In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

We viewed this movie last night through TCM on demand; I'd only seen parts of it in the past, not the whole film. I was impressed by Joan Crawford's skillful depiction of a highly intelligent woman whose face had been disfigured when she was as child. Her character seemed to be a genius in her knowledge and musical abilities. Because of her appearance she'd been shunned and unjustly treated; this forced her to hide half of her face from others. She spends most of her time in seclusion with a band of misfits and crooks. Her rejection by society turned her into a seemingly heartless blackmailer among other things. We could see that beneath her bitterness was a spark of something else, something good perhaps; her doctor played by Melvyn Douglas sees this too. Her doctor presents her with hope to restore her face using his skill, but will it work? It was an unusual role for Ms. Crawford IMO, at this stage in her career I'd figured she'd always want to look her most beautiful in roles. I couldn't imagine her appearing less than attractive even for part of a film; yet here she allowed her face to appear disfigured in some scenes. It was reminiscent for me of scenes that Gloria Grahame did years later in 'The Big Heat', another excellent film. The supporting cast in 'A Woman's Face' is good, especially Conrad Veidt as the evil man who has her in his power because he finds her attractive. For him she is willing to do anything...almost. The unthinkable crime he wants her to commit is the crux of the story, I won't reveal it here except to say at times we were on the edge of our seats wondering would she do it. Also of note in the supporting cast are Marjorie Main as a servant jealous of Joan and Albert Bassermann as a kindly grandfather. I highly recommend this film and give it a rating of 8 out of 10 stars.

A Woman's Face (1941) *** (out of 4) Interesting thriller has Joan Crawford playing criminal Anna Holm who takes her partially deformed face out on others by living a life of crime. She meets a kind plastic surgeon (Melvyn Douglas) who agrees to fix her face but before doing so she ends up with the evil Torsten Barring (Conrad Veidt) who plans to make her carry out a murder. A WOMAN'S FACE basically asks if a heartless ugly woman can become beautiful and then grow a heart. Shallow? I'm sure in lesser hands it could have been but director George Cukor and star Crawford do a terrific job at building up the story, the characters and end with an incredibly intense sequence that's very memorable. Apparently everyone in the world tries to talk Crawford out of doing this picture because a "beautiful" woman should never "ugly" herself up. It's easy to see why the legend would want to do this part because it was certainly one of the best of her career. It allows her to play an incredibly cold character that goes through a certain development and turns into something special. I thought Crawford was flawless early in the film when it was time for her to play evil but she was also very believable during the transformation. It certainly doesn't hurt that she's surrounded by a terrific group of character actors. Douglas is his usual wonderful self as the married doctor who finds himself falling for the woman. Veidt plays a cold-blooded snake like no other and makes for a great villain. Osa Massen Albert Bassermann, Reginald Owen, Donald Meek and Marjorie Main are all very good as well. Henry Daniell and George Zucco also have brief roles during the court room sequence. The film moves along at a very good pace but there's no question that the highlight comes towards the end during a thrilling and extremely intense chase sequence. I'm not going to spoil what happens but it's certainly a very memorable sequence that will have you on the edge of your seat. Fans of Crawford are certainly going to enjoy getting to see two sides of the actress.

Yes, Joan is great, and she looks quite luminous in several scenes. However, If you were hoping for the evil, scar-faced she-devil promised by the stills and advertising, don't hold your breath.By the time you slog though the Nordic'regional' costumes and 'folkloric' dances midway through the film, you'll wonder why you thought this film was going to offer you any noir-ish thrills. Maybe as long as you are not led-astray to think you are getting a film with any real noir-qualities besides being black and white, perhaps you won't be as disappointed as I was.For me, the shift off to the hokey winter wonderland pretty well kills off any depth the film may have seemed to promise, as well as any realism or momentum to keep me interested.But wait! Just when I was wondering how the VERY promising premise of the film could go so wrong, there is a high-speed sleigh-ride chase. Now *that's* different. Over-all, I see this film as an opportunity missed...

Joan Crawford, in a rare case of very sly, very competent underplaying, is cast as a facially scarred woman who falls in league (and perhaps in lust) with a blackmailing schemer with murder on his mind. The blackmail part of the deal is foiled when accomplice Crawford is befriended by Melvyn Douglas, the victim's husband (and plastic surgeon!); after restoring her beauty, Douglas must then stop Joan from carrying out the murder plot, targeting a child no less! Remake of an early Ingrid Bergman movie (1938's "En Kvinnas ansikte"), which in turn was based upon a French play, the film is over-plotted and over-flowing with hectic minutiae and chatty supporting characters. Also complicating matters is a story-frame set in the Royal Swedish Court: seems Joan is indeed on trial for murder, but whom did she kill? Despite a slow beginning, this turns out to be a rather shrewdly devised, sharply written melodrama, with some delicious turns of the screw. Crawford and Douglas work smoothly together (they were reteamed for a comedy the following year, "They All Kissed the Bride"), and the cinematography and art direction are marvelous. George Cukor directed, without a sense of humor, and the script might've stood some paring down. Otherwise, shamefully entertaining. **1/2 from ****