mark.waltz Review of Queen Bee

Queen Bee (1955)

A Tale of a complex woman for yesterday, today and tomorrow.

[6/10 · 16 October 2012]

It started with Eve, and it will probably end with another female named Eve, but somewhere in the middle came Joan Crawford's Eva. The dominating figure of a Southern estate, she is a modern day Regina, the antagonist of Lillian Hellman's play "The Little Foxes". All sugar on the surface, she is a combination of Regina, Lady MacBeth and "I Claudius's" Livia underneath. When distant relative Lucy Marlowe arrives, she is instantly fooled but soon learns the nasty truth. Another relative (Betsy Palmer) suffers dearly at the hands of the Queen Bee, and Barry Sullivan, as Crawford's drunken husband, plots his wife's downfall with an unexpected conclusion. There are many interesting analizations along the way, but none more revealing than those by Crawford herself. Eva is not a one dimensional bitch, and Crawford makes the viewer see every side of this walking tragedy in heels. "There's a bit of me in every woman:, she admits in a particularly vulnerable moment, but is compelled by some force stronger than herself. Marlowe, Palmer, Sullivan and paramour John Ireland all offer their own observations about her but the simple truth is that Eva is as crazy as any other power hungry male or female who has had the desire or need to control others. While the temptation to compare this film to "Mommie Dearest" may become an obsession for some, it really calls into question the truth of Christina Crawford's claims (both in the book, as well as the fact that the movie version of her book was nothing more than "another Joan Crawford movie") and solidifies Joan's place as one of Hollywood's most legendary stars.