Flamingo Road

Flamingo Road is a 1949 American film noir drama directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott, Sydney Greenstreet and David Brian. The screenplay by Robert Wilder was based on a 1946 play written by Wilder and his wife, Sally, which was based on Robert Wilder's 1942 novel of the same name. The plot follows an ex-carnival dancer who marries a local businessman to seek revenge on a corrupt political boss who had her railroaded into prison. Some of the more salacious aspects of the novel were downplayed in the film because of the Hollywood Production Code. Robert Wilder, who died in 1974, was later credited as the creator of the American TV series Flamingo Road (1980–1982), which drew elements from both the novel and the film. Plot Lane Bellamy is a carnival dancer who tires of the life, decides to quit and effectively strands herself in the small town of Boldon City in the Southern United States. She becomes romantically involved with Fielding Carlisle, a deputy sheriff whose career is controlled by Sheriff Titus Semple, a corrupt political boss who runs the town. Semple dislikes Bellamy and mounts a campaign against her. She has difficulty finding work and is arrested on a trumped-up morality charge. Meanwhile, Carlisle is the political machine's choice for state senator. Pushed by Semple to immerse himself in the perfect political family, Carlisle reluctantly marries his long-time girlfriend, Annabelle Weldon.