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5 Feet of Fury

Kathy Shaidle's blog. Est. 2000

‘Torch Song’ (or, ‘That One With Joan Crawford in Black Face’) airs this afternoon on TCM

November 12, 2014 By Kathy Shaidle

I wrote about it here at length.

Made when she was about to turn 50 (but looks older through 2014 eyes)…

Crawford displays her famous sense of self-awareness — she knew exactly where her key light was (and where it should be). But for some reason, this same attention to microscopic personal detail stopped being applied to anything from her neck up when she reached mid-life.

Crawford had an astonishing figure, even in middle age, and she knows it, wisely wearing cinched waists, bullet bras (the better to display the recent “work” done on her breasts), 3/4 sleeves and high necklines but showing off her stunning dancer’s legs at every opportunity.

However — and I invite Crawford fans to explain — this self-awareness went haywire when she reached her forties and started favoring weirdly shaped short hairstyles with curls that resemble nothing so much as clenched fists, and doing that thing with her lipstick and eyebrow pencil.

The result is the creepy androgyny which made her beloved of gay men.

(Note the repeated assurance in the trailer below that Crawford is a “woman” and “female.”)

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