Le masque arraché

David Miller directed this noir and it's loony in the best possible ways. It's outrageously plotted and impeccably mounted and features some of Joan Crawford's best post-MILDRED PIERCE acting. Crawford is a profoundly wealthy heiress/playwright who falls wildly in love with actor Jack Palance (after having him fired from her play!). Mayhem ensues as Crawford & Palance head to San Francisco where their courtship is tied together in a series of montages. Miller keeps this fast paced thriller moving and he's helped along by a stunning Elmer Bernstein score. Crawford emotes a lot in her own inimitable style but really has just one moment of pure Crawford camp...as she discovers that the diabolical Palance is not at all what he seems. The great supporting cast includes Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett and a very young Mike Connors as "Junior."

What a truly slick, subtle, tense, clever movie this is. It's a real story of revenge and malice, the characters shine with all sorts of wonderful emotions, we see love, empathy, and true hatred. Joan Crawford is tremendous in the role, her betrayed character goes from love sick puppy to calculating plotter. Jack Palance is terrific, he cut a striking figure, but it's his charisma and presence that make him so wonderful to watch, the pair combine so well, I truly believed his behaviour towards her was sincere. The supporting cast are terrific also. Wonderful story telling, it managed to have some great moments of tension, it also delivers a few shocks. The music is great, but the best factor of all must be the cinematography, it's stunningly produced, lavish and incredibly well shot, it has a big budget feel to it. I can't find any fault at all, it had me gripped and captivated. 9/10

Joan Crawford was absolutely marvelous in this 1952 thriller. In this film, she plays a wealthy playwright who rejects Jack Palance for the lead role in her new play only to wind up marrying him instead. Crawford has everything until she discovers from a taping machine that Palance and secret girl friend, Gloria Grahame, plot to kill him. Using her writing talents, Crawford concocts a plan to outdo them. Remorse sets in before she can do this but she is aided by fate as the film ends. Crawford becomes mesmerizing once she knows she is an intended victim. Gloria Grahame certainly had a busy 1952. Besides this film, she collected the supporting Oscar for "The Bad and the Beautiful," and was also in the best picture winner that year-"The Greatest Show on Earth." Palance displays the villain type character that he would make famous in his 50+ film year career.

If anyone has any doubt about Joan Crawford's greatness as an actor, then watch this movie. Her performance is sensational as the playwright who accidentally finds out that she is being set up. The story is compelling and conveys the sense of foreboding and suspense which grabs and keeps the audience's attention. Jack Palance gives a strong and convincing performance as a conman who marries Ms. Crawford. He is suave, urbane and sinister. Yet this movie is a Joan Crawford showcase. She is the center of the story and she succeeds in making this movie a most effective work of cinematic art. The cinematography is outstanding; it captures and conveys the sense of terror as the audience is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride toward a final, exciting conclusion.

Joan Crawford is a playwright who marries Jack Palance and then realizes he is planning to kill her. The formula works this time, thanks largely to the impressive acting of both Crawford and her leading man, Jack Palance. Gloria Grahame is the "other woman" (as usual) and plays an important part in the plot twist that provides a surprise ending. Nail biting suspense, this is a film noirish kind of thriller that goes into full gear once Crawford learns her marriage is a mistake. Both Joan and Bette Davis (real-life rivals) were nominated for Best Actress Oscars when this was released (Davis for 'The Star') but they both lost to Shirley Booth (for 'Come Back, Little Sheba'). A good, crisp, no-nonsense thriller that showed us how good Jack Palance was in sinister roles.

"Sudden fear" is everything a good thriller should be.An inventive use of the recorder (an antique today!);The "revenge is a dish best eaten cold" subject masterfully treated;The "flashforwards" in the conditional tense -the "accidents" ,"Irene's schedule"-;the things which seem banal and which play a prominent part in the story:the clock,the wind-up toy,the mirror,all contributes to building a film full of suspense .The three leads ,Joan Crawford , a wealthy lady getting old and thinking she 's found true love,Jack Palance ,not the romantic lead of her play but a disturbing character ,and Gloria Grahame at her bitchiest are terrific. Like this?Try these....... "Sorry wrong number" Anatole Litvak 1948 "Dial M for Murder" Alfred Hitchcock 1954 "Les Diaboliques" Henri Georges Clouzot 1955 "Sleep my love" Douglas Sirk 1948