"Other than Mildred Pierce, this is the Joan Crawford film most generous to Joan, the one that places her as the object of sympathy. Her looks are hard but in this case it's understandable: she's on the verge of becoming an old maid, a certain spinster, keeping mostly to herself, typing manuscripts, and living in a little apartment in a sidecourt in L.A....(When) she accidentally meets a young, decent-looking fellow, played by Cliff Robertson...(she's) giddy, wild with the smell of love and she's not sure what to do about it. But of course there's a catch. Cliff moves in with her, they marry, and all seems well...Then things begin to go wrong. He's nuts...This is the price of taking a chance, she thinks, her worst nightmare...My mother had a husband like this. A handsome, charming Irishman who seemed fine and then one day just wouldn't get out of bed...My mother's favorite song, other than La Vie en Rose, was Autumn Leaves and she used to play the piano and sing it when I was a kid. It's the theme song of this movie, a sad song for a sad story." --Barry Gifford