Alex da Silva ..sang Cypress Hill in the 1990s. That song is clearly the inspiration for this 1947 film starring Joan Crawford (Louise) as a lunatic. She is obsessed with Van Heflin (David) and this obsession transfers itself into the 'possessed' referred to in the film's title. She seems fine. She's not. At first, you may think she's just exhibiting typical woman jealousy, etc. Nope. She goes a step further. Heflin doesn't want to know about her and that is his BIG mistake.The dialogue is realistic, confrontational and amusing and the cast are all good in this film that is, unfortunately, very slow to start. Keep with it and it develops through flashback segments as Crawford lies in a hospital bed. At one point, the film veers into the spooky horror genre and I yelled out at one point when an intercom kept buzzing. There are some clever techniques used and the story does have a few twists in the way it is recounted. I enjoyed it. Schizophrenia is depicted in a much cleverer and clearer manner in this film when compared to Humphrey Bogart having a stab at it in "The Two Mrs Carrolls" from the same year. Crawford is more adept than Bogey.The other Joan Crawford films worth checking out from the 1940s are "Strange Cargo" (1940), "A Woman's Face" (1941) and "Mildred Pierce" (1945).

evanston_dad "Possessed" was included among TCM's "Summer of Darkness" series celebrating film noir, but it really doesn't belong to that genre. It's instead one of those rather tiresome "women's pictures" from the 1940s and 50s, melodramas that usually had some talented actress swooning over some leading man or other. In this one, it's Joan Crawford so obsessed with lover Van Heflin that she literally goes crazy when he breaks off their affair and she instead marries dutiful but dull Raymond Massey. Crawford is much more fun when she's taking charge, not weeping and wailing, and though she tries her best, she can't make much of this thankless character or director Curtis Bernhardt's utter lack of recognizable style.Still, she managed to somehow snag an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance.Grade: C

wes-connors Psychologically disturbed, Joan Crawford (as Louise Howell) is found wandering the streets of Los Angeles. "David," she mutters, "I'm looking for David." Awakening in an asylum, Ms. Crawford unravels her story… In flashback, we meet Crawford as a relatively level-headed Washington nurse; in a rustic northwestern estate, she cares for the mentally unbalanced wife of wealthy Raymond Massey (as Dean Graham). Mr. Massey's wife thinks Crawford is having an affair with her husband, but Crawford is really seeing World War II veteran Van Heflin (as David Sutton). Crawford loves Heflin so bad it hurts, but he isn't interested in commitment. Heflin tells her, "I can't love you the way you love me." Crawford says she'll wait forever, but Heflin says never.Heflin's rejection distresses Crawford. Then, Massey's wife drowns. And, faced with losing both her lover and livelihood, Crawford accepts Massey's marriage proposal. But, Crawford is still "Possessed" by her love for Heflin. He returns to romance step-daughter Geraldine Brooks (as Carol), who thinks Crawford killed her mother to marry Massey… The melodramatic plot continues, and remains fascinating throughout. This is mid-period Crawford at her very best. Superb in a tailor-made production, Crawford stands head and shoulders above the rest of the 1947 "Academy Award" nominees for "Best Actress" of 1947. Director Curtis Bernhardt and photographer Joseph Valentine match Germanic-inspired "film noir" with their star in stylish black and white.********* Possessed (7/26/47) Curtis Bernhardt ~ Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, Raymond Massey, Geraldine Brooks

moonspinner55 Director Curtis Bernhardt gets excellent acting work from Joan Crawford, here in her Warner Bros. prime. Crawford's a caretaker for the sickly wife of an oilman and deeply in love with engineer Van Heflin, who feels smothered by her neediness and dumps her. Obsessed (rather than possessed), Joan goes off the deep end, marrying her employer but unable to shake off her anger and heartbreak. Ostensibly designed as a showcase for its leading lady, Joan did earn an Academy Award nomination for her performance, though the film's plot (while involved) is melodramatic and thinly-derived. We learn that Crawford's Louise Howell is mentally unstable (possibly schizophrenic)--though the way this plays out, she seems much more masochistic: a deranged, self-loathing woman scorned. Heflin is a peculiar choice as the object of Joan's unwanted affection: tough but unfocused, and unsympathetic, he doesn't seem quite like Crawford's type. Heflin does fine work under the circumstances, as does Raymond Massey playing Crawford's extremely patient and understanding new spouse. The production, despite being laden with flashbacks, is immaculate; Bernhardt does some stunning things with the camera, including fantastic point-of-view shots and imaginative scene transitions. Though the picture doesn't quite add up in the end, there's plenty of fireworks and sardonic amusement on hand for those in the mood. **1/2 from ****