THE WOMEN (1939) Amidst an all star cast of women such as Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard and Rosalind Russell...Joan positively shines the brightest. Her character Crystal Allen is beautiful, manipulative and funny. A great performance by Joan.
MILDRED PIERCE (1946) Her Oscar winning performance is a must see as she battles with the daughter from hell (Ann Blyth).
GRAND HOTEL (1932) Another all star cast which features heavyweights Greta Garbo, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. Joan was a young and beguiling 27 when she made this picture and she more than held her own with the veterans.
and last but not least..WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) The dream pairing of Joan and Bette Davis lived up to the hype in this extremely demented and satisfying thriller. Bette may have had the showier part but Joan gave a restrained but highly effective performance.
So there you have it, my picks for Joan's birthday viewing pleasure. If TCM invited me to be their guest programmer. I would like to hear everyone else's personal choices they would have made honoring Joan.
Excellent choices. She had other good roles, but I'd say those are the four best and most representative of all phases of her career.
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