Early January: Joan hosts Helene Hayes and her protégé, Bethel Leslie, in her Brentwood house as houseguests for one week.
January 15: Joan appears on the CBS radio show "Hollywood Playhouse," episode "Statement In Full." The show is about a woman who shoots her fiancé in a fit of rage and claims it occurred during a robbery. The show is narrated by Herb Rawlinson.
February: Joan becomes ill with pneumonia.
March: Joan takes a week vacation to recuperate after being ill with pneumonia.
March: Joan works with producer Dee Englebach and writer Mel Dinelli on creating her own radio show.
March 22: Joan appears on the radio show "Suspense" in "Three Lethal Words." It is described as a tale of insanity and revenge.
March 31: Joan's son, Christopher, runs away from home. Christopher ran away while Joan was at the studio rehearsing a radio program. The children's nurse called Joan to tell her that Christopher had disappeared. He is missing for four hours before finally being found by police six blocks away from the home playing with other children. When asked why he ran away, Christopher says it is because the nurse would not let him have chocolate syrup on his ice cream.
April 1: Joan is schedule to begin filming "Clash By Night" on this date. However, Joan ultimately does not make this film.
Early April: Joan hosts a party at her Brentwood house with only male guests. Among them are Mel Dinelli, Cesar Romero, Richard Cromwell, William Haines and Jimmy Shields.
Early April: Joan auditions for a radio series titled "A Woman's Story."
April 5: Joan appears on NBC radio in the "Screen Director's Playhouse" production of "The Damned Don't Cry."
April 11: Joan appears on the radio program to raise awareness of cancer.
Late April: Joan travels to Manhattan, New York.
May: Joan appears in printed advertisements for "Star Pattern," which is a clothes pattern for dresses designed for Joan by designer Sheila O'Brien.
May 10: Joan appears on the radio show "Screen Guild Players," in the production "The Secret Heart." The program is produced by MGM and co-stars Jeff Chandler. The story is about a woman who marries a widower with two children. Her husband commits suicide and she is left raising the two children. She later finds a new love interest (Chandler).
Mid-May: Joan tells journalists that her daughter, Christina, is showing an interest in becoming an actress.
Mid-May: Joan develops a cold.
May 17: "Goodbye My Fancy" is released in theaters in America.
May 18: Joan attends the New York premiere of "Goodbye My Fancy" at the Strand Theatre in Manhattan, New York.
June: Columnists report that Joan will co-produce her first film, as well as star in it, "Sudden Fear." A year prior, Joan read the novel of the same name by Edna Sherry and decided she would like to make the film adaption. In seeking out the film rights, Joan discovered producer Joseph Kaufman owned the rights. Joan and Kaufman ultimately become co-producers on the project, which does not go into production until early 1952.
June: Columnists report that Joan is having a romance with Yul Brunner.
June: Joan travels to Manhattan, New York. While in New York, Joan is invited to lunch by Trygve Lie, the Secretary General of the United Nations.
June 4: Joan signs her contract to appear in "This Woman Is Dangerous." For her services, Joan is paid $12,500.00 for a period of 16 weeks ($200,000.00).
This is to be Joan's final film under her Warner Bros. contract.
June 9: Joan appears on the CBS radio show "Stars Over Hollywood," in the production of "When The Police Arrive." The show is about a woman and her husband plotting what they will tell the police regarding the death of a woman. The show is an adaption by Barbara Owens of a William Padgett script.
July: Columnists report that Joan and her "Sudden Fear" co-producer Joseph Kaufman are considering creating a limited television series based around Myra Hudson, Joan's character in "Sudden Fear." The plan is to create and air the series before releasing "Sudden Fear" as a means to stimulate fan interest in the character.
July 23: Joan is scheduled to begin filming "This Woman Is Dangerous." However, the production is delayed until September 28th.
August: Joan considers appearing in the film "Korean Story" (later titled "One Minute To Zero"), produced by Howard Hughes.
September: Joan begins pre-production on "This Woman Is Dangerous," and begins wardrobe testing at Warner Bros.
September 14: Joan's son, Christopher, runs away from home for the second time during the early afternoon. He is later found at 12 midnight wondering around the Santa Monica pier. Following this event, Joan enrolls Christopher into the Chadwick School.
Mid September: Joan attends the premiere of the newest edition of "Ice Follies" in Los Angeles, California. Joan is escorted to the premiere by Russell Nype.
October: Joan is scheduled to begin filming "Sudden Fear" at RKO. However, the production is ultimately delayed to a January 6, 1952 start date, before being moved again to February 1952. This delay is primarily due to scheduling conflicts with "This Woman Is Dangerous." Which was originally scheduled to begin filming on July 23rd, but was delayed until September 28th. Additionally, exterior scenes and settings are changed from Manhattan, New York to San Francisco, California.
Early October: Joan begins production on "This Woman Is Dangerous." She is visited often on the set by San Francisco and Carmel socialite Brad Fuller. Fuller is reportedly in a romantic relationship with Joan.
October 6: Joan appears on the CBS radio show "Stars Over Hollywood" in the production of "I Knew This Woman." Joan portrays a fictional version of herself on the show as "a woman with four children who helps two of her friends find real happiness."
October 25: Joan signs a mutual "Refusal To Pay" agreement with Warner Bros. regarding her services on "This Woman Is Dangerous" when Joan becomes ill and is unable to work.
October 27: Joan becomes ill during filming "This Woman Is Dangerous." As a result, her doctor admits her into the hospital for rest.
November 5: Eleven people become ill with food poisoning after eating Sunday dinner at Joan's house on November 4. Among those ill are Joan, her three daughters, two household staff members, producer Joseph Kaufman, director David Miller and director John Lindsey. Joan states she believes it was due to the fried chicken that was served at the dinner.
November 8: Joan returns to work on "This Woman Is Dangerous" following an absence o the set due to food poisoning.
December 26: Joan signs her release from her Warner Bros. contract. In consideration of her release, Warner Bros. pays Joan $400,000 that is still due to her under the terms of her contract. The $400,000 is broken down into payments of $2,500 per week beginning on April 2, 1952. The remaining balance is to be paid in $1,000 payments beginning on January 7, 1953 for 299 weeks.