The Damned Don't Cry (1950)

The Damned Don't Cry (1950)** 1/2 (out of 4) After the death of her child, the always poor Ethel Whitehead (Joan Crawford) moves to NYC to try and make something of herself. She eventually hooks up with gangster George Castleman (David Brian) who sends her out West to spy on another gangster (Steve Cochran) who she falls in love with. THE DAMNED DON'T CRY isn't perfect but for fans of Crawford it's certainly good enough to make it worth watching. I think those unfamiliar with Crawford will probably enjoy the film even more because her fans are going to find the set-up something rather familiar as the actress quite often played poor women who would work themselves up through the ranks. Of course, the one difference here is that she gets involved with two gangsters and this leads to a rather predictable ending that really doesn't work. With that said, there are enough good moments to make this worth sitting through. I actually thought the best part of the film was early on when the woman first went to New York and we see how determined she is to make money and how she soon realizes that she's not going to get it in a legit way. The screenplay has a flaw of going so quickly from the "poor" to the "gangster moll" but this doesn't hurt the film too much. As you'd expect, Crawford is very good here but then again she could have played a role like this in her sleep. She manages to be very believable early on and I especially liked the way she played the mother in the early moments. Both Brian and Cochran are extremely believable in the roles of the gangsters as both come across very threatening. Kent Smith is also good in his supporting role of a bookmaker. THE DAMNED DON'T CRY was directed by Vincent Sherman who does a nice job at keeping everything moving at a good pace. The film certainly has its flaws but it's an enjoyable effort.

Catch those predatory petroleum pumps in Ethel's (Crawford) backyard. They look like feasting vultures as they bob up and down into the ground. No wonder she wants to get the heck out of poverty row, especially with a tightwad husband and a crabby father. And this being Crawford, we know how she'll do it. Watch her climb up the ladder from cheap model to gambler's moll to phony socialite, chewing up men the whole way. So what if she puts one foot into organized crime in the process. Men do it all the time. No doubt about it, she's a female shark who knows what she wants and gets it. But we sympathize anyway knowing what her past has been like. Yes indeed, this is a Crawford role, in spades.Okay, so maybe dear Joan is a ripe 45, a time when most female stars have drifted into wife and motherhood roles. But she's still got fire in those big liquid eyes, and besides, at her age, she knows the tricks in how to seduce a man. I like the way the screenplay toys with that touchy angle. Then too, it's quite a collection of male stars she works her way through—a smooth David Bryan, a sexy Steve Cochran, a dour Richard Egan. But I especially like the bland Kent Smith whose colorless personality perfectly suits a bookkeeper's role. You might even say that in the end he scores an odd moral victory over the more dashing types.Anyway it's Crawford at the height of her golden period, 1945-1955, when she, almost single-handedly, flew the colors of middle-aged women everywhere. It's also golden age Hollywood, when lush studio hokum is hitting on all eight cylinders.

"The Damned Don't Cry" released in 1950, stars Joan Crawford in the type of film she was famous for throughout much of her 'second' career at Warner Brothers. Crawford plays Ethel Whitehead, a working-class mother married to a loser. She stays with him because of their son; the son is then tragically killed, and Ethel leaves her dumbell husband and her parents behind. Ethel get hired as a "model," one who is also expected to entertain the male clientele. There she meets a dull but honest accountant, Martin (Kent Smith). He loves her and wants to marry her, but Ethel has her eyes on a new man, a handsome -- and dangerous --wealthy hotshot named George (David Brian). He introduces her to a world of riches beyond her wildest dreams, but at a price. The film gets involved and complicated, with George wanting Ethel (who has now changed her name to Lorna!) to seduce his rival, Nick, (Steve Cochran) to gain access to all his connections and secrets. The film has some implausible situations, to say the least. Crawford, at age 45, was a tad bit too old for the role, although she looks great. The character of slimeball Nick (Cochran) has wealth built on ruthlessness. He is obviously a good 12 - 15 years younger than Crawford, and his immediately falling for her seems a stretch, considering he could likely have any woman he wanted. Nevertheless, this is Crawford's show, and she does not disappoint, although the script is somewhat routine of movies of that era. The supporting players are fine in their respective roles. David Brian and Steve Cochran play their roles with all the appropriate sleaze required of them. Kent Smith, playing a milquetoast, turns out to be the real deal: his love for Ethel, in the end, does not waiver.

Joan Crawford revitalized a flagging career when she left MGM and signed with Warner Brothers in the '40s. "The Damned Don't Cry" is just one of the very entertaining films she made for Warners, which include "Mildred Pierce," for which she won an Oscar and "Flamingo Road." The formula usually follows the rags to riches line, something Crawford was very good at indeed.Here, she's Ethel Whitehead, a wife and mother of a young boy who dies in an accident, at which point Ethel takes off seeking money, nice things, and the fun she's never had in life. She soon comes to the attention of a clothes manufacturer who has her model the clothes and encourage the buyers to spend their cash after hours. She rides the coattails of a bland CPA (Kent Smith) into the mob domain of George Castleman (David Brian), who gives her a life she only dreamed of - a society name, expensive digs, great trips, clothes and jewels - and no ring on third finger, left hand. Not that anyone has mentioned if she divorced her first husband (Richard Egan). Castleman, suspicious of Nick Prenta (Steve Cochran) who runs his western territory sends Ethel - now "Lorna Hanson Forbes" out to investigate and inveigle her way into Prenta's life to find out what he's planning. It's then that "Lorna" realizes she's just another thing that Castleman uses.This is a slick, fast-moving noir that is basically all Joan all the time. Surrounded by a strong cast, she's the only real star, and she looks it in her beautiful clothes and jewels. She's at her glamorous best here in 1950, right before she hardened into almost a caricature of herself in the '50s and '60s. I can't agree that Crawford's age (46) gets in the way and that Ava Gardner would have been better. Ethel/Lorna is the type of role at which Joan excelled. It was believable, to me at least, that these men were all attracted to her - her character has guts, intelligence, beauty and sexuality. David Brian is her brutish boyfriend, and the scene where he surprises her out west is quite violent, even by today's standards. Steve Cochran is handsome, boyish, and thug-like as Prenta, and he comes on strong."The Damned Don't Cry" is directed with great spirit by Vincent Sherman and will keep the viewer involved throughout.