Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

PWNYCNY 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.

vincentlynch-moonoi This is a very powerful, and I believe underrated, film. And, I would have to disagree with some other reviewers that it's very much Joan Crawford's film. In my view this is a "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" film, and the big shot in question is Sydney Greenstreet. Here, Greenstreet is just about the most repulsive I've ever seen him in any role. And, incidentally, he made only one film after this one.While I feel it's Greenstreet's film, that's not to say Crawford isn't powerful here, as well. Imagine saying to Greenstreet: "You know sheriff; we had an elephant in our carnival with a memory like that. He went after a keeper that he'd held a grudge against for almost 15 years. Had to be shot. You just wouldn't believe how much trouble it is to dispose of a dead elephant." The film really wouldn't work without both of them, and they are forces to be reckoned with on the screen in this film.I think nowadays we've learned to be somewhat dismissive of Joan Crawford...partly due to her publicity as "Mommy Dearest", and partly due to some of the really rotten films she made in her declining years. But here she was near her peak, and so impressive.Another surprise (at least for me) in this film is Zachary Scott...never a particular favorite of mine...an actor I typically tolerate. But here, he is excellent! Perhaps the best role I've seen him in.David Bryan deserves mention here. He was never a big star, but we often saw him in films and then television. He does very nicely here, as do the other members of the cast.I highly recommend this film. The only negative comment I can make is that perhaps Joan Crawford didn't look the part...but she sure acted it!

Massimiliano Misturelli After several good and very good movies at Warner, Joan Crawford starred in this worn out JC's formula picture. The story of Lane Bellamy, a former carnival dancer who marries a wealthy man and is persecuted by a bully politician, is nothing but a dreadful imitation of the old carachters she' s been playing at MGM. Someone can call it camp, but it's just pure trash. It's a picture ahead of its time, meaning that you can only see such rubbish in the worst Brazilian "telenovelas" nowadays. Not to mention the fact that being in her early forties by that time, she was supposed to play a twenty something young woman. Poor Joan, if she only had waited one year or two, she could have learned from William Holden that " there is nothing tragic about being fifty, unless you want to be twenty five"

dbdumonteil "Flaming Road" is the posh street of the town ,the place where everyone who has made it wants to dwell."Flamingo road" belongs to a rare genre :the political melodrama ;but politics are very vague and consist of scheming ,bribes and men of straw.The young male actors are rather bland and it's Sidney Greenstreet' s sheriff Titus who walks away with the honors.He really matches Crawford every step of the way.He did exactly what the producers wanted to:making himself hated by the audience .He is fat,fleshy.Crawford almost becomes a female Jean Valjean ,harassed by an American Javert.