Rating: 
Summary: Trio of Oscar winners star in a well-paced thriller
Review: "Sudden Fear" is a suspense classic from 1952: an enjoyable, tightly written, well-paced thriller starring a trio of past, present, and future Oscar winners: the incomparable Joan Crawford (Best Actress, 1945, "Mildred Pierce"); a young Jack Palance (Best Supporting Actor, 1991, "City Slickers" - remember the push ups?) and Gloria Grahame, who won Best Supporting Actress for another 1952 film, "The Bad and the Beautiful."
Crawford portrays a playwright who, in the movie's first scene, gets Palance fired from her play for not looking like a traditional leading man. Palance storms off in anger, but later meets up with Crawford on a train and - irony of ironies - manages to seduce her. They engage in a whirlwind romance, get married, and move into her San Francisco home. All seems to be going smashingly, until... well, I can't say more without giving too much away!
Crawford is a natural fit for the role. She gets to suffer the way she did in "Mildred Pierce" (albeit a tad more histrionically), and earned her third and final Oscar nomination in the process. Palance demonstrates surprising dramatic range, and Grahame shows up in the tough-as-nails femme fatale role she would go on to perfect in the following year's "The Big Heat."
The film is more noir in tone and style than in milieu. Director David Miller makes effective use of light and shadow, and the San Francisco locations add local flavor to the film. The late, great composer Elmer Bernstein contributes an evocative score.
Many have rightly complained about the DVD transfer; it certainly is fuzzy in spots, though for the most part watchable. A lower price tag would be more appropriate for this edition.
"Sudden Fear" isn't the most original thriller of its era, but it's skillfully done. While somewhat manipulative and predictable, "Sudden Fear" generates enough authentic suspense to satisfy the classic movie buff.
Rating: 
Summary: What a Shame!
Review: ... that the DVD transfer of this terrific film is so poor in contrast and grainy! One of the things that makes it so good is its perfect B&W cinemaphotograpy and lighting -- it's one of Crawford's best -- if not the best, and I have seen it many times since its first release in 1952.
Rating:
Summary: Sudden Fear
Review: A real tongue-in-cheek. Will have you on the edge of your seat
Rating:
Summary: Joan Crawford's tour de force
Review: After ending her 1940's Warner Bros contract Joan Crawford moved into the next phase of her illustrious career as an independant performer choosing her own scripts. The first film she chose to undertake was "Sudden Fear" based on a famous novel by Edna Sherry that she had optioned. This vehicle offered her a terrific change of pace from her last efforts at Warners. Joan had a way of renewing herself careerwise at roughly 10 year intervals and the transformation in this work is remarkable. Never has she been a more dynamic presence on screen and she is tremendously aided by a wonderful script that contains nail biting suspense, melodrama, murder and great characterisations by all of the cast."Sudden Fear" was a big success at the Box Office and earned Joan her third Academy Award nomination as Best Actress . In the role of successful playwright Myra Hudson she displays elements of authority, cunning, vulnerability, and resolve. Hers is a beautifully well rounded performance and her presence on screen is rivetting. David Miller's on the ball direction keeps her character just on the edge of potential tragedy then brings the character full circle so that she is again in control of the films proceedings. The storyline of "Sudden Fear" is top rate and Joan's character is absolutely the centre of all the proceedings. It sees her firstly fire an actor from the casts of one of her plays and then find herself falling in love with and then marrying him only to find her happiness is short lived when she overhears a conversation between her husband Lester Blaine (the Jack Palance character) and his old girlfriend Irene Neves (played by perrenial bad girl Gloria Grahame)plotting her murder. Myra then utilises her playwright experience to concoct and then orchestrate an involved and utterly fascinating sequence of events to out wit the would be murderers. This plan results in both their deaths and her own triumph over the odds. "Sudden Fear" has a beautiful light and shade look to it , courtesy of gifted cinematographer Oscar nominated Charles Lang, that adds greatly to not only the look of the film but also to building the elements of suspense and terror. Indeed the film has that elusive quality of Film Noir about it which enhances the overraul feel of the production. Special credit must be offered to the three main leads in the film, it is their efforts that make this film truly riveting entertainment. Joan Crawford as stated before has never been more alive in her role. The sequences after she discovers her husband's plot, but must still pretend to not know anything are positively hair raising and suspenseful. The scenes when she gets into Gloria Grahame's apartment and is almost caught by her husband and has to hide in the closet are superb and Joan's display of sheer terror at being possibly detected while hiding are wonderfully underplayed to produce just the right level of panic in the viewer. Despite losing the award she totally deserved the Oscar that year without a doubt. Jack Palance here had the role of a lifetime and despite Joan's initial reluctance to have him in the film thinking his looks were wrong for the part (she originally wanted Clark Gable in the role!)his slightly menacing appearance is ideal for the role and resulted in perfect casting. Gloria Grahame playing the Femme Fatale of the story is also in top form with that just right combination of menace and wounded ambition to be totally convincing as the minx who wants to not only take Joan's place by murder, but to get her hands on all of her fortune as well. She is superb in this role and she thoroughly deserved her nomination as Best Supporting Actress that year as well. Joan Crawford I always find a terrific performer and you will see her in a vechicle worthy of her considerable and often underrated talents in "Sudden Fear". If, like me, you love great suspense films with nail biting elements to it you can't go past this film, a true classic!
Rating: 
Summary: BAD, WRITER, BAD!
Review: Although I agree - a good, fast paced flick it is, I should like to warn those people like me, who have an allergy for those plots which employ the reccording apparatus turned on appropriately in time to record/tape a conversation which proves to be fatal. I mean, really...
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Summary: One of the best movies from Hollywood's Golden Age!
Review: Although I am not a huge Joan Crawford fan, she really shines in this suspenseful drama. Jack Palance is also excellent (and scary!) as the husband seeking revenge on her for rejecting him as an actor.
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Summary: Sudden Fear? YOU BET!
Review: Another stellar performance by Miss Crawford! She was certainly worthy of her oscar nomination for a fine performance. Truly belevably as a playwrite who falls or the wrong guy and then learns the horrible bone chilling truth! Lots of twists to keep you on your seat! They don't make them like this anymore but they should.
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Summary: Sloppy DVD Transfer of Joan Crawford Gem
Review: Before I begin my review of 'Sudden Fear' in earnest, I have to point out that this is a really poor transfer to DVD of a 1950's noir classic. Movies like 'Mildred Pierce' and 'The Women' are much older films, but of a far better picture and sound quality. That said, it's a good thing that this is finally available on DVD, while other Crawford classics like 'Flamingo Road' are still languishing in the Vault someplace. Now, on with the review. Joan plays Myra Hudson, the successful and wealthy San Francisco playwright, who, after having fired him from her latest hit production, falls in love with and marries an actor named Lester Blaine (Jack Palance). Against all sense and reason, Myra attempts to change her will to leave him with everything, but an overheard conversation between the conniving, unfaithful Lester and his scheming girlfriend Irene (Gloria Grahame) forces her to think very differently. A shocking climax ensues. Made in 1952, this is Joan's first independent picture, (for RKO Pictures) and revived a flagging career. What we see here is what I like to refer to as Middle-Era Joan, being neither the ultra-glamorous 1940's Joan of 'Mildred Pierce' and 'The Women', nor the screechy, scary Joan of 'Baby Jane' and 'Strait-Jacket'. She turns in a classic Crawford performance as the hapless Myra, full of facial tremblings and overpronunciation. She's excellent as the Victim, but this is perhaps her best performance in a film outside of 'Mildred Pierce' and 'Flamingo Road'. She is touching in the love scenes, and tense and compelling in the suspense scenes. What's also remarkable is the fact that she plays the part of the older-but-none-the-wiser Myra with such honesty, instead of trying to make this on-the-shelf spinster any younger than the script allows. Jack Palance is excellent, too, as the duplicitous Lester. He's loving and warm with his wife, but menacing and hateful in the private moments with Irene. His face is hypnotic, sometimes it's difficult to watch anything else on the screen, but he does an brilliant job with a character who swings between two extreme poles of emotion. Gloria Grahame is simply astonishing in her role as Irene Neves. She is cold, manipulating and possesses a strange kind of open-mouthed blatant sexuality that makes her wholly believable as the Mistress. She pouts, schemes and demands her way into the picture, and her performance in what is essentially a supporting role easily stands up to heavyweights like Crawford and Palance. Direction by David Miller is somewhat experimental for the period, but excellent. The darkness and angles used in lighting the piece gives a real sense of the noir, and the long one-shot scenes add a huge sense of tension and fear. The ending of the movie is slightly contrived, and a little quick, but we are still left with a tense psychological thriller that stands up today as a fine example of film-making. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Masochist Dearest
Review: Can anyone who watches this movie ever erase from their mind the scene where Crawford finds out Palance and Grahame are plotting to kill her and goes stark, raving mad? It an Olympian display of overacting that has never been equalled: Crawford pulls at her hair, wildly darts her unfocused, bulging eyes, clamps her ears shut, pulls tight her grimacing mouth. A lunatic chimpanzee receiving electroshock couldn't do justice to Crawford's facial contortions here. I guess the reason that Crawford is such a fascinating screen presence to fans and nonfans alike is that she's a relentless masochist. In movie after movie, no matter what terrible fate befalls her, no matter how many times she is betrayed, it's nothing compared to the mental punishments she visits upon herself. The movie itself is serviceable but fairly ludicrous; there are glaring plot holes almost never seen in true film noir. The entire switched-identities ending is just about as bizarre as Crawford's performance.
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Summary: You won't see this one coming...
Review: Crawford fought to get the lead in this movie and ended up buying the rights to ensure her place as the hard hearted perfectionist (as if anyone else could fill those shoes) who falls for the man (Palance) that she once put in his place. To tell anymore of this story would ruin what appears to be a formulary Hollywood plot. The casting of the unique looking Palance instead of a certified Hollywood heart throb probably cost this movie its place as a "Saturday" night TV thriller, but it adds to the odd love triangle with Graham (who should have greater recognition then she does for a wonderful career)as the nasal tramp. This is one smart and entertaining Crawford romp - one that deserves a higher place in American culture then it has enjoyed.
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