22 Aug 2012 01:14:26
"Miss Crawford is a star in every sense of the word; and everyone knows she is a star." This warning, printed at the end of a list of requirements on a promotional tour in 1964, was a precursor to all those divas refusing to do stairs, the calling card of one of Hollywood's most formidable leading ladies. Much beloved of drag queens thanks to her enduring fondness in later life for heavy eyebrows and lipstick, Crawford's reputation was made increasingly grotesque thanks to her daughter Christina's notorious book Mommie Dearest, an exposé of her mother's violent behaviour. Spoto, who has been a fan of the actress since she replied to a letter he sent her in 1952, is keen to present Crawford in a more positive light, focusing on her talents and "charity work", and while he is excellent on the mechanics of glamour and the star system, his attempts to discredit Christina's account of life with her mother come across as mean-spirited. A star – and everyone knows she is a star – shouldn't need such limp excuses made on her behalf.
