Sometimes the release on DVD of a particular film in which, ostensibly, I have very little interest makes me watch it regardless when it happens to get shown on TV – and this is just one such example. Actually, it forms part of a Box Set which does contain at least two enticing titles: Frank Borzage’s STRANGE CARGO (1940) and George Cukor’s A WOMAN’S FACE (1941).

Although hardly one of my personal favorites, Joan Crawford was one of Hollywood’s foremost leading ladies: starting out in the late Silent era, she epitomized the “woman’s pictures” in the 1930s and 1940, eventually winning an Oscar for Michael Curtiz’s superb noir-ish melodrama, MILDRED PIERCE (1945). By the time Crawford did TORCH SONG, she had been a freelancer for ten years and this marked a return to the studio which had discovered her, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Stories of entertainment divas alienating their loved ones through their constant tantrums were already clichéd by this time, I suppose, but this is nevertheless a watchable and, given that there are a few musical numbers, surprisingly painless diversion which has, somewhat unaccountably, earned a reputation of late as a camp classic. This may be down mostly to the fact that Crawford (whose singing voice is dubbed) does one of her routines, “Two-Faced Woman”, in blackface; incidentally, this song was originally meant for Vincente Minnelli’s THE BAND WAGON (1953) as a duet of sorts between Cyd Charisse and Oscar Levant! This is not to say that watching Crawford (in her late forties and her first full-length feature in Technicolor) showing off her legs at every available opportunity does not give rise to some amusement.

Crawford’s leading man here is Britain’s Michael Wilding as a blind pianist(!) and her no-nonsense mother is played by Marjorie Rambeau (who was, surprisingly enough, even nominated for an Oscar); the supporting cast is further filled out by rather thankless turns from Gig Young (as Crawford’s playboy companion) and Harry Morgan (as the theatrical impresario). Director/choreographer Charles Walters rounded out a good year for him with this movie – which had also included the Oscar-nominated LILI and Esther Williams’ most popular vehicle, DANGEROUS WHEN WET.

After a ten year absence in which Joan Crawford proved she was not by any means through as an actress when she won an Oscar for Mildred Pierce, she came back to MGM for what became her second musical role in Torch Song. She plays a Broadway star, a temperamental one at that which I think was modeled on Ethel Merman who's tired of everyone including her family of using her.

It takes a blind musician played by Michael Wilding to set her straight about herself. But Wilding's got his reasons, he remembers her as a promising young singer whom he saw before he went off to war and lost his vision.

Crawford also probably drew on her own experiences as a film star with the number of hangers-on folks like her inevitably develop. That would also include her husbands, thespians though they all were as well. And she had blood relatives as well who lived off her celebrity.

Joan's vocals were dubbed by India Adams and having heard Joan actually sing, she sounds nothing like Ms. Adams. In the beginning she dances with Charles Walters and I wish Torch Song had included more of that. A lot of people forget that it was as a dancer that Joan Crawford got her start at MGM way back in silent films.

One of the songs interpolated in the score was Tenderly, one of the great romantic ballads of the Fifties. Right about this time Rosemary Clooney was enjoying a big megahit from her recording for Columbia Records. No doubt that helped the box office of Torch Song.

Marjorie Rambeau got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as Joan's mother. She lost to Donna Reed for From Here To Eternity. Harry Morgan as the director of the revue Joan is rehearsing for also scores well in this film.

One of her numbers as Joan in a black wig looking very much like Lena Horne. I don't think that anything disrespectful was meant in this, in fact I think it was an homage to Lena Horne. MGM had signed Lena Horne a decade earlier and then didn't quite know what to do with her. Maybe they were making some amends.

Torch Song is not one of Joan Crawford's better films, but her legion of fans will approve and she's good in the part. I just wish she'd danced some more.

Love classic film. Love musicals (or sort of a semi-musical in 'Torch Song's' case). Consider Joan Crawford a great actress, who gave a lot of great, and more in many cases, in a number of good and more films, 'Mildred Pierce' springs to mind. There was talent in the cast and Charles Walters was a more than capable director.

So 'Torch Song' could have been a recipe for success. Despite its not particularly good, to put it lightly, reputation, actually wanted to like it. Sadly, what could and should have been a success instead turned out to be a misconceived and "to be seen to be believed" misfire of fairly big proportions. Have certainly seen far worse films, recently and ever, of the genre and of the golden/classic era, but 'Torch Song' is down there as one of the weirdest, most bizarre, most uncomfortably camp and most overblown films seen recently, of the 50s and overall.

Certainly there are a few salvageable elements. Parts are nicely shot and there is some nice use of colour that are like their own characters. Walters directs ably considering what he had to work with.

Also thought that the supporting cast, with one exception, were pretty good. Michael Wilding underplays beautifully as the most, and only for that matter, sympathetic character in the whole film, while Marjorie Rambeau gives it her all. Walters himself makes a nice brief appearances.

On the other hand, 'Torch Song' has a lot of faults. One of its biggest faults, sad to say, is a too old Crawford overacting to a wild and quite dreadful degree, quite possibly a career worst in one of her worst films. The supporting cast exception is Gig Young, his role is pointless and he never was this much of a jerk or this colourless. The characters are cliché ridden in a film that piles clichés on whenever it possibly can, only Wilding's being halfway likeable, and mostly the film looks over-saturated and artificial.

The songs are forgettable, blandly staged and awkwardly danced. The singing is okay but the dubbing for Crawford is obvious. The exception to the forgettable songs/musical numbers being forgettable is "Two Faced Woman", not for the song itself but for the staging which makes one cringe and feel uncomfortable for obvious reasons and is difficult to take seriously.

Furthermore, the script is ridiculously hammy, some real howlers here, and provides laughter and chortles for all the wrong reasons. The barely existent story plods badly, with an atmosphere that has campy and overblown all over it, giving off a bizarre-ness that most likely was not intended. The ending was not buyable for a second, very contrived, too pat and like the rest of the film didn't happen with character behaviours really not making sense.

In conclusion, not a complete mess but didn't work for me. 4/10 Bethany Cox