"Possessed" released in 1947, gives Joan Crawford one of her best performances at the height of her popularity at Warner Brothers. Crawford had won an Oscar just the year before for "Mildred Pierce" so she was red-hot when she made this film. Crawford stars as Louise, a seemingly cool, detached nurse who cares for an ill woman (whom we never see) who is married to a wealthy man named Dean (Raymond Massey). Louise has also just been dumped by her lover David (Van Heflin) whom she was very much in love with. Louise becomes infatuated with David, seeming to almost stalk him. On the rebound, she marries Dean (whose wife is now dead), much to the dismay of his adult daughter Carol (Geraldine Brooks). Gradually, Carol and Louise become friends. Louise then almost snaps when she learns Carol and David are seeing one another; her odd behavior becomes even odder, telling lies, imagining she was involved in the death of Dean's first wife, etc. This is where the movie veers off course: Louise confronts David about his relationship with Carol, shoots him, and then ends up wandering the streets and then in the psychiatric ward of a hospital. The film just explains it all away as psychoses and nothing more -- although in the real world of 1947 psychiatry that probably wasn't uncommon. The film is uneven at time, and the script slightly lacking, but the performances are first rate. Van Heflin has one of his better roles as a callous, arrogant playboy, and Geraldine Brooks is fine as Carol. Raymond Massey is his usual reliable self, playing the long-suffering husband role quite well. But make no mistake: this is Joan Crawford's show, and she dominates and fascinates throughout.