Crain is one of those movie stars whose reputation has not aged well, to put it mildly. She was a big star in her day and appeared in some genuine classics: State Fair, Leave Her to Heaven, Pinky and A Letter to Three Wives. She was nominated for an Oscar. She worked with Joe Mankiewicz, Elia Kazan and Otto Preminger.
But when the tide turned her career went downhill very fast and she never got it back - she went to work on stage and TV and as a character actress, but there was no late career appearance to make people appreciate her.
Crain was very pretty and not very good as an actor. I get the impression even Alistair felt this after analysing her career but was too polite to say so (I may be completely wrong).
But she had a look that was perfect for the time - the war and post-war era. This period is better remembered for its sultry film noir stars like Ava Gardner, or feisty heroines like Kate Hepburn, or exotic actors like Dorothy Lamour, or musical legends like Judy Garland, and they were definitely around, but so too "good girls" like Crain, June Allyson and Janet Leigh. Wholesome types who GIs could dream about on the front, who reassured people in a world gone mad that there were still nice, clean decent people out there.
Crain's dad shot through at an early age, and she wound up in California and started entering and winning beauty contests. She was spotted by a talent scout and her rise was fairly rapid. Orson Welles, of all people, seriously considered her for the role of Lucy in The Magnificent Ambersons, of all things before going with Anne Baxter. She was signed to 20th Century Fox who gave her a small part in The Gang's All Here then she was given the lead in Home in Indiana and - bang - she was away.
In hindsight Fox was ideal for her because Zanuck liked making Americana (eg Kentucky, State Fair) - you can imagine Crain would've played Will Rogers' daughter a lot had Rogers still been alive. State Fair remake was a huge hit as was Leave Her to Heaven (even though you might be likely to forget she was in it) and Margie. She made some unsatisfactory films with Otto Preminger and wound up in Letter to Three Wives because Zanuck insisted. Zanuck also refused to let her play the role of Clementine in My Darling Clementine because she was too big a star (a shame, I think she should have done it, but not doing it didn't hurt her career).
Pinky was a massive hit and she was in another Mankiewicz film People Will Talk but then in the early 50s her career hit a snag - Dangerous Crossing, Vicki, City of Bad Men - and she left Fox. She never regained her career momentum, being relegated to "the girl" parts like in Fastest Gun Alive and Guns of the Timberland. She did some TV (including a version of The Great Gatsby with Rod Taylor) and theatre and cabaret, as well as the obligatory films in Italy.
What happened? Admittedly Crain lost out on some roles because she was pregnant a lot - seven kids! She had four then she and her husband separated, then they got back together and had three more! She often lost roles to Anne Baxter, and missed some parts which would've suited her like the Jean Simmons part in The Robe. She wasn't suited for musicals, not really being a singer or dancer. I also think she was hurt by the emergence of Susan Hayward, who became Fox's go-to star for dramas.
I think the big thing is she wasn't very good. No actor could ask for more than a part in something like Pinky, Letter to Three Wives or People Will Talk. Crain always gave a similar performance - nice, polite, pert. When she was young and fresh she brought those qualities as well; over time they faded and she didn't have anything else.
Maybe that's unfair - she seems to have been a professional and worked hard. I'm sure she was a decent actor. She's not terrible in her films. But she never had the fire or spark of the great stars. (Admittedly I haven't seen every Crain performance.) Both Mankiewicz and Kazan disparaged her ability in their memoirs.
She could have been distracted by her love life. This book is good on Crain's career but fascinating on her marriage - she married Paul Brickman, a businessman so handsome he was briefly under contract to Warner Bros as a back up to Errol Flynn. They were together a long time, until her death, but it was not an easy marriage. They almost got divorced - she claimed he drank and hit her several times. He had affairs; he claimed she did too with friends (which seems true - doesn't excuse the hitting). They got back together. Despite seven kids they constantly went to parties and worked all over the place.
I don't think they were particularly focused parents - maybe that's not true but two of their children predeceased her, one a son who drank himself to death, the other son (a musician who would jam with the founder of Jane's Addiction) who died of a heroin overdose. Crain and her husband did separate towards the end and lived in separate residences for the last part of their lives, but they never divorced. It's like something out of Mad Men - all those nannies looking after kids while the parents go to parties, drink and have affairs over cocktails.
It's an interesting book - probably more interesting than Crain on screen.
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