Movie Monday: Sudden Fear (1952)

It’s time to take a moment and appreciate how amazing Joan Crawford was as an actress. Sudden Fear is one movie that she not only starred in, but also made up for the lack of co-stars who were equally talented. I’m not saying that the other actors were bad necessarily, but I will explain my position more in this review.

Let me pick up where I left off above, Joan Crawford is undeniably the star of Sudden Fear. I am not trying to put down the other actors in this movie, but the reason such an awesome plot like the one in this film gets the justice it deserves is because of the talent of actors like Crawford. Overall, the storyline of this film is a little complex so the acting skills of Joan Crawford make the plot of this film more easy to follow.

Maybe I should have saved Sudden Fear for Halloween, but this movie really is less of a scary film but more of a mystery. The plot of Sudden Fear is so intense you really will be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next. Much like Crawford’s other movie A Woman’s Face, Sudden Fear has all of the intensity that you would expect any good mystery to have.

One aspect I really appreciate about Sudden Fear uses camera angles to advance the storyline of this film. Another thing that this movie combines the camera angles with are shadows and lighting. All of this just adds to the thick plot of this film and actually advances the characters emotional standing. Sudden Fear being in black and white is the perfect film standard with all of the lighting because this movie just wouldn’t be quite the same in color.

This movie is perfect for Halloween, but really it is great any time of year. Sudden Fear really cemented Joan Crawford’s position above Bette Davis in my favorite actresses list. I know this may be a controversial subject, but this is just my opinion and I am open to having changed. Either way, even if you like Bette Davis better than Joan Crawford you should definitely watch Sudden Fear at least once because it is most certainly a classic.

Much Love,

Sarah