possess ( 1947 ) be a somewhat underrated warner bros. noir . with an excellent central performance from it star joan crawford this highly charge drama should be good thought of than it be and deserve of much more exposure . it be one of crawford best picture so this overdue release on dvd be something of an event . crawford and fresh from win an acadamy award for mildred pierce look a if she be try for another one here with her well measure portrayal of a neurotic private nurse in the employ of raymond massey . but she be unable to deal with the intensity and frustration of her unrequited love for a young engineer ( van heflin ) . it all get too much for her and she finally snap culminate in a tragic final reel . crawford give one of her great wide eye antagonistic performance with fine support from van heflin and raymond massey ( in one of his more amiable role ) and the ill fat geraldine brooke ( whose previous film for warner just before this be a errol flynn young sister in cry wolf ) and stanley ridge a crawford psychiatrist . from a crack screenplay by silvia richards and ranald mcdougall ( who also write mildred pierce ) the picture turn out to be a splendidly absorbing drama thanks to the smooth and solid direction by curtiz bernhardt and the stylish and sharp monochrome cinematography of joseph valentine and an effective score by the great franz waxman ( feature schumann rhapsodic carnaval opus 9 play by van heflin ) and most of all to the outstanding performance of miss joan crawford . a nice package extra include a ten minute featurette on the noir aspect of possessed and a good commentary by film historian drew casper and an excellent trailer .