I love this movie so much

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Associate producer: George Amy. Producer: Jerry Wald. Executive producer: Michael Curtiz. Copyright 30 April 1949 by Michael Curtiz Productions, Inc. Released through Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand, 6 May 1949. U.S. release 30 April 1949. U.K. release: 12 September 1949. Australian release: 20 October 1950 (sic). 8,507 feet. 94 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Political corruption and violence in a small town in the Deep South.NOTES: Warner Bros. top three highest-grossing films in the U.S.A./Canada for 1949 were (in alphabetical order): Flamingo Road, Johnny Belinda and Look For the Silver Lining.Film debuts of David Brian and Dale Robertson.The stage play based on the 1943 novel by Robert Wilder opened on Broadway at the Belasco on 19 March 1946, closing after only 7 performances. The critics were merciless, with authors Robert Wilder and wife Sally Wilder copping most of the brickbats. Francis J. Felton, Judith Parrish, Will Geer, Philip Bourneuf and Paul Ford were the unhappy players directed by Jose Ruben for producer Rowland Stebbins.COMMENT: Michael Curtiz has delivered a brilliantly-wrought film noir in "Flamingo Road", lovingly photographed in soft shadow and deep focus by Ted McCord. The acting, particularly of the four principals (Crawford, Scott, Greenstreet and Brian) rates as nothing short of marvelously powerful. The taut screenplay compresses the stage play masterfully into a stinging 94 minutes. As usual in this halcyon period when he was at the peak of his powers, Curtiz's striking visual images form a constant delight.

This is one of Joan Crawford's better movies because it is so entertaining. This movie has it all: drama, snappy dialogue, memorial characters. good guys and bad guys, excellent film noir cinematography, fluid continuity, and a wonderful ending. Most commanding is Sydney Greenstreet. He carries this movie; his performance is strong and surprisingly dynamic. Before Boss Hogg there was Boss Semple and in this movie the Boss is in charge until he gets his come-uppance. Joan Crawford gives a wonderful performance as the carnival worker who gets caught up in political corruption. Her scenes with Mr. Greenstreet are the highlights of the movie. The movie treats a number of compelling themes in a straightforward manner and without becoming melodramatic.

Harem dancer with a traveling carnival stays behind in a lumber town after the caravans are forced to pack up and run; she's got three dollars in her purse and isn't about to run from anybody! Luckily a pliable, well-meaning deputy takes an interest in the girl and gets her a job waiting tables, but their romance is spoiled by his superior, a crooked, back-stabbing sheriff with political ties. Robert and Sally Wilder's play becomes florid, engrossing vehicle for Joan Crawford, providing the tough, mercurial star with another of her great, gritty roles from this sumptuous era. Crawford may be a little mature for a cheesecake dancer, but she acquits herself well with this overheated, overwrought scenario. Sydney Greenstreet sweats and grunts imposingly enough as Sheriff Titus (who calls all his cohorts "Bub"), while Zachary Scott and David Brian are the well-cast men in Crawford's love life. Brian, in particular, matches up extremely well with the ballsy broad from across the tracks; he doesn't go in for a lot of nonsense--and she doesn't give him any. The editing in the opening is sloppy (showing us a clip of a scene that takes place later) and Max Steiner's melodramatic score is too emphatic with the shuddery notes (when Brian takes a sip from a whiskey sour, the strings rise and fall as if this were an Agatha Christie mystery). The picture certainly isn't art, though it's quite enjoyable on a camp level and Crawford is always worth a look. **1/2 from ****

How on earth did Joan Crawford get cast in this film? She was 44 when she made "Flamingo Road", but she looks closer to 54. As Lane Bellamy, a "girl" who develops a romantic interest in Deputy Sheriff Fielding Carlisle (35 year old Zachary Scott), Crawford looks more like Fielding's mother. With a scarf covering part of her face as a harem dancer in a carnival when she first appears, she looks so out of place I almost laughed out loud.The film's theme is class-consciousness in a small town in the American South. The phrase "Flamingo Road" is used as code for "social success"; it's the "avenue of achievement". And in the view of Fielding's mentor, town Sheriff Titus Semple (Sydney Greenstreet), a carnival dancer like Lane is too cheap and tawdry to be considered as wife material for Fielding, whom Titus wants to promote as Governor. As a result, "young" Lane and Sheriff Semple ... clash.Greenstreet is terrific in his role. Love that clipped laugh of his. But he doesn't have much of a Southern accent. Which brings up another point. The story may be set in the South, but you'd never know it from the general absence of Southern accents and the film's visuals. Where are the magnolia trees or palm trees? Where is the Spanish moss? Where is the fried chicken, the grits, the cornbread and catfish? And I don't recall hearing a single country-western song.The film's plot and dialogue are moderately melodramatic. And so too is some of the acting. At one point Lane forcefully slaps one of the characters.In some scenes, the film's B&W lighting evokes a wonderfully moody atmosphere. And all that drama actually leads somewhere, as the potent climax makes for quite a surprise. The animated Gladys George is great as the tough and reality tested roadhouse boss, Lute Mae.Despite the miscasting of Crawford and the lack of appropriate Southern atmosphere, "Flamingo Road" is still enjoyable, thanks largely to the presence of both Sydney Greenstreet and Gladys George, and to a mildly interesting plot and surprise ending.