Jimmy Fund: At Home With Joan Crawford (1953) *** (out of 4) This short film was made to help raise money for the Jimmy Fund, which was a hospital in Boston that took care of children with cancer. The film shows Joan Crawford walking out of her daughter's bedroom and heading for the camera where she talks about the children with the disease and then asks people to donate money. Several of these shorts were made back in the 1950s and if you're a fan of Crawford then you'll want to check this out. This isn't the most cheerful short ever made but it did serve its purpose. It's rather sad to think that 55-years after this was released that we're no closer to any cure.

After presumably reading her children a book entitled "Clowns", glamorous movie star Joan Crawford says goodnight to her children. And, the children say goodnight to their mother. They are happy and healthy, but Ms. Crawford knows many other children are not so lucky. They have cancer. Crawford narrates while we see child cancer patients in New England. They look okay, but thousands of little children are dying of cancer every year. They need money to fight the disease. You can help...Crawford encourages viewers to make a donation, to "The Jimmy Fund" of Boston, MA. Theater personnel will help take the money. "Please give as generously as you can," Crawford pleads, "please…" Her children are never seen, by the way; they are only heard saying goodnight. Interesting to see the clown doll and "Clowns" book carried by Crawford reappears in a cancer-stricken boy's arms, but she is never seen with any children. Crawford is effective in this short, well-photographed fund-raiser.***** At Home with Joan Crawford (1953) Jimmy Fund ~ Joan Crawford

Brief public service announcement for the Jimmy Fund for children with cancer. It's basically just Joan Crawford saying goodnight to her children (we never see them -- I assume the voices are from actors), then descending a staircase and talking directly to the camera about this cause. That's it. Why it is so low-rated on IMDb is a mystery. I gave it a middle-ground score because basically it's just an ad for a charity. There isn't anything good or bad about it on a technical level. There's no "story." I certainly have no beef with the cause. Who would? I assume that its low score is because of the "Mommie Dearest" allegations that have colored people's perceptions of Joan so much that the opening part where she says goodnight to her children is being met with a judgment of some kind. If that's the case, it's pathetic to me but people can vote however they want. Anyway, it's just a harmless well-meaning public service ad.

A totally naive person might wonder why an ancient public service announcement (PSA) is taken note of on IMDb. The reason is that Joan Crawford appears in it. That's right, if Nadine Schwackhammer, who has never had a SAG card, recorded a PSA for a local Cedar Rapids TV station 10 years ago for the Beulah Benzie Park Beautification Project, that PSA--apples to donuts--would NOT be here on IMDb. However, the average PSA recorded by Crawford, or Kate Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Betty Davis, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Stewart, and the other major stars in Hollywood's firmament are MORE worthy to be archived here than the average TV sit-com episode of MY MOTHER THE CAR or CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU? (even though these ALSO have their own niche on IMDb). The reason being, that researchers need access to every minute of screen time that EVER has been publicly released by such figures. C'mon, this is not just Lindsay Lohan getting out of a car, or something.Like any ratable item, Joan's PSA for the Jimmy Fund SHOULD be judged in the context of its own genre and time period. Know-nothings who automatically rate things a "1" because they're from the 1930s, or they're shorts, or they're black-and-white or silent, or some actor named "David" is in it and they divorced a "David," or they read MOMMIE DEAREST may LEGALLY be able to vote in the IMDb ratings process, but their arbitrary nuisance marks are absolutely no different from spitting into a punch bowl: they are spoiling something other people value. This is a definition of vandalism, if there ever was one.Raising money for child cancer victims, which Joan was doing when this plea for Boston's Jimmy Fund was made at New England theaters (followed by the movie ushers passing the hat) is no laughing matter. Joan begins the PSA at the top of a staircase, presumably leading to the kids' rooms at her own home. She does NOT mention wire hangers at all. This is a straight-forward plea for a worthy cause, and deserves at least a rating of "7." They were not attempting to make WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? here; they were just trying to keep little kids from dying before their time. It is really sad that dozens of meanies cannot get this through their brains.