Hemmungslose Liebe (1947)

Hemmungslose Liebe: Directed by Curtis Bernhardt. With Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Geraldine Brooks. After being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a doctor the complex story of how she wound up there.

“Just what does Van Heflinu0026#39;s David have the makes Joan Crawfordu0026#39;s Louise go literally mad for him?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDoesnu0026#39;t appear to be that much in the looks department. Perhaps just that special touch that signals, u0026quot;either youu0026#39;ve got it or you havenu0026#39;t.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhatever the case, Louise pleads, cajoles, rants and raves for David the entire film. What does our David do?–merely tell Louise the truth: that heu0026#39;s simply not in love with her.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGranted, Davidu0026#39;s rather flippant, self-absorbed and bored, but thatu0026#39;s his prerogative. Instead of accepting this and moving on with her life, Louise insists on minding Davidu0026#39;s old business and clinging to bygone days.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enAll this u0026quot;to-do,u0026quot; when a simple scan of a Dale Carnegie text might have solved the problem.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLouise does have her supporters: young stepdaughter Carol and aging hubbie Dean do what they can to bolster Louiseu0026#39;s confidence. Since Geraldine Brooks and Raymond Massey portray these respective roles, thereu0026#39;s sure to be strong convictions expressed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMade just two years after her Oscar-winning turn in u0026quot;Mildred Pierce,u0026quot; Crawford is in her mature mettle here. Although the same title was used for a Crawford film 16 years earlier, the similarity is in name only. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enu0026quot;Possessedu0026quot; allows Joan to suffer royally and she does, pulling out all the schizophrenic stops to slam this one home. Since no one reels better than Crawford, itu0026#39;s an engaging performance in an engrossing film.”