Susan And God (1940)

A self centered flighty society matron (Joan Crawford) ignores her alcoholic husband (Fredric March) and their daughter (Rita Quigley). Returning home from a trip to Europe, she is obsessed with a religious movement and disrupts the lives of her friends by her unwanted meddling. Based on the play by Rachel Crothers and directed by George Cukor (GASLIGHT). I enjoyed the first half of the movie more than the second half where it falls into a predictable sappy conclusion. Crothers' play is essentially a sophisticated drawing room comedy with an unsubtle undertone regarding practicing what one preaches. The heroine's pompous proselytizing is actually destructive to those around her while she gets the happy ending for seeing the light. Crawford tries hard but she can't overcome the gross miscasting. She simply can't play high comedy (I developed a perverse sympathy for Crawford as she flounders about) but even with a strong comedienne like a Katharine Hepburn or Rosalind Russell in the role, I'm not sure the material is worth the effort. With Rita Hayworth, Nigel Bruce, Ruth Hussey, Rose Hobart, Gloria DeHaven, Dan Dailey, Marjorie Main and John Carroll.