Possessed Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Possessed Blu-ray Movie Review

"You don't own me. Nobody does."

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 14, 2026

An early vehicle for established leading lady Joan Crawford and up-and-comer Clark Gable (their third film together after Dance, Fools, Dance and Laughing Sinners, both released earlier that same year), Clarence Brown's Possessed is not to be confused with the 1947 film of the same name, also starring Crawford and not a remake. Instead, it follows a formula Crawford fans should be instantly familiar with: a woman of limited means claws her way to the top, fiercely defying the usual norms of a male-dominated society. It's extremely thoughtful and measured, though, a drama that feels somewhat ahead of its time with the advantage of arriving just before the Hays Code took full effect.

Our story begins in the blue-collar town of Erie, Pennsylvania, where factory worker Al Manning (Wallace Ford, in his first credited role) meets his girlfriend Marian Martin (Crawford) at quitting time. Their relationship is clearly shown to be one-sided, as from the very first moment it's obvious that she dreams of leaving town for a better life in the big city. Blowing off dinner with Al and her mother (Clara Blandick, later known as The Wizard of Oz's Auntie Em), Marian walks to the train station to admire its rich passengers and soon meets Wally Stuart (the memorably named Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, above) from New York, who offers her some champagne and a future meeting there, should she ever decide to visit. It doesn't take long: Al is furious when Marion arrives back home late and drunk, demands he stay with her in Erie... and of course she doesn't, basically boarding the next train for greener pastures.

After arriving in The Big Apple for her reunion with Wally, he's obviously not a potential suitor for Marion but tells her how to get one. Again, it doesn't take long: soon enough she meets a number of his friends including Mark Whitney (Gable), a divorced attorney with political ambitions, and their natural chemistry is immediately apparent. During the next few years, Marion is transformed into a new woman, from her dress to her social circle. But due to the frowned-upon nature of their relationship, she's also given a new identity as "Mrs. Moreland", a fellow divorcée who hides her past while also keeping her romance with Mark partially under wraps. Things get a bit more complicated once Al returns to her life, though: now making his own moves as the owner of a successful cement company, he's also a new person and hopes to rekindle their relationship... not to mention expand his business with Mark's help.

Possessed packs an awful lot into just 76 minutes, running through its setup at a breakneck pace without sacrificing most of the necessary emotional melodramatics to give its key characters enough meat to chew on. I'll admit that some of the story's earliest plot conveniences have to be ignored to fully enjoy the ride but, like most of Crawford and Gable's collaborations (which were also well-known off the set), their chemistry is what carries most of the weight. Add in some ahead-of-their-time political layers and related intrigue, plus a great supporting performance from Wallace Ford (who'd later impress in films as varied as Freaks, A Patch of Blue, and Shadow of a Doubt), and you've got yourself a solid slice of pre-Code Hollywood that holds up surprisingly well some 95 years after its theatrical release.

As they often do, Warner Archive's recent Blu-ray edition of Possessed offers plenty of support for the main feature, focusing most of the attention on a 4K-scanned restoration of MGM's original nitrate camera negative. The end result is predictably beautiful and pays tribute to its noir-adjacent visuals and sturdy production design, which take us from the bowels of Erie all the way to first-class New York luxury alongside our ambitious main character.

Possessed Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Not surprisingly, Warner Archive's restoration of Possessed, which is sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative with extensive manual cleanup, has yielded fantastic results that should please fans of Golden Age cinema. The lustrous cinematography by prolific cinematographer Oliver T. Marsh, who would earn an honorary Oscar alongside Allen M. Davey for their work on Sweethearts, looks absolutely great here and much "younger" than its 95-year vintage implies. Fine detail and textures are wonderfully represented, as both look very clean yet faithful to their nitrate roots with a silvery sheen and sporadic ultra-soft close-ups of its stars. The black levels are also nice and deep, which is good news indeed considering the number of shadowy exteriors and dramatic lighting choices used here. Disc encoding is good too, as this Blu-ray's high bit rate helps it manage some of the more visually challenging moments without suffering from any glaring compression artifacts. As usual, it's another easy five stars.

Possessed Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix shows similarly proportionate strengths, boasting crisp dialogue and a decently dynamic presence for music cues. Trace levels of hiss remain, suggesting an absence of noise reduction processing which is almost always preferable. As always, this will be a very satisfying experience with expectations in check, as this split presentation of its original mono source material sounds very good under the circumstances.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Possessed Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in keepcase with poster-themed cover art and a pair of era-specific extras.

• Love Tails of Morocco (16:21) - This 1931 short, part of MGM's bizarre and controversial Dogville comedy series, follows anthropomorphic pups as they watch a movie in the Foreign Legion while talking about dames that got them intro trouble. This series was eventually banned in Britain for documented acts of behind-the-scenes animal cruelty, making it an interesting relic from the darker corners of Golden Age Hollywood.

• Bosko the Doughboy (7:00) - Speaking of dated animal relics, this very early Looney Tunes short (only the 14th cartoon in the series) is prefaced by a 30-second content warning and features critters engaging in battle during World War I. It's worth noting that this is a departure from the usual Bosko shorts from that era, which makes it all the more uniquely curious. Previously available uncut on WB's Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6 DVD set, it's finally been upgraded to HD here but still unavoidably shows its age.

Possessed Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The third on-screen pairing for Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, Clarence Brown's 1931 film Possessed marked their strongest joint effort to date. It's got a solid story, great performances, and excellent cinematography, and still holds up remarkably well as it quickly approaches its 100th anniversary. Warner Archive's new Blu-ray celebrates five years early with yet another well-appointed Blu-ray edition that's led by rock-solid A/V merits and a pair of interesting era-specific bonus features. Without question, Possessed is firmly Recommended to fans and first-timers too.