This is a melodrama and is obviously written for one reason and that is to be a melodrama. The result is a one-dimensional and at times seemingly slow film as scenes of pure melodrama follow one after the other. Joan Crawford was the master of the genre and she is terrific in this one, even getting intimidatingly physical at times, and shockingly so. You gotta see these scenes as she goes completely over the top, they are priceless.
It all takes place in one house, with the characters constantly interacting in close quarters, as if scorpions in a bottle. This really doesn't work as well as it should because the characters have little or no development and in some cases no background. For example, all we really know about Crawford's character is that she came from Chicago and she is meaner than hell.
Fortunately all of the acting is outstanding. Barry Sullivan gives one of his best performances, its maybe his finest ever. He is believable as Avery, the suffering husband and father of the Queen Bee's two children. The acting in "Queen Bee" is so good that it overcomes any shortcomings, making this a film I would recommend. It is one of the classic late-Crawford "eyebrow movies" and not to be missed.
It all takes place in one house, with the characters constantly interacting in close quarters, as if scorpions in a bottle. This really doesn't work as well as it should because the characters have little or no development and in some cases no background. For example, all we really know about Crawford's character is that she came from Chicago and she is meaner than hell.
Fortunately all of the acting is outstanding. Barry Sullivan gives one of his best performances, its maybe his finest ever. He is believable as Avery, the suffering husband and father of the Queen Bee's two children. The acting in "Queen Bee" is so good that it overcomes any shortcomings, making this a film I would recommend. It is one of the classic late-Crawford "eyebrow movies" and not to be missed.