There’s no two ways about it – Joan Crawford had a reputation as an out and out bitch.

I’ve not seen This Woman is Dangerous as far as I can recall, but it is a melodramatic noir thriller from 1952. I bought this poster cheaply because I thought it was a great image and with a view to flipping it, but I am now quite tempted to keep it. It is certainly very evocative of both the period and the genre, which I like. 

Like a lot of very old Belgian posters one finds nowadays, the top (blank) space left for the theatre snipe has been trimmed off, which strangely does not seem to have a huge detrimental affect on value for Belgian posters from this period.

This also gives me an excuse to post this photo of Faye Dunaway as Crawford in the 1981 biopic Mommie Dearest. I think I may have seen the movie during my university film reviewing days (hence me owning the memorabilia) but I have zero recollection of it. It has quite a reputation, however, as a histrionic stinker. I have however definitely read the book it is based on (by Joan’s daughter) and it certainly pulls no punches about what a nightmare she was. 

Post-script: Joan Crawford even had a song named after her (one of my favourites by US heavy rockers Blue Oyster Cult), which riffs off her fearsome reputation. Its chorus: “Joan Crawford has risen from the grave…”!

The poster above for This Woman Is Dangerous is for sale.  Click here for details.