Femmes devant le désir

THE FEMALE ANIMAL is unabashed melodrama, as if some afternoon soap opera were fashioned out of SUNSET BOULEVARD... BUT there is a big BUT. Despite the idiocies of her character and the milieu in which it is established, the wondrous surprise is Hedy Lamarr's performance. She had done good work in the past when given half a chance, but that wasn't often. Here, as her career was sadly waning, she offers a sensitive and truthful portrayal of a fading film queen. Only in the worst of the soap opera moments is she unable to rise above the situation. I've seen criticism of Jane Powell's work, but it is not bad at all, thwarted by that same Wagnerian plot line. She gives it a good try. George Nader looks good but has the most ill-defined role of all. He, too, tries. And, then, there is the marvelous Jan Sterling, here in a bitchy role that, if better written, could have merited her professional attention. Jan, we miss you. Keller's direction is somewhat okay, with unobtrusive camera work and backed with clean cinematography. THE FEMALE ANIMAL is not a waste of time when one watches glorious Hedy showing what she can done, and with the underlying wonderment of how a good script could have taken these four performers to great heights.

What Douglas Sirk, and a better chosen cast, could have done with this material!

Hedy Lamarr plays "Vanessa Windsor," an aging movie queen who falls hard for a handsome extra named "Chris" played by George Nader. Chris feels himself genuinely drawn to Vanessa but fears becoming nothing more than a "kept" man. Vanessa's adopted daughter Penny, played by Jane Powell, enters the scene. Penny suffers the usual problems experienced as the child of a famous, rarely-present person and has drifted into alcoholism and promiscuous behavior. She also falls for Chris and he feels himself attracted to her though he tries to keep Vanessa from learning this fact. The movie soon becomes a question of (1) what will Vanessa do when she finds out the truth, and (2) which woman will Chris wind up with?

Miscasting weakens this movie which isn't quite flamboyant enough to be "camp." Hedy Lamarr fits easily into her role but Jane Powell seems about 10 years too old to be the adopted daughter. Similarly George Nader's part might have been better filled by an actor 10 years his junior. Like Robert Mitchum, Nader usually declined to shave off his chest hair but he obviously made an exception here for his various shirtless scenes. Perhaps he felt this would make him look younger in a "beachboy" sort of way.

Jan Sterling receives third billing and wanders into and out of the plot but her character isn't well integrated into the story. (She's the counterpart to Ruth Roman in "Love Has Many Faces.") Like the other performers, her "smart, sophisticated" lines generally fall flat. The plot also suffers a bit from a flashback device which kicks in shortly after the start of the movie but which is presented in such an off-hand way that some viewers may not realize that a flashback is now in progress.

As for the ending, it appears to have been decided upon by a committee anxious to please as many people as possible. As a result, it'll probably please no one and its ambiguity is more annoying than stimulating.

George Nader's quiet, dignified performance -- and he isn't given much to work with -- almost holds the movie together. It's good to see him with his shirt off but one can't help feeling a bit sorry that he's sometimes relegated to just being a slab of "beefcake." Those viewers familiar with Nader's private life will appreciate the fact that his character is given the sexually-ambiguous name of "Chris."

At one point in the film, a character professes to Hedy Lamarr, who plays an actress: "I always thought you were a better actress than the roles they gave you." The character might as well have been speaking about Lamarr herself, because this film typifies the substandard material that the actress was handed throughout most of her career.

While there were some highlights in Lamarr's career, such as the wonderful H.M. Pulham, Esq., The Strange Woman, and Dishonored Lady, there was also a lot of fluff. It seems Lamarr was always treated as a glamorous beauty rather than a great actress, although she was smart and talented.

The Female Animal was one of those fading star vehicles that Universal seemed to specialize in at the time (others included Female on the Beach with Joan Crawford, and The Price of Fear with Merle Oberon). By 1958, Lamarr had not been the leading actress in a film for a few years, but she was still youthful and beautiful. It's curious that she was not offered more roles, although back then the shelf-life of a glamorous star was even shorter than it is today.

The Female Animal is a somewhat trashy and sordid melodrama. It is perhaps the only film I have ever seen in which Hedy Lamarr was not the object of desire. Here she plays a more aggressive woman who is not ashamed to take in a house boy. The idea that Lamarr, even at the advanced age of 45 (*eye roll*), would need to pay for handsome male companionship is beyond absurd. She was still very sexy and could have probably had her pick of men. I agree with the other reviewer who said, to some effect: "Hedy past her prime was any other woman's peak." She is widely considered the most beautiful actress of all-time (interchangeably with Gene Tierney).

The film overall leans more toward camp classic than art house. You have drunk ladies, aging starlets out "hunting" for young studs, and of course glamorous Hedy, who has trouble speaking some of her lines. It's all kind of a mess, but it somehow hangs together, and it's a lot of fun. Jan Sterling is entertaining in a supporting role.

The ending redeems the film. Lamarr gives a rather poignant speech about determination, and we are reminded of what a remarkable actress she was. We think about how sad it is that her career was cut so short by...ageism.

The 1950s brought to Hollywood a new sort of movie...the trashy soap opera film. The movies were quite salacious for their day and subtlety is NOT something you associate with the movies. Lana Turner and Susan Hayward made a bunch of these films. In this case, Hedy Lamarr tries her hand at the genre...and soon retired from acting! It's not that it's a bad film...it just isn't exactly artistic or something you might feel proud for having appeared in it.

The film finds aging actress Vanessa Windsor (Lamarr) falling for a gorgeous young hunk, Chris (George Nader). At the same time, Vanessa's daughter, Penny (Jane Powell*), is a mess....a drunk party girl who is on the road to destruction. When Penny learns that mom loves Chris, she makes her next task to seduce the handsome stud. Not surprisingly, this results in bad stuff...heart ache, hysteria and more.

Through the course of this movie, just about every lady throws herself at handsome Chris...which is ironic considering Nader soon left Hollywood after he was outed for being gay. Regardless, he really was the best thing about the movie...solid, an excellent actor and incredibly handsome. And, it was nice to see women chasing the guy this time! Overall, a trashy but thoroughly enjoyable soaper. Not for everyone's taste...but a film lovers of the genre will no doubt enjoy.

*This film was a very huge departure for Powell. Previously, she mostly played sweet roles or young girl parts. Here, however, she is thoroughly screwy...and mesmerizing.

Hedy's a star in crisis, at a crossroads in her career, too fond of the bottle and adrift without a man. Enter big strong George Nader who saves her from an onset accident and she's swept off her feet but there's trouble ahead especially in the personage of her daughter.

Sound familiar? If it doesn't you haven't seen many latter day Joan Crawford movies. Miss Lamaar's last feature is a low budget affair but that doesn't mean that it doesn't offer high grade fun for its target audience, namely people who enjoy sudsy melodrama with MOVIE STARS of a certain vintage.

Hedy looks great though it's obvious that she's either had a face-lift or some sort of surgical tape applied since her eyes are definitely different from her glory days. The real stretch of credibility comes in the casting of Jane Powell, also looking great, as Hedy's daughter. True they are 15 years apart in age so it's conceivable that they could be mother & daughter but at 44 and 29 respectively they look more like sisters plus Jane's character is clearly supposed to be much younger. She give an okay performance but she's miscast nonetheless.

As for the story it careens around not making a whole lot of sense, nor does it need to, but it's far more entertaining than many "good" films it would be considered inferior too.