The Sex Symbol

TV-movie casts Connie Stevens as a boozing, unreliable, faded Hollywood star in the 1950s, fired from her last picture, who recounts her life and love affairs to a psychiatrist over the telephone. Tacky roman à clef, adapted by Alvah Bessie from his novel "The Symbol", was clearly inspired by the life of Marilyn Monroe, but takes no care to present Monroe's triumphs and tragedies with any class. Also absent is an accurate recreation of Hollywood from this era, with gossip columnist Shelley Winters (doing a Hedda Hopper) actually reporting the show business news on her own color television show! Stevens, with her hair frosted blonde and her eyelids frosted blue, isn't of the period, either--she's more Las Vegas than '50s Hollywood--although she does do well in her dramatic scenes with William Smith, surprisingly low-keyed as a former football star. 74-minute movie-of-the-week was expanded to an astounding 107 minutes for European release. Both versions are interminable, with blurry-romantic music, gloppy color photography, wooden staging and abrasive sound.