Della

Along with “The Caretakers” (a misunderstood and underrated film), “Night Gallery” and “…Baby Jane,” this is one of Crawford's finest hours from the 1960s. In a role that calls for her to be tough, tender and highly vulnerable, she’s riveting; whether calm and authoritative, emotionally fragile or imperiously overbearing, its hard to find fault with her performance.Personally I find Paul Burke to be his usual one-note self and not worthy of much attention, although his performance is usually passable, as it is here. Baker is a bit shrill at times, but still manages to provide a level of pathos in a somewhat two-dimensional role. Although never mentioned on screen, the condition her character suffers from is a rare skin-disease that, in the days before sun-block, would never allow her to in the sun for more than a few minutes. And in fact, those who suffer with severe cases of this condition today are rarely given more a twenty year life expectancy.Charles Bickford is fine in a fairly small role that would have been greatly expanded for the series, and for which Crawford would have returned so as to provide details of their characters romantically tangled past.I'd have loved it if someone were to have laid their hands on the 104 minute version of this made for television pilot, which had it gone on to become the series "Royal Bay," would have compromised the first two episodes. Over 30 minutes was excised to fit a 90 minute time frame for TV syndication; a number of Crawford scenes were chopped, as well small scenes with Sara Taft as her made and a side story involving Richard Carlson, Robert Sampson & Mariana Case's characters—even the picnic scene was greatly trimmed as a result.Richard Alan Simmons script is at times melodramatic (like one of his prior Crawford projects, Female on the Beach), but Robert Gist's intelligent direction manages to reign in most of those tendencies.Another latterly under-appreciated Crawford film, and very much misrepresented by fans today, and made fun of by some who are seriously clueless about the skin condition of Baker's character. Despite what some of these "people" may insist, from the time this went into syndication in late 1964 until well into the 1980s, this was a popular and much-appreciated film, with an ending that many remember to this day, even if they haven’t seen it for decades.

one of her final Crawford special performances (she even gets to slap another daughter.) originally meant to be a tv series, but made into a film instead. it had all of the old time Crawford religion. she looked great, too (although you'll blink a lot every time the camera goes into soft-focus.} good Crawford, great costumes, wonderful supporting cast like Charles bickford, diane baker, paul burke and more good old timers. fun drama. there was a technical problem with this dvd of color blocking and skipping. I managed to see enough to make this comment.

Very pleased with this purchase. Exactly what I expected out of a Joan Crawford picture: glamour, designer gowns, furs, jewels and a domineering stance. Even for a made-for-tv production Crawford stands out as the quintessential silver screen star.

I purchased this movie because I have grown to appreciate the talent behind Joan Crawford. I took a chance on this made for TV film and I have to say I am thoroughly impressed. Joan Crawford delivered a fantastic performance of a mothers love and control. from all the bad publicity that this woman has received over the years, maybe she wasn't acting, maybe she was just playing herself, but if she wasn't, then you have to admire the woman and her talent for she gave us some exceptional films over the decades of her career. Della is a great flick and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you Joan!

It's worth watching just for seeing Joan give her daughter a good hard slap across the face! Ha!

Only for diehard fans. A pilot for a TV show that never sold, supposedly it was retooledas a TV movie. You can tell why it didn't sell. The entire exercise is pointless, a waste ofCrawford's talent. The dependable Diane Baker is also here, also wasted. Spend your moneyon a Crawford classic such as "Mildred Pierce" instead.

I was really impressed with the quality of the transfer on this. A lot of times small-run movies are iffy quality but this looks great even on a large screen TV.

Joan really had a small part in this. I also didn't like the narration at the beginning.

An awesome and exciting movie! Joan Crawford is amazing as 'Della'. The dvd has excellent picture and sound quality!

This review is about the DVD, not the movie. Sound quality was so bad that the movie was unwatchable. Too bad, because the movie sounds good & I still want to see it