Unrestrained love

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Movie
German title Unrestrained love
Original title Possessed
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1947
length 108 minutes
Rod
Director Curtis Bernhardt
script Ranald MacDougall ,
Lawrence Menkin ,
Silvia Richards
production Jerry Wald for Warner Brothers
music Franz Waxman
camera Joseph Valentine
cut Rudi Fehr
occupation

Uninhibited Love (OT: Possessed ) is an American film noir from 1947 with Joan Crawford and Van Heflin in the lead roles. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt .

action

An apparently mentally confused woman wanders the streets of Los Angeles and asks passers-by for a "David". She is taken to the psychiatric clinic by Dr. Harvey Willard brought in. The doctor suspects that the collapse, which manifests itself in catatonia , is a strong emotional shock to the patient. By means of psychotherapeutic treatment, the doctor succeeds in getting the woman - Louise Howell - to tell her story. Louise works as a nurse in the household of the wealthy Dean Graham, where she takes care of his wife, who has long been bedridden. One day, Louise met the architect David Sutton, but after a brief affair with her, he quickly lost interest. Louise, on the other hand, develops an obsessive love for him despite David's rejections. After the suicide of Dean's wife, Louise agrees to marry Dean. David, who has lived abroad for a long time, returns unexpectedly. Louise succumbs to her mania for love again . Dean's daughter, who has meanwhile grown up, and David fall in love. He informs Louise that he will marry Carol. Louise now completely loses her temper and shoots David. During a visit to the clinic, the doctor tells Dean that there is a good chance that his wife will be completely cured after a lengthy treatment process. He also takes the view that, in his opinion, Louise was not responsible for David's death due to insanity, but that the final decision should be made by the court. Dean Graham goes to Louise's bedside, who has not yet awakened from her deep sleep. He affirms his love for her and his willingness to do everything possible to support her recovery process.

background

In terms of content, unrestrained love has no relation to the 1931 film of the same name with Joan Crawford in the English original entitled Possessed .

The actress had terminated her contract with MGM in 1943 after 18 years and moved to Warner Brothers . For her performance in Mildred Pierce won Joan Crawford on the Oscar ceremony in 1946 the Oscar for best actress and the next film, Humoresque , proved to be a success with critics and audiences. In contrast to the mostly shallow triangular stories at MGM, Crawford took on mostly dramatic roles at this point in her career, in which she had to fight for her place against the hostility of society.

According to Georg Seeßlen :

“[Joan Crawford] in almost all of her films of this time [...] the woman who has to fight her struggle with circumstances, with the adversities that society and chance hold in store for her. Joan Crawford becomes harder through the suffering, she becomes a stone person. [...] The intended end of the Joan Crawford woman is total distance from the world, an emotional inaccessibility. [...] No matter how strong a woman Joan Crawford may be, in the end she wasn't strong enough. "

Unrestrained love is part of a whole cycle of similar films that dealt with the subject of psychoanalysis and psychiatry. For the first time, this relatively new branch of science became the focus of the plot back in 1935 in senior physician Dr. Monet posed with Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer . Ann Harding also plays a psychiatrist in The Flame Within from the same year . A good ten years later, it almost became a kind of genre of its own. Alfred Hitchcock used the trend in I fight for you . Claudette Colbert had to fight in The Secret Heart with the neurotic fixation of her stepdaughter on her father and Gene Tierney even became a murderer in mortal sin out of excessive affection for her dead father. Lady in the Dark , after a successful Broadway show , even treated the heroine Ginger Rogers' psychiatric problems in various musical numbers. With The Snake Pit of 1948, an increasingly critical look began at the actual conditions in the closed departments of psychiatry and the sometimes rigid treatment methods.

Joan Crawford was well aware of the complexity of the role and did thorough research beforehand, as she explained to Roy Newquist:

“I think I worked harder for Unrestrained Love than any other movie in my career. Don't let anyone convince you that it is easy to play crazy, especially a psychopath. At first I thought that too, believed that you just had to let go of all inhibitions and you would be either manic or depressed. Both extremes have earned [the cast] Oscar wins. But that's the wrong interpretation of psychosis, believe me. I understood that when we started production. So I used my relationships and got entry to mental health facilities in Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, and UCLA. I talked to psychiatrists; one of them was so nice and read the script. He explained to me how exactly it would portray a psychotic woman's problems and how to play the difficult scenes. I think I did well. It was a heavy, heavy film, not very pleasant, and I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time we finished filming. I don't think I would have the strength to make such a film again. "

Theatrical release

The film was nationally distributed on July 26, 1947. A cost of $ 2,592,000 made Unrestrained Love a prestige production for the studio and the most expensive Crawford film ever. He grossed a sizeable amount of $ 1,987,000 in the US, but lagged significantly behind the results of the two previous films for Warners. With foreign revenues of US $ 1,085,000, the studio was able to realize a total result of US $ 3,027,000, which was still well above the average of their last MGM flicks.

Awards

Joan Crawford went to the 1948 Academy Awards for her performance with a nomination as

  • Best main actress

Reviews

James Agee wrote an enthusiastic review in Time :

“Most of the film was shot with extraordinary strength and empathy. The film is played extraordinarily well [..] Although she is not entirely convincing in the most brutal scenes, Miss Crawford is otherwise excellent. She plays with the passion and intelligence of an actress who is not satisfied with an Oscar alone. Overall, the minor flaws don't affect this unusual film, where a lot of people who have a lot to give give everything they can. "

Howard Barnes found in the New York Herald Tribune :

“Miss Crawford is best when she's mad. The actress has evidently worked very carefully into the aspects of insanity in order to believably play a woman who is possessed by devils. "

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 .
  • Georg Seeßlen: Cinema of feelings - history and mythology of the film melodrama. (Roloff and Seeßlen, Vol. 9). Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-499-17366-2 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Seeßlen p. 106f.
  2. ↑ I think I worked harder on "Possessed" than on any other picture I ever made. Don't let anyone tell you it's easy to play a madwoman, particularly a psychotic. I used to think so, that you just pulled out all the stops and acted either manic or depressive and that was it. Both extremes have won, as you know, Oscars. But it's the wrong interpretation of psychosis, believe me, and I realized that just as we were ready to start production. So I pulled a few strings here and there so I could actually observe what went on in psycho wards up in Santa Barbara and at hospitals in Santa Monica and at UCLA. I talked to psychiatrists; one was even kind enough to read the script and tell me how accurately it depicted a psychotic woman (for the most part it was on the nose) and how he thought I should handle the difficult scenes. I think it came off well. It was a heavy, heavy picture, not very pleasant, and I was emotionally and physically exhausted when we finished shooting. I don't think I'd have the strength to attempt anything like it again.
  3. ↑ Most of it is filmed with unusual imaginativeness and force. The film is uncommonly well acted [..] Though she is not quite up to her hardest scenes, Miss Crawford is generally excellent, performing with the passion and intelligence of an actress who is not content with just one Oscar. In fact, the weaknesses in this unusual movie do not greatly matter beside the fact that a lot of people who have a lot to give are giving it all they've got.
  4. ↑ Miss Crawford is at her best in the mad scenes. The actress has obviously studied the aspects of insanity to re-create a rather terrifying portrait of a woman possessed by devils.