Torch Song

Director: Charles Walters Charles Walters

Overview

Hollywood's Joan Crawford returned to MGM studios at age 50 after she stayed away for ten years. This time, she plays a hard-shelled Broadway performer who butts heads with her blind piano player/musical arranger. She has finally met someone who doesn't kowtow to her demands. After bickering over various subjects, she falls in love with him. This romantic drama features quite a few well-known musical numbers for the time. Director Charles Walters, who was previously a dancer/choreagrapher, can be briefly seen dancing with Crawford.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/28/2017
UPC:	0888574474997
Original Release:	1953
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:30:00
Sales rank:	38,016

Special Features

Featurette Tough Baby: Torch Song; Classic TV of Tomorrow ; Vintage Crawford Jimmy Fund Public Service Announcement Trailer; Audio-Only Bonus: Crawford Recording Sessions; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Joan Crawford	Jenny Stewart
Michael Wilding	Tye Graham
Gig Young	Cliff Willard
Marjorie Rambeau	Mrs. Stewart
Harry Morgan	Joe Denner
Dorothy Patrick	Martha
James Todd	Philip Norton
Eugene Loring	Gene the Dance Director
Paul Guilfoyle	Monty Rolfe
Benny Rubin	Charlie Maylor
Peter Chong	Peter
Maidie Norman	Anne
Nancy Gates	Celia Stewart
Chris Warfield	Chuck Peters
Rudy Render	Party Singer
Charles Walters	Ralph Ellis
John Rosser	Chauffeur
Norma Jean Salina	Margaret
Reginald Simpson	Cab Driver
Adolph Deutsch	Conductor,Composer
Mimi Gibson	Susie
Mitchell Lewis	Bill the Doorman
Peggy King	Cora
Michael Wilding Sr.	Tye Graham

Technical Credits

John Michael Hayes

Jan Lustig

Charles Walters	Director
John Michael Hayes	Screenwriter
Jan Lustig	Screenwriter
Henry Berman	Producer
Sidney Franklin	Producer
Charles Schnee	Producer

Editorial Reviews

A prime example of the "incredibly-bad-but-enormously-entertaining" film, Torch Song is a hoot from start to finish and a favorite of bad film aficionados. Playing the kind of tough hardened dame that had become her trademark (she "has the mouth of an angel, but the words that come out are pure tramp," as one character says), Joan Crawford turns in the kind of over-the-top, ludicrous performance that is entirely removed from reality, yet maintains an undeniable fascination; one simply cannot look away. Much the same can be said of the entire film, which tends to elicit a "Did-they-really-say-that?" response from viewers. Filled with incredible, instantly quotable dialogue (such as Crawford snapping to the blind Michael Wilding, "Why don't you get yourself a seeing-eye girl," or criticizing a chorus boy who trips over her leg with "He gets paid a very handsome salary to dance around that leg!"), the script piles cliché upon cliché and sidesteps no opportunity to provide its star with a "big scene," no matter how poorly set up. Even the physical production provokes laughs, from the inch-thick make-up on the star to the faux-modern bedroom set. The piece-de-resistance, however, is the legendary "Two Faced Woman" number, featuring staggeringly inept choreography, gaudy costumes, an all-too-obviously dubbed Crawford and possibly the most embarrassing use of blackface ever in a major production. (Crawford's emotional outburst at the end of the number is in a class by itself.) Torch Song may not have turned out to be the kind of film its star intended it to be, but it is definitely a memorably experience.