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| In case you have been locked in a dungeon for most of your life, I will tell you that "Mommie Dearest" was originally a tell-all book about the twisted relationship between Christina Crawford and her movie star mother, Joan Crawford. Christina's book made Joan out to be a vicious conniving bitch that stomped on everyone that was unfortunate enough to get within shouting distance.
Then along comes this movie. Somehow they convinced a serious actress like Faye Dunaway to act like a complete maniac, turning the story into one of Joan's B-movie horror flicks from the late 60's or early 70's. They even give her a scene where she gets to wield an axe like a madwoman, just like in the real Joan's famous William Castle film "Strait Jacket." The only thing missing is Bette Davis in some antagonistic role (I'm sure Bette laughed her ass off when she saw this one... ...too bad her own daughter trashed her in a similar book).
Knowing that the story is true, at least according to Christina, makes anyone watching this movie feel like a rubbernecker at the scene of a tragic car accident. We get to watch as Joan dresses up in daffy clothes that either match the drapery or whatever Christina is wearing. She yells at the maids for not getting the floor clean enough. Later, she chops off Tina's hair with a handy pair of scissors and even tries to make Tina eat a bloody steak (three meals in a row). During one fit Joan hacks down her own prize rose garden with a pair of garden shears and chops down a tree with just a few swings of an axe. In the movie's most famous sequence Joan stalks into Christina's room in the middle of the night and blows sky high when she finds a dress hanging on a lousy wire hanger. She demolishes the closet and the bedroom, then drags the fight into the bathroom and beats Christina with a couple cans of cleanser. I dare you not to feel the hair stand up on the back of your neck when she spots that first wire hanger in the closet.
And that's just the first hour or so! After Tina gets a little older, her mother ups the ante by pulling stunts. Tina has to work her way through school instead of just paying for it outright. Joan tackles Christina over an end table and tries to choke her to death right in front of a reporter, then throws her daughter into a convent against her will. By tossing around the "F" word around she effects a hostile takeover of the Board of Directors at Pepsi Cola. Then Joan ruins Christina's character on a soap opera by filling in for her while stinking drunk and finally disinherits her in the will.
But Joan isn't the only one who's bonkers. The director seems to be trying to make some sort of weird hybrid of a horror film and a daytime drama. The scriptwriters appear to be in on the joke; coming up with hilarious dialogue for the unfortunate actors to scream at one another. However, the absurdity of Faye Dunaway bellowing "NO WIRE HANGERS!" seems to have gone right over the heads of the producers. Plus, the editor must have been absent when they went over the concept of "continuity" in Filmmaking 101.
In short? You are out of your mind if you miss this one. You'll swear off wire hangers and scouring powder for good; I promise you.
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| Things I Learned From This Movie: | |
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 | Faye Dunaway has more facial muscles than the average human being, most of them located in her forehead.
| | Nothing is clean.
| | At times, cleanser can be more of a problem than a solution.
| | Gardening is more fun when you do it in the middle of the night.
| | Movie stars are known to dip their faces in hot water, alcohol, and ice as part of their daily hygiene regimens.
| | One woman can easily make use of ten thousand shoes.
| | It is not necessary to keep your eyes on the road in order to effectively operate a motor vehicle. Furthermore, Vodka enhances one's driving abilities.
| | Cosmetics can be really scary, especially a cold cream and lipstick combo.
| | Businessmen in charge of large corporations are easily shocked by the "F" word.
| | Movie editors often fall asleep on the job. Furthermore, nobody else notices until the movie comes out.
| | My mother wasn't really that neurotic after all.
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| 1 min - Wait, is this Mummy Dearest?
| | 7 mins - OK so like... ...he gets naked in front of her, then puts on a towel for modesty on his five-foot trek to the shower?
| | 8 mins - First evidence that Joan's head is really a popular landing site for UFOs.
| | 22 mins - Hey you... ...Mr. Editor. Could you make up your mind about whether Joan is facing forward or facing Gregg?
| | 30 mins - Tina demonstrates her startling "Play-Doh Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop" ability by making her hair immediately grow back after being hacked off, obviously driving Joan even more insane.
| | 49 mins - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST AN ORANGE TREE!!!
| | 60 mins - Joan confronts the dreaded Invaders from Planet Wire.
| | 61 mins - Doesn't the dress look too small for Tina in the first place?
| | 61 mins - Watch the bottom of the screen for the magic hat rack. It uprights itself in a vain attempt to maintain some dignity after Joan's savage attack.
| | 65 mins - UFOs having gone out of fashion, Joan pioneers the popular "Brain Sucker" look.
| | 69 mins - The eyebrows in extreme close-up action.
| | 104 mins - I'd listen to her if I were you guys. She's wrecked an entire bedroom for less.
| | 119 mins - The eyebrows at the height of absurdity. What do you think she put those on there with? An industrial black magic marker?
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Joan: "YOU BE QUIET!!!"
Joan: "Christina, Christopher, DAMMIT!!!"
Joan: "You're nothing but a rotten, crooked lawyer supplying the grease that makes this sh*tty movie business work. You think your life's a mystery! There isn't a dirty cover-up in this entire business that I don't know about, and your hand is in every one of them! You REEK of it!!"
Christina: (showing that she's a young master of understatement) "She wants everything to be perfect."
Christina: "No, go back! Strap yourself in! She'll kill me if she finds out!"
Joan: "Tear down that bitch of a bearing wall and put a window where it OUGHT to be!"
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| | Audio clips in wav format | SOUNDS | Starving actors speak out | |
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| File | Size | Dialog |  | mommiedear1.wav
| 87k
| Joan: "When you polish the floor you have to move the tree. If you can't do something right don't do it at all!"
| | mommiedear2.wav
| 123k
| Joan gives Christina a haircut.
| | mommiedear3.wav
| 36k
| Gregg: "Why are you screaming?"
Joan: "Because I'm damn mad!"
| | mommiedear4.wav
| 69k
| Joan: "NO WIRE HANGERS!"
| | mommiedear5.wav
| 262k
| Joan: "Why can't you give me the respect that I'm entitled to? Why can't you treat me like I would be treated by any stranger on the street?"
Christina: "Because I am not one of your fans!"
| | mommiedear6.wav
| 62k
| Al: "For Christ's sake, this isn't Hollywood where someone takes care of things with a phonecall. This is the real world!"
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| | Click for a larger image | IMAGES | Scenes from the movie | |
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  | Netflix - Only 4.99 a month. No Late Fees. Try it for Free | Badmovies.org recommended! If you want to rent many of the films reviewed on Badmovies.org - try Netflix. They carry an impressive number of b-movies and the DVDs arrive fast (create a list of titles you want to see, in case some are in high demand).
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| | Watch a scene | VIDEO | MPEG video files | |
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 | mommiedear1.mpg
- 2.5m
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"Scrubbing the floor."
Reminds me of a scene from "The Karate Kid." The only difference is that Mr. Miyagi seemed completely sane after showing Daniel how the use the skills he had practiced. This just makes Joan look like a psycho. In fact, the whole movie makes Joan look like a psycho.
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| | Leave a comment | EXTRAS | Buy the movie | |
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| Mommie Dearest
Reply #1. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:10:12 PM by Bill
What a movie! My best friend and I always quote this flick at least once a day. My boyfriend thinks I'm crazy, but this is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Can someone please translate the demonic chant Joan launches into while jogging? That scene just cracks me up.
The absolutely funniest part is at the end of the comet cleanser bathroom scene when Joan says "figure it out" right before her eyes cross.
I already own the video, but now I have to get the DVD, the tape is getting worn out from overuse.
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Reply #2. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:09:03 PM by Mary
After watching this movie, I had an uncontrollable urge to go home and scrub my floors.
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Reply #3. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:09:03 PM by larry
This is my least favorite movie in the world.Everytime I see even part of it i get nightmares for 2 weeks.If this happened now Dyfs would put Christina in a foster home.Back in the 50,s child abuse was rampant and excepted.The way she had to work her way through school after Joan lied and said she had no money.,after buying all that stuff.The lie about her being expelled and that reporter doing nothing to stick up for Christina.The Convent ,I hope that Nun learned that Chrsitina was not bad just abused.To be stuck there for 4 yrs with no priviliges.The wire hanger nonsense and the raw steak Horror movies dont scare me mommie dearest does,i just had to sit through it at a friends house saturday night and have not slept well since.The movie came out in 1981 ,why are they still playing it on HBo.
larry
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Reply #4. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:09:49 PM by Melissa
I love the movie and I am looking for black and white photo's of the scenes where she is putting ice on her face after cleaning it, any thoughts?
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Reply #5. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:10:12 PM by David Fullam
WHAT A MOVIE! I first saw Mommie Dearest on cable in the early 80s and instantly fell in love with this wonderfully trashy piece of pop culture. Get out the bathroom cleanser, the wire coat hangers and whoop on that brat!
But you left out one of the best quotes in the qoutes section, "Christina, bring me the axe!"
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Reply #6. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:09:03 PM by Mike
If you look beyond the camp...I mean REALLY LOOK...you can see an incredible performance by Faye Dunaway. She truly meant to portray a very disturbed woman (JC) for who she was - a survivor, but also a victim.
The movie is trash. The performance is not.
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Reply #7. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:09:49 PM by Jon W
Wow, you can't FIND better camp then this. Joan was certainly scarrier then any of the other monsters featured on this site.
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Reply #8. Posted on November 25, 2006, 05:10:12 PM by Calle
This movie is absolutely fantastic! I love it! It's so funny...
"TIIIIINAAAAA! BRING ME THE AXE!"
"I'm not mad at you! I'm mad at the dirt!"
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Little girls will happily substitute a big, ugly toad for a doll. 