Possessed (1947)

Rating: 4.5/5

Not to be confused with the 1931 Joan Crawford film with the same title, Possessed (1947) is a film noir full of romance, suspense and intrigue.

The film opens with a woman wandering aimlessly down the streets, muttering the name "David" to those who will listen. She finds her way into a cafe and becomes uncommunicative and is taken to the psychiatric department of a hospital.

At the hospital, the doctors inject her with medicine to make her coherent. It is then that they learn that the woman's name is Louise Howell (Joan Crawford). From that point on, Louise begins to tell the doctors of the events in her life that lead her to the state in which she is in now. It all began when was working as a live in nurse for a wealthy man named Dean Graham (Raymond Massey). While working, she fell in love with a mathematician named David Sutton (Van Heflin), who to her dismay, did not share in her feelings. Through a series of flashbacks brought about by Louise's recollections, her journey from being a nurse to finding herself in the hospital begins to be revealed.

One of the first things that makes Possessed an unusual film in the Crawford collection, is that in the opening sequence she is practically without makeup. Crawford was known for being in full glamour on and off the screen, and given her age when filming this movie, her dedication to making her role believable by leaving her face un made up, is something to be respected and admired. Adding to her unexpected appearance, her performance deserves just as much recognition. Possessed earned Crawford her second Academy Award nomination, and it was most certainly well deserved. She plays a woman on the brink of madness, but makes sure to not go too far as to be ridiculous, and makes her character's struggle seem as real as 1940's knowledge of mental illness would allow.

Possessed takes the typical noir romance and flips it around. Instead of a woman being chased by a man whom she does not have feelings for, Van Heflin is the one being constantly pursued and cannot seem to shake his admirer. Though Van Heflin's character is a bit of a tool, he plays the male version of a femme fatale quite nicely.

Visually, I really enjoy this movie. As with any movie in the film noir category, the use of shadows is going to be prominent in most of the scenes. The darkness of the cinematography mirrors the mental turmoil that the main character is going through. There is also a very brief scene in this movie in which Louise is looking out a rain covered window that I just absolutely love. The shot itself is only about 20 seconds if not less, but the way her breath leaves a mark on the glass enhances the emotional impact of the scene and of the film.

Possessed is one of my personal favorite film noirs. I have always appreciated a movie that follows the guidelines of its' genre, but makes its' own path as well, and Possessed definitely fits into that description. It is unique in many ways and an all around entertaining film.