Autumn Leaves (1956)

I love this movie so much

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

That's a line that Susan Sarandon, as Bette Davis, told Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) in the TV mini-series "Feud" where Davis has a rare compassionate moment towards her so-called rival. Indeed, in this movie, Joan is indeed, good. In fact, she's outstanding. "Feud" indicates that Joan was unhappy about the choice of Cliff Robertson for her leading man, having desperately wanted Brando. But even if she had to settle for second best, she did get the best, a future Oscar winner in his film debut giving a performance that along with Joan's makes this a magnificent film that can strike a cord in many heart's, not just the so-called female audience.Like those colorful Ross Hunter soapy melodramas of the 1950's and 60's, this starts off on a plush, audience grabbing cord: the title song dramatically sung by Nat King Cole. It is heard throughout the film, and when (in "Feud"), Joan is sent the movie soundtrack album of "Autumn Leaves" by its director, Robert Aldrich, you hope and pray that it will be heard in the background, which it is. So 6 years before Aldrich directed Crawford and Davis in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", he had Crawford by herself in this psychological melodrama, a combination of soap opera and mental health expose which like "The Snake Pit" and "Three Faces of Eve" deals with the curing of a psychosis which threatens to destroy not only the character suffering from it, but the people surrounding them as well.Just past 50 when this was made, Crawford was still very attractive: handsome, if not strikingly beautiful. Yet, she was brave enough to take on a role where an admittedly older woman falls in love with a much younger man, and unlike Jane Wyman in "All That Heaven Allows", doesn't get discouraged by friends (like ultra mod landlady Ruth Donnelly) but herself must face her own insecurities (which are many) to leave her lonely life behind and try to find some happiness. But as many people find out after it's too late, her soon to be husband has secrets which he himself does not want to face, and they are pretty horrific, showing a force of evil behind him guiding his steps to do things he wouldn't have done had these evil forces not gone after him.With a striking figure in a bathing suit, Crawford really pours on the emotion as she deals, not only with the loneliness of her busy life as a free-lance typist for novelists, but the difference in her and Robertson's ages and later the mental illness he's not even aware of himself, at least on the surface. Vera Miles as an elegant ex-wife and Lorne Greene as his charming father are at the core of his problems, and yet, there's more to Robertson's issues than just a family betrayal. Donnelly steals every scene that she is in, and when she's off screen for long periods of time, you really miss her. 1956 was a big year in films, but Crawford and Robertson deliver two of that year's most magnificent performances. This is a satisfying drama in every way that even Bette Davis, had she seen it, must have left really seeing a talent in Joan that audiences for decades knew was there when given the right script but not always given the opportunity to play.

(A line from one of the characters of the movie)Wow! I watched this on TV on a lark - the movie had a "To Be Announced" and no description, so I didn't know what to expect; I didn't know the story line. My only previous experience with Joan Crawford as an actress was "Baby Jane", and I really don't know much about her. This was an unexpected treat - the acting throughout is superb, and since it is B&W, the use of dramatic lighting and use of unusual camera angles adds depth and drama to the story. When Millicent begins to realize that Burt is a pathological liar, it made me want to say, "Run, girl, RUN!". But then, the villains appear on the scene (Vera Miles and Lorne Greene), and the awful truth is revealed. (BTW, I only knew Greene as Ben Cartwright, but when he was younger, he was HOT! And, that VOICE! But, I digress...). One of the best lines - that made me laugh out loud - that other viewers have mentioned, "And YOU....you SLUT!" - is so good because of how Crawford delivers it. Such dignity. It is a true phenomenon that when a mind is faced with an unspeakable trauma, the creation of a 'fantasy life' can be created to make the trauma more "manageable". Burt's breakdown is understandable, but the horrific truth of how most psycho-therapy was conducted back in the day (drugs and electro-shock therapy) makes the sanitarium scenes difficult to watch. But...the deep strength of Millicent is the true face of love. To love another so much that she wanted Burt to have a happy future, even if it didn't include her, is what this reviewer sees as the very heart of love. Although actors are trained to portray a wide range of characters and emotions, I believe that a woman must be truly strong to be able to portray Millicent - and that gives one insight as to Joan Crawford's own character.And, how does it end? That is for you to find out. Watch it - it's gripping, entertaining, engaging - and the kind of movie you can watch with someone special. And, watching how they respond to this movie will give YOU some insights!

"Autumn Leaves" is a pop standard, an agreeably sentimental, even elegiac, song. Someone must have thought that an effective screenplay with that title could be written. Unfortunately, this isn't it.Joan plays a middle-aged woman who earns a modest living typing manuscripts. She's content to be lonely and alone, until a handsome young man (Cliff Robertson) shows up. After an extended courtship, she finally agrees to marry him -- then starts realizing he's a pathological liar, and worse.Generally speaking, a story should be about //one thing//. The original idea -- of the difficulties of an older woman marrying a man 20 years her junior (from which an excellent film could have been made) -- abruptly swerves to Joan's fight to cure her husband of his problems. These are (unconvincingly) worked out by throwing him into a mental institution, and giving him drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. The character has real problems -- largely induced by his father breaking up his former marriage by seducing his previous wife (!) -- but the diagnosis of schizophrenia seems, at best, excessive, at worst, absurd.The casting is so-so to poor. Crawford was never a //great// actress, but though lacking the depth the part would benefit from, she acquits herself fairly well. Cliff Robertson is okay up to the point he has to start acting crazy, then he opens his eyes real wide as if someone has goosed him with a pointy barbecue implement.Ruth Donnelly gives a noisy imitation of Thelma Ritter, while Lorne Greene delivers his patented canned-ham performance. Vera Miles is wasted, giving no indication that she's a good actress.Even with such poor casting, Robert Aldrich could have done a lot to mitigate an ill-conceived script. He didn't. Aldrich was one of those "competent hack" directors whose films were good when the script and casting were good, but not otherwise."Autumn Leaves" is worth watching mostly for laughs. It's prime MST3K material.

In a movie deeply flawed by excessive psychobabble, not to mention letting the evil-doers get the "last laugh," Joan Crawford is convincing playing an aging cougar. She not only evokes Mary Todd Lincoln; she dresses like the former First Lady as well, especially with her omnipresent white gloves. As Millie, Joan plays MOMMIE DEAREST to husband Burt, portrayed by pre-PT-109 youngster Cliff Robertson. That is, when Burt doesn't pull his T-Rex role reversal by smashing professional typist Millie's fingers with her bulky work tool, or blackening her eyes with his short, little atrophied punches. At one point someone on the committee of screenwriters for AUTUMN LEAVES has Pops Cartwright (Lorne Green) hatching an elaborate scheme to wrest away son Burt's birthright maternal inheritance through long-term torture by incest with Burt's wife. But excruciating bouts of Electro-Shock Therapy (shown here with loving detail) inexplicably convince Burt to sign away his financial future without a fight. This leaves Papa Hanson with BOTH Burt's high school sweetie\wife AND the late Mama Hanson's fortune. The idea that Joan Crawford could make suddenly penniless\prospect-lacking Burt forget about the charms of his Virginia (Vera Miles) is preposterous enough to prompt a barrage of wire hangers at the screen!