the same problems that had prompted them to move from MGM to Warner Brothers . The studio did not give her adequate scripts and new stars like Jane Wyman received more attention than established names like Crawford or Bette Davis . It took the actress over a year to find a suitable script. The road of the successful is based on the literary model of the same name by Robert Wilder, which was adapted to a moderately successful stage play. The studio again entrusted the direction to Michael Curtiz and commissioned a script that was closely based on the basic structure of Solange a heart beats : a woman from a lowly background fights for a life of wealth and expensive clothes against all resistance. Curtiz helped the not always believable events to the necessary speed and could rely on excellent supporting actors. The focal point of the entire plot was the corrupt, scheming character of Titus Semple. Sydney Greenstreet offered one of his best portrayals as a sinister gray eminence who keeps an entire city in fear and terror.

The line of dialogue that is still best known today results from a violent confrontation between Lane and Titus. After insulting Lane, she tells him the fate of an elephant who ran amok in the circus and therefore had to be shot. It ends with a direct look at the very corpulent Titus:

"You don't believe the problems that come with getting rid of a dead elephant!"

Years later, in an interview with Roy Newquist, Crawford was anything but enthusiastic about the flick.

“Another letdown. The script was bad, Curtiz was bad, I was bad. The film just didn't come through, that's all. And another case where my judgment failed me completely. When we made the film, I still thought it would be a good film. Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't one of the films that was later screwed up while editing. "

Theatrical release

At $ 1,528,000, The Road to Success was an average expensive production, but the budget was already well below the budget for the actress' two previous films. The box office results in the US were 2,263,000 US dollars, to which 633,000 US dollars came from abroad. With total gross proceeds of $ 2,896,000, the film became the studio's most financially successful US distributor for 1949.

Reviews

The reviews were mostly negative. They criticized the lack of logic and the sometimes excessive acting of the actors.

Bosley Crowther , who hasn't had a single good word for Joan Crawford in his entire career, said in the New York Times :

“From one dramatic crisis to another, [Joan Crawford] moves like an automaton. Her face, thickly covered with make-up, is an ageless and emotionless mask. "

Howard Barnes was a little friendlier in the New York Herald Tribune

“Joan Crawford devotes herself with gusto to this absolutely implausible and illogical role. As a circus performer who is determinedly trying to advance in an amoral city, she is attractive and lively. "

In contrast, the verdict in the 1990 “Films on TV” lexicon is positive . The film is:

“A study of unscrupulousness. Brilliant teamwork between Crawford and Greenstreet as corrupt politicians. "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Another boner. The script missed, Curtiz missed, I missed. It just didn't jell, that's all, and it's another time when my judgment screwed up completely, because while we were shooting it I thought it would be good. I often wonder if that wasn't one of the films I made that was destroyed by bad editing.
  2. ↑ From one dramatic crisis to the next one, [Joan Crawford] moves like a sleek automaton. Her face, deeply plastered with make-up, is an ageless, emotionless mask.
  3. ↑ Joan Crawford acquits herself ably in an utterly nonsensical and undefined part. As a carnival performer who determines to move to the right side of an anomalous town, she is attractive and vital.
  4. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon 'Films on TV' . Extended new edition. Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 781