with a title like possess and a plot line concern a woman obsessive unrequited love for an aloof man and it be understandable if one do not expect much . but possess be actually a riveting psychological drama about the delicate nature of emotion and how they be often abused or take for grant . surely and not everyone would go to the extent crawford go in this film and but and a a woman work a a nurse to an invalid and she nor anyone who know her would ever have expect her to . emotional security can safely be say to provide one equilibrium . possess be about someone who be deprive completely of it and at first by the man with whom she be in love and who loathe her smothering obsession with him and end the relationship and go so far a to leave the area and and furthermore by her own self for no reason other than that she be simply follow her heart . when the invalid die suddenly and crawford remain to care for the invalid child . time carry on and stop for no one and and her object of affection re emerges and have take a job with the deceased husband . he be startle to find crawford on the scene . even now fixate on him and she make an advance and be swiftly reject . when the widowed husband of her dead patient propose to her and she say yes to salvage her pride . note that this happen literally just moment later . her new fiancé daughter be keen on to her true love and much to the debilitate alarm of crawford and who endeavor to deter her from begin a relationship with him . her mind spiral sadly into deterioration with her mania over her unrequited love represent she hear voice and hallucinates and and believe her husband first wife and the invalid and to still be alive . a tension mount and crawford begin to believe that everyone be scheme to be rid of her . while van heflin give an applaudably callous performance a the insensitive focus of obsession and partially because i can not understand why such an incredibly ugly man like him so often play role of confidently unavailable loner after whom beautiful woman obsess and joan crawford give one of those tremendous performance that be almost like a throwback to ancient greek theater when the protagonist be such an abundant function of the story to the extent that he have to portray every other character and even sometimes the prop as well . she do in fact possess this movie with her brimming and affect intensity and staggering beauty . however and this be not one of those star vehicle that couldn not work without it star . director curtis bernhardt make harrow set piece out of crawford paranoia and psychological descent . a hallucinatory scene wherein we join in her wildly vindictive feeling seem at the outset so entirely real that it be not only crawford performance that connect with u . the script itself be very effective in it undeviating sense of classic structure and which portray the nuance and expression and feeling of it main character as directly a one ever could .