even though she be the first runner up for the new york film critic award and faye dunaway disavow her performance a screen icon joan crawford because the camp follow this 1981 potboiler have develop over the year have probably be overwhelm . to put it mildly and she be certainly watchable . however and every line she utter seem to have an exclamation point and and every gesture feel so grandiose that it hard to figure out just what empathetic quality crawford have to engender her long standing popularity . the glibly titled 2006 hollywood royalty edition dvd package make no bone that this be a movie that now cater to it huge gay follow . dunaway snub in participate ( as well a director frank perry death ) mean have flamboyant director john water pinch hit on the commentary track and and he manage to be both funny and insightful a he share lot of apocryphal gossip and zingy one liner to bring a whole new flavor to the execrable film . among his many error in judgment and perry decide to film the story of crawford mid to late year ( or more appropriately and her adopted daughter christina version of it ) a if the movie be one of crawford own overripe film . the problem with his serious minded approach be that it veer so unpredictably back and forth between soap opera and pure camp that the only consistency be it artifice . the story begin a the movie star career be in free fall at mgm in 1939 ( when she be force to film a true atrocity call ice folly of 1939 ) . aware of her professional dilemma and crawford decides to adopt a baby regardless of be a twice divorce single career woman . with the help of her studio lackey lover greg savitt and she adopt a daughter and later a son . forever the publicity hound and crawford present her happy family in the most pretentious manner in front of the hollywood press and yet hide a streak of cruelty that manifest itself into military like parent and savagely violent episode . not live up to her mother exacting standard and christina be shuttle off to board school and then convent school . she grow up to become a struggle young tv actress and a her mother become a corporate wife turn widow slip deeper into alcoholism . perry make a fundamental mistake in switch the film narrative perspective from joan to christina midway through the film . the consequence be that neither of their story be fully tell with any objectivity and especially what could have happen in crawford earlier year that would have lead to such excessive behavior . instead and we be give an endless parade of over the top moment the tree chopping and the tile scrubbing and the wire hanger and the out of control strangulation that the movie be simply too exhaust to keep up with the episodic storyline . with her reasonable resemblance to the movie star in full make up and dunaway carry herself confidently within the crawford public persona and even achieve some remote moment of poignancy in between the shout match . her strenuous effort at verisimilitude and however and push her into an unsavory and demonic level of commitment to the large than life role . it too bad that almost everyone else be quite awful by comparison diana scarwid frustratingly wooden a the adult christina and rutanya alda irritatingly earnest in her blind devotion a crawford confidante carol ann and steve forrest look like age beef a savitt and howard da silva merely smarmy a mgm studio chief louis b. mayer . the one exception be little mara hobel and who bring genuine cunning to the young christina . the hollywood royalty edition include three dishy featurettes . the 14 minute the revival of joan crawford show the genesis of the movie from christina red hot best seller with contribution from scarwid and alda and producer frank yablans and who speak candidly about dunaway tempestuous perfectionism . the 14 minute life with joan focus on dunaway total absorption in the part during the stormy production and include an extended opening sequence that be delete before release . the 16 minute joan live on speaks specifically to the film cult status with water and crawford impersonator lypsinka provide particularly comic insight to it gay follow . there be also a photo gallery and the original trailer . it truly for lover of cinema camp .