The clue is in the credits: Special Guest Appearance By Joan Crawford signals that this relatively late (1964) entry on her CV was a television rather than a motion picture drama; it was, in fact, a pilot for a series that never got taken up but at least we get to see Crawford in one of the larger-than-life monstre sacres she made her own. That same year, in fact, she would again play the mother to Diane Baker this time for the big screen and though she is supported here by Charles Bickford he had more chance of upstaging her than Donald Trump seducing Hilary Clinton. Crawford plays a mega-rich widow who more or less 'owns' her home town including a large parcel of land coveted by a large multinational willing to pay serious money to acquire it for a new plant. The drama comes from Crawford's disinclination to sell versus the persuasiveness of Paul Burke's lawyer. All the writing, directing, acting values are out of the right bottle making it a pleasant enough entry.
Review of Della
