Wordiezett So much average

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Edgar Allan Pooh Normally, I'd go a mile out of my way to avoid including ANY kind of a spoiler in my summary. However, in the case of TORCH SONG, my thinking runs thusly: 1)This flick came out 61 years ago in 1953, so its contemporary audience is about 90% deceased, and probably 90% of the survivors no longer watch movies. 2)Anyone still game to view 61-year-old films for the first time is running a serious risk of a fatal heart attack if they're given no warning that 62 minutes, 55 seconds into this lackluster musical Ms. Crawford is suddenly going to traipse down the on-stage grand staircase belting out the lyrics of "Two-faced Woman" wearing full-body Blackface and a wig! It doesn't matter that the title's TORCH SONG--"their song" for the characters "Jenny" and "Tye" (Ms. Crawford and Michael Wilding, with whom Joan had NO chemistry!)--is a much better tune, "Tenderly." And it doesn't matter that this film constituted Ms. Crawford's triumphant post-MILDRED PIERCE return to MGM. What matters is that IF you view TORCH SONG, it will be impossible to "Un-see" Ms. Crawford in Blackface!

Michael_Elliott Torch Song (1953) ** (out of 4) Notorious musical about Broadway star Jenny Stewart (Joan Crawford) who is pretty much evil to anyone she meets. She's very demanding and doesn't really care about another human's feelings but she gets a taste of her own medicine when blind pianist Tye Graham (Michael Wilding) stands up to her. TORCH SONG isn't very well-known to the majority of people out there but over the past decades it has built up a rather strong cult following and after seeing the film it's very easy to see why. This here is certainly one of the strangest films that you're ever going to see and it's weirdness is something that's usually used for horror and exploitation movies. You certainly don't expect to see this type of camp in a musical and certainly not with someone like Crawford. It's worth noting that this was Crawford's return to MGM after a ten-year period and it was also her first Technicolor film since the awful 1939 film THE ICE FOLLIES OF 1939. With that said, it looks like the studio would have came up with something better as I really don't know what anyone was thinking with this picture. On a technical side the entire thing looks rather cheap and ugly at times. This is especially true during the "Two-Faced Woman" sequence. The most notorious aspect is seeing Crawford in blackface but just look at how poorly shot this sequence is. When the camera moves in on Crawford coming out it appears as if the camera is moving on an incredibly bumpy road. Another problem is that the over-the-top performance of the actress certainly isn't among her best. Crawford was a genius at playing women who needed to be put in their place but she's just too wild here and quite often we're given some rather unintentionally funny scenes. I thought Wilding was the best thing about the picture as he was very believable in the role but what happens at the end was just too much. Gig Young and Harry Morgan are also on hand. TORCH SONG is going to appeal to those who enjoy bad movies as there's enough strange moments here to really make it stand out.

whpratt1 Enjoyed this 1953 Classic Musical with Joan Crawford playing the role as Jenny Stewart, a New York City actress who could dance, sing and give great dramatic roles and many Broadway Hits. Jenny had a mind of her own and hated anyone to criticize her on her singing and dance performances. One day Jenny meets up with a piano player named Tye Graham, (Michael Wilding) who is a blind veteran and is a sort of substitute piano player when the original piano player quit and walked off the Broadway Production. Tye becomes very critical of Jenny's performance numbers and the two of them become very angry with each other. This is a great romantic story because when Tye was able to see, he viewed Jenny Stewart in a show where Jenny sung the song, "Tenderly" and he never forgot her great performance. This is one of Joan Crawford's great films along with a great supporting role by Michael Wilding, who was in real life married to Liz Taylor. Enjoy.

preppy-3 **PLOT SPOILERS** Just hilarious. Joan Crawford plays hard-boiled bitchy singer/actress Jenny Stewart. She treats everybody like dirt--but that's cause she's (sigh) lonely. Only piano player Tye Graham (Michael Wilding) sees right through her. And--oh yes--he's BLIND!!!! Oh the irony! Naturally she hates him then falls in love with him. It leads up to a totally predictable twist at the end that leads to a happy ending that will have you screaming for insulin! Crawford made plenty of bad films in her career--but none was as much fun as this one! She overacts even more than usual (believe it or not) and bulldozes her way through the film. It's a terrible film with a truly rotten script but Crawford is so over the top it's hard to not enjoy. Her "singing" numbers are unbelievable. When she "sang" her first number "Follow Me" I broke out laughing! It is SO obviously not her voice and Crawford's overdone acting during it is just incredible. Still she DOES lip sync well. The high point (so to speak) is the song and dance of "Two Face Woman" with Joan AND the entire chorus in black face! It's just too jaw-droppingly silly to take seriously. And when Joan tears off the black wig at the end to show that blazing red hair it hits new heights of camp! The rest of the cast falls by the wayside of Crawford's histrionics. Poor Gig Young barely registers. Wilding is actually pretty good--his nice underacting actually compliments Joan's overacting very well. Marjorie Rambeau (playing Joan's mother) is very good also and was actually nominated for a Best Supporting Actress for this. Also Joan's "clumsy" dance partner is director Charles Walters.This is most definitely not a good picture but it's in blazing Technicolor, has a hilariously stupid story and has Joan going full blast! A must see for camp followers. I can only seriously give it a 7 though. Yeah it's fun but it's SO stupid!