With her colleagues, Joan was all business; and to some—like sixteen-year-old Ann Blyth—she was actually protective. Warner and Curtiz had not wanted Ann for the role, but Joan was adamant when she saw the girl’s test. Her confidence was justified, for the result was Ann’s chillingly effective portrayal of the spoiled, cruelly self-centered Veda. “The Joan Crawford I knew,” recalled Ann Blyth decades later, “was dedicated and kind. She fought for me to have the part of Veda, and she told the director when she thought I ought to have more close-ups. Nobody I ever worked with enjoyed being a
...more
