This review concentrates only on Miss Hayward's DVD output on Region 1 only (this plays in the US and Canada only). There are more of her movies available in non compatable regions, as well as on VHS. But with the advent of DVD, all are out of print and can be difficult to locate.

Hayward was born Edythe Marrener the 3rd and last child of Ellen and Walter Marrener on June 30, 1917...Brooklyn NY. She was a victim of extreme poverty and was often deprived of even the most common essentials. Her clothing and linens were never freshly laundered and she lived in a small tenement with her older sister and brother. The family ate day old bread and at an early age, Susan sold newspapers and collected bottles for exchange to help fill the meager family coffers. At the age of 6 she was chasing a penny kite across the street and was struck down by a truck, leaving her in a body cast for 6 months. Hayward was an instroverted, myopic tomboy left with a noticable limp due to her accident and made few friends. She caught the acting bug in school and when she graduated from Erasmus High, she was noted as the actress most likely to succeed. She turned her limp into a sexy swagger. After graduation and with the onset of color photography in magazines, she became a successful model for ads and major layouts that helped support her family (her father was ailing and unable to work). In a color spread The Merchant of Venus caught Hollywood's attention and she was given train passage to test for the coveted role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind. Physically, Hayward was perfect for the part but she lost the part due to her lack of acting experience and her heavy Brooklyn accent. Warner Brothers gave her a short contract that did nothing for her career. Her name was changed to Susan Hayward to get as close to Rita Hayworth as they could.

She signed with Paramount and was seen 10th billed in Beau Geste in a small role as Isobel Rivers. Hayward had lost her Brooklyn twang by spending many self-taught hours watching Ronald Coleman in "The Prisoner Of Zenda". Beau Geste is available in a Gary Cooper DVD collection and will soon be released seperately. Two years later, she fought for the role of Hester Stoddard in Adam Had Four Sons for Columbia. She convinced the director's wife she was perfect for the part and Paramount loaned her out. This was a breakthrough performance for Hayward and the critics labelled her "the most ablest bitch player in Hollywood". This unfortunately type cast her throughout her years as a starlet. This DVD is the most expensive in her catalogue if purchased retail and can run from $19-25. She was 7th billed in the 1942 DeMille epic Reap The Wild Wind (although she is given second billing on the DVD case). She played Paulette Goddard's cousin and was seen for the first time in Technicolor. Her glorious red hair and youth gave her a sweet innocence to her role as lover to a notorious Robert Preston. Her death cry is considered one of the most realistic ever heard on screen. The next year she appeared briefly in two movies And Now Tomorrow as Loretta Young's scheming sister (available soon on DVD) then in a smaller role in the Rene Clair fantasy I Married A Witch (also coming to DVD. She played a small part of a socialite jilted at the alter by Fredric March in favor of the centuries old witch, Veronica Lake. This movie was the basis for the popular "Bewtiched" TV series. At the end of her Paramount contract she was loaned out to "B" studio Republic to star next to John Wayne in The Fighting Seabees. She was for the most part, wasted in this movie and played the love interest to Wayne and Dennis O'Keefe. She did have a memorable scene with John Wayne after being shot by the Japanese.

She married her Jess Barker and gave birth to twin boys. Buddy Adler, the head of Paramount wanted to renew her contract despite the fact Hayward had pleaded for better roles adn was known for being difficult and refusing to play into the Hollywood system, but the leading ladies of the studio demanded the "scene stealing bitch" not be re-signed. Hayward did however, sign with independent producer Walter Wanger who noticed she had the rare combination of beauty and talent. She was cast again in Technicolor in an unusual Western Canyon Passage. This is available on on a Western Collection DVD set.at present. She found stardom and an Oscar nomination in 1947's Smash-Up, The Story of A Woman. She played the first female alcoholic and her performance as a neglected wife was nerve shattering. She was an odds on favorte for the award but lost. It has been written this was due to Ray Milland who played a similar role two years earlier and recieved an Oscar for his performance. But it's more difficult to watch a female under addiction..This movie is considered Public Domain (PD)...the studio did not bother to renew the copyright. Many of Susan's movies fall into this category and the VHS/DVD releases vary wildly in quality, as most of them are made by low-budget companies. But one fine transfer of this film does exist. Wanger sold her contract for $250,000 to 20th Century Fox. He was having financial troubles funding his epic Joan Of Arc. Hayward, now an established star was seen again in Technicolor in the story of the Oklahoma oil rush Tulsa (also PD on DVD). This tailor-made role of Cherokee Lansing who begins avenging her father's death and eventually turns to greed when she begins to strike it rich in the oil industry. Robert Preston again co-starred with her, but the sparks seen 7 years earlier in their first pairing were not as apparent in this film. The movie boasts one of the most spectacular fire sequences on film of a burning oil field. This was her last movie under contract to Wanger.

Fox Director, Darryl F. Zanuck did not know what to do with his expensive new property and loaned her out to RKO which earned her a second Oscar nomination. When she returned to her home studio she was cast in Joseph Mankewicz's witty and unique story House Of Strangers. She is given top billing on the DVD but is actually playing the love interest to Richard Conte. But the barbed dialog and wit and the often used plot line enabled the entire cast to give standout peformances. Fox suspended her after she refused to play the lead in a "B" comedy. She came back a year later in one of the studios most expensive and profitable epics David and Bathsheba. Her role was secondary to Gregory Peck; however, this was not the standard Hollywood big screen effort, as the emphasis was on character instead of action. 1952's The Snows Of Kilimanjaro based on the famous Heminway short story teamed her with Peck again. Given second billing she was reduced to third, as many of her scenes shot in Paris were left on the cutting room floor and Ava Gardner (who played the love of Peck's life was wooden and overacted) had more screen time, but Hayward came back with a vengence in the end scenes of the movie trying to save her marriage and her husband's life. This is high drama showing Susan in top form. She steals a rather long and dreary movie of  a washed up writer who is suffering from an injury in Africa and his irritating flashbacks are a major flaw and did not stay with Hemingway's original story. This movie is also PD and has many DVD counterparts.

Other Fox movies never released on tape or DVD have shown up for auction and are much sought after by fans. Some include her third Oscar nominated role playing singer Jane Froman in With A Song In My Heart, and Untamed, along with the non Region 1 Garden Of Evil. The former two are likely not digitally remastered are were recorded from the television. So buyer beware. Always write the seller and ask questions. Also check his feedback score. If it is low, you probably won't be happy with the seller's product or answers to your questions. It is important to investigate all these home burned movies, as well as the Public Domain flicks. With the enormous success of  the new Cinemascope process first used in The Robe, the lavish sets and some of the original cast returned for the sequel Demetrius And The Gladiators. This film's emphasis was on action, particularly the violent arena battle scenes. Although historically inaccurate, Hayward played the evil Messalina who entices Christian Demetrius down the wrong path. Hayward is gorgeous in this new format developed to lure back the TV audiences to the theaters, but the original cast did not fare as well in this sequel. Victor Mature in the title role is as wooden as he was in the original and Jay Robinson who earned a supporting Oscar nomination as the mad emperor Caligua resorts to shouting and overacting. Michael Rennie in a small reprised role is the only redeeming orignal cast member. Susan then teamed with Clark Gable in Ernest K. Gann's bestseller Soldier of Fortune. Gable was a bit too old to play the dashing hero and Hayward was seen with short hair for the first time since With A Song In My Heart which she cut to resemble Froman. her long tresses were reportedly insured for a million dollars and could not be cut more than an inch in length. This movie set in Hong Kong reunited Susan with Michael Rennie and Susan was the only good thing along with the exceptional background location shooting. This DVD is out of print but available at auction or set sale prices.

Hayward departed Fox still owing them several movies to star in The Conqueror, her third outing with her favorite movie star, John Wayne. This move was the most expensive to date $6,000,000. Despite a tremendous cast, the movie was mired in cliches and Hayward playing a red-headed Tarter is a bit hard to swallow, despite the fact she delivers her lines with a straight face. Her and Agnes Moorehead give the best performances in this overly lavish and at times silly vehicle chronicalling the life of Gengis Khan (Wayne). It was purported she made this movie due to her affair with Howard Hughes who produced this lamentable project but ensured his leady lady be given the best camera shots. She won the much sought after role of Lillian Roth in I'll Cry Tomorrow (which earned her another Oscar nomination.) Again, she was the odds on favorite but lost. She did win the Canne's Film Festival Prize as a consolation.

She re-teamed with a troubled Walter Wanger and agreed to star in a movie that had only a 3 page treatment. She forgoed her enormous salary for a third of the profits in her most memorable role I Want To Live. She won the NY Critics Award as well as the coveted Oscar and continued to receive awards from around the world for a year after it's release. The film earned Hayward an astounding $3,000,000. At this time she was married again to the love of her life Floyd Eaton Chalkley, a gentleman Southern car dealer and business man from Carrolton, GA where Hayward settled and made movies only when the scripts interested her.

Universal's third remake of the venerable Fannie Hurst tearjerker Back Street became one of the top grossing movies of the year. Although her roles in the Sixties were featured Susan Hayward movies, she always appeared with younger leading men. Hayward in her 40's appeared as youthful and as her male co-stars. None of her movies from this period have been releasd on DVD. She did return as Judy Garland's replacement in a featured cameo role in the sleazy Valley Of The Dolls as a favor to director and friend Mark Robson. She insisted that Garland be paid her salary and she would not work for more than two weeks and was paid $50,000 plus all the star "perks". The leading roles were played by younger women, all three who either over or underacted. Hayward was the only bright spot in this dismal affair desptie the fact this film has become a cult classic. This is also available on a special editiion 2 disc set. Her beloved husband had passed away a year prior and Hayward secluded herself in retirement only to return 5 years later.

In 1972 she made two highly rated Made for TV movies, as well as a cameo in a lamentable Western (a favor for producer Martin Rackin). She was diagnosed with brain tumors and lung cancer and was not expected to live 6 weeks. She appeared in public for the last time in 1974 to present the Best Actress award at the Academy Awards. She died from pneumonia complicated by her cancer on March 15, 1975 which baffled doctors. Some believed she had a cancer retarding gene, but it was her sheer guts and will power that kept her alive for two years. The Conqueror has been blamed for the death of the cast and crew. When filming, nuclear testing was being conducted in Nevada. The movie was shot in Southern Utah and the winds shifted East (called Dirty Harry) and tons of radioactive sand was shipped to the backlots of Hollywood. All the principal actors died from cancer including many of the crew and director Dick Powell, totalling 93 deaths.

Hayward who made some 50 plus movies in a brief span will be remembered for delivering some of the most memorable screen performances on film. This is a short history of her movie career only because it deals with her DVD releases. A guide to her VHS movies will be forthcoming and will be more extensive since more of her work exists in this format.

I hope this review was helpful. Thank you.

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