Crawford was great but not my favorite actress..Bette Davis was.. but this performance in Humoresque can only be portrayed by Crawford! She was absloutely perfect for the role of Helen Wright.. and yes was brilliant..To me this is her best role: not sudsy or sappy... beautiful,sophisticated, society bitch who sexually longed for a man & did everything in her power to control & possess him..I feel the chemistry between she & co star John Garfield was ELECTRIC!! He portrayed the violinist,Paul Boyar so well.. the man she lusted for and wanted to possess for herself... The score, the photography the direction Brilliant..Ive seeen this film many times & each time it gets better... Im very critical of Miss Crawfords work but 5 or 6 of her films are outstanding.. This is a notch above Mildred Pierce for me because the character she is portraying is so similar to herself (according to bios etc)..& her beauty & class are unquestioned..the closeup of her ,as she observes Garfield in the rehearsal hall..is comparable to Garbo's closeup ,final scene , of Queen Christina!!! This is a film that never ever bores me..I rate it a 10 !!! Watch It....
Review of Humoresque
