{"id":4615,"date":"2007-10-23T12:07:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-23T19:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4615"},"modified":"2020-12-11T19:51:09","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T02:51:09","slug":"susan-and-god-1940","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4615","title":{"rendered":"Susan and God (1940)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Oh, you poor, miserable, unhappy things &#8212; civilization&#8217;s a failure! It&#8217;s a poor, poor, sick, unhappy world!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Susan-and-God-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Susan-and-God-Poster-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-23198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Susan-and-God-Poster-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Susan-and-God-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Susan-and-God-Poster.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA wealthy socialite named Susan (Joan Crawford) &#8220;finds God&#8221; while vacationing in Europe, and uses her newfound religious convictions as an excuse to meddle in her friends&#8217; affairs; meanwhile, her tippling husband (Fredric March) and awkward teenage daughter (Rita Quigley) hope that Susan will decide to settle down into family life.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fredric March Films<\/li>\n<li>George Cukor Films<\/li>\n<li>Joan Crawford Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Religious Faith<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAnita Loos&#8217; adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rachel_Crothers\">Rachel Crothers&#8217; stage play<\/a> (originally starring Gertrude Lawrence as Susan) gave Joan Crawford one of her most unusual vehicles, playing a self-absorbed woman who one IMDb poster has accurately labeled &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0032143\/\">Crystal Allen<\/a> on speed&#8221;. Susan&#8217;s new religion &#8212; based on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oxford_Group\">Frank Buchman&#8217;s Oxford Group<\/a>, which inspired the 12-step movement &#8212; requires converts to freely confess their &#8220;sins&#8221;, a fact which Susan&#8217;s eternally hopeful husband (a rather bland Fredric March) uses to force her into acknowledging her own shortcomings as a wife and mother. Crawford is perfectly cast as Susan &#8212; all grandiose arm spans and mile-a-minute monologues &#8212; and, naturally, completely overshadows her co-stars; while her character isn&#8217;t particularly likable (and it&#8217;s difficult to see why March is still so in love with her), her sheer level of energy and enthusiasm is impressive. The second hour isn&#8217;t nearly as engaging as the first, and the stagy narrative goes on for too long altogether; but <em>Susan and God<\/em> remains an intriguing entry in Crawford&#8217;s oeuvre, and is worth a look for her performance alone. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Joan Crawford as Susan<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/sag-crawford.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/sag-crawford.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4614\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Adrian&#8217;s occasionally stunning, sometimes gaudy, often distracting, but always inimitably <em>unique<\/em> gowns<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/sag-costumes.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/sag-costumes.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4613\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Clever dialogue<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/sag-no-not-really.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/sag-no-not-really.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4616\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>March:<\/strong> &#8220;You&#8217;re an awfully pretty woman.<br \/>\n<strong>Leonora (Rita Hayworth):<\/strong> &#8220;Aren&#8217;t you nice&#8230;&#8221;<br \/>\n<strong>March:<\/strong> &#8220;Not very.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s recommended simply for Crawford&#8217;s performance. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0033117\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1940\/07\/12\/archives\/the-screen-in-review-the-capitol-presents-joan-crawford-and-fredric.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/437\/susan-and-god#articles-reviews?articleId=71543\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/susan-god\/review\/119501\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Oh, you poor, miserable, unhappy things &#8212; civilization&#8217;s a failure! It&#8217;s a poor, poor, sick, unhappy world!&#8221; Synopsis: A wealthy socialite named Susan (Joan Crawford) &#8220;finds God&#8221; while vacationing in Europe, and uses her newfound religious convictions as an excuse to meddle in her friends&#8217; affairs; meanwhile, her tippling husband (Fredric March) and awkward teenage daughter (Rita Quigley) hope that Susan will decide to settle down into family life. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Fredric March Films George Cukor Films&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4615\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4615"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57167,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615\/revisions\/57167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}