Drama

Romance

Flamingo Road

Warner Bros. Pictures

Michael Curtiz Productions

United States of America

English

Joan Crawford

Zachary Scott

Sydney Greenstreet

David Brian

Gladys George

Virginia Huston

Fred Clark

Gertrude Michael

Alice White

Sam McDaniel

Tito Vuolo

Iris Adrian

Larry J. Blake

Dick Elliott

Morgan Farley

Roy Gordon

Fred Kelsey

Dale Robertson

Pat Gleason

Sunny Knight

William Bailey

Edward Biby

Carol Brewster

Frank Cady

Steve Carruthers

James Gonzalez

Jan Kayne

William H. O'Brien

Lina Romay

Charles Sherlock

Bert Stevens

Robert Strange

Pierre Watkin

M.A. Bogue

Paul Bradley

Ralph Brooks

Tristram Coffin

James Conaty

Russ Conway

Paul Cristo

James Flavin

John Gallaudet

Kay Garrett

Kenneth Gibson

Dick Gordon

William Haade

Sam Harris

George Hoagland

Douglas Kennedy

Leslie Kimmell

Mike Lally

Thomas Martin

John McGuire

Sammy McKim

Garry Owen

Dick Ryan

Frank J. Scannell

Tom Stevenson

Michael Curtiz

Jerry Wald

Ted D. McCord

Robert Wilder

Edmund H. North

Sally Wilder

Max Steiner

David Curtiz

Betty Delmont

Folmar Blangsted

Leo K. Kuter

Howard Winterbottom

Perc Westmore

Edwin Allen

Robert B. Lee

Travilla

Ya can't go wrong in this town if you say Yep to the right people and Nope to the rest.

Flamingo Road is directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted to screenplay by Robert Wilder from his own play of the same name (with Sally Wilder). It stars Joan Crawford, Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, David Bryan and Gladys George. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Ted D. McCord. 

When circumstance sees Lane Bellamy (Crawford) stuck in Bolden City, she quickly finds herself embroiled in a love affair and involved in a war with political tyrant Sheriff Titus Semple (Greenstreet).

The Moody kind always cause trouble. 

Southern Gothic - cum - politico melodrama with noirish tints, Flamingo Road gets above average due to high tech credits and a superbly nasty turn from Greenstreet. Essentially the pic is about a girl from the other side of the tracks making her way up the social ladder, but she has to lock horns with a nasty piece of work and battle with affairs of the heart. 

Flamingo - Affluent - Road! 

It's strong on narrative terms, the screenplay neatly blending the greed of political posers with almost perverse social wiles. Curtiz (Mildred Pierce/The Unsuspected) and McCord (Johnny Belinda/The Breaking Point) keep it brisk and atmospherically moody, while the impressive Greenstreet - all sweaty, ambiguous and devilish, is surrounded by a more than competent cast of supporting players. 

What of Crawford? Wisely "requesting" that Curtiz be given the director's job, she's compelling and classically committed to the role. It's true to say she is too old for the character, something which her fans are known to hate reading, while both the actors playing her love interests are almost 10 years her junior - which is a bit of a reality stretch for the era. However, such is her acting ability, she gets you on side quickly, with the makers shooting her in soft focus and the writer giving her good work to use off of the page. 

A strange movie in some ways, but intriguing and sharp and it's never dull. While the quality on show from both sides of the camera is most pleasing. 7/10

Flamingo Road - Trailer

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Flamingo Road

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Cast

Joan Crawford

Zachary Scott

Sydney Greenstreet

David Brian

Gladys George

Virginia Huston

Fred Clark

Gertrude Michael

Alice White

Sam McDaniel

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