That Kind of Woman

Was able to view this film as it was first shown on TCM after many years not being viewed by the American audiences. The famous director, Sidney Lumet directed this great picture of Sophia Loren when she was very young and extremely beautiful. Sophia Loren, (Katherine,Kay) and her girlfriend, Jane, (Barbara Nichols) are traveling on a train during WW II and the train is filled with Marines, Navy and Army personnel who are more than glad to see these very sexy and attractive women. However, Kay has a body guard named Harry Corwin, (Kennan Wynn) who is hired by a very rich man who has bought Kay body and soul for his woman, the man is George Sanders. Two marines named George Kelly, (Jack Warden) and Red, (Tab Hunter) try to hit on these two gals in the train's club car and it is not long before Kelly falls for Jane and Kay falls head over heels for Red. Red has no idea what kind of gal Kay is and of course, she is a woman who has been around the block many times with plenty of men and he finds out she is a bought woman with The Man. This is a great story and you will never be able to figure out just what is going to happen to these couples. Don't miss this film it is great and worth watching.

It's hard to watch a film set in 1944 when everyone (especially the women) have hair, make-up and clothing directly from 1959 when the film was made. Its drives me crazy because I find it hard to get a sense of the time when it looks completely different than it's supposed to be. Barbara Nichols is absolutely excellent in her role however and Tab Hunter is hot. Sophia is very good and quite comfortable in working in English by this, her fourth film to be made in the US. It's just too bad that no one cared to make films look historically accurate especially when hair, make-up and costume greats read a script that says the action takes place in a certain era yet choose to ignore such an important element. I think a lot of it also had to do with the star wanting to look perfect for that time without a care to the script.

Did anyone notice the Tab Hunter character's casual attitude toward mild violence directed at the Sophia Loren character? Probably not, since this sort of thing was so standard in 1950s films (more so than in the 1930s or 1940s) that most people simply don't notice it. This is just one of the elements that make this film a travesty IMO.

Sophia Loren and Barbara Nichols as best buddies ? Tab Hunter and Sophia as a couple ? You have to admit it has a ring of absurdity about it and yet not only does it work, it works quite magically in this modest, extremely winning film.

From its earliest days the movie industry plucked from obscurity those blessed with good looks, thrusting them to instant stardom. Besides their physical attributes, some had an innate ability to act, others were coached and with time learned their craft, while many simply never quite got the hang of it. Sophia Loren clearly belongs to those for whom acting came as natural as did her beauty. "That Kind of Woman" was made in the period of her first English language films. By this time she had an easy command of the language and complete command as a starring screen presence.

From his earlier films it's pretty evident that Tab Hunter did not quite possess an innate acting ability, although he certainly deserves full marks for effort. However, after seven years in the business he had acquired some skills and under Sidney Lumet's direction he delivers an excellent performance. It's nicely underplayed, combining just the right balance of strength and vulnerability. He was also in the prime of his legendary handsomeness.

The success of screen romances is largely based on chemistry. From their very first scene together, there's a surprisingly genuine chemistry between Loren and Hunter which is the very core of the story.

There's wonderful support from George Sanders, Barbara Nichols, Keenan Wynn and a terrific, young Jack Warden.

All in all, a somewhat forgotten but immensely enjoyable film.

I first saw this film around 1968 when I was age sixteen, long before Tab Hunter came out of the closet. I remember the strong impression I had that he looked unnatural and phony in this part. To me he seemed robot-like, lacking passion and natural mannerisms. But most of all it was that empty doe-eyed radar stare that he locked on Sophia Loren's face in every scene with her. That would've driven me crazy on set. Hunter had zero chemistry with Loren. After the movie I said to my friends, "Nobody will ever convince me that Tab Hunter was a hot leading man or a teen heart throb in the 1950s, this guy wouldn't know what to do with Sophia Loren if he had her in bed". I contrasted his performance with that of Paul Newman in 'Hud' and 'The Hustler'; now there's great acting and natural cool, there's your leading man.

Sophia Loren disowned this film when it was released in 1959. Tab Hunter said it was his favorite film. I knew Hunter was gay long before he came out, but even Montgomery Clift and James Dean were good leading men, so it wasn't the fact that he was gay. Young Tab Hunter simply didn't have the acting skill or the natural screen talent to play the part of Red. Some people claim that he was supposed to have bad chemistry with Loren in this film, but that's just a feeble excuse. Maybe he was supposed to be inexperienced and a bit naïve, but not have bad chemistry, and he most certainly wasn't supposed to do a bad job of acting with Loren. My critique remains the same now as it did in 1968. I agree with Sophia Loren and the critics of 1959, who felt that casting Tab Hunter as Red was the primary cause of this film's failure. I think Loren's performance was outstanding, the other actors performances and the other production aspects of this film were quite good.

Although I thought Tab Hunter was poor in this film and other films of his youth, I became something of a fan of his in his later life. He did some stage acting and made some nutty films later. But I thought he grew into a fair actor and a very good author as he got older, and he became a more 'real' person. When he came out as gay, of course, he became more comfortable and much happier in life. He co-wrote a #1 best seller autobiography published in 2005. In the book he revealed that he was miserable and felt like a misfit throughout his entire youth, and felt he didn't belong in the Hollywood film star business. To me that fact was very transparent. Gay was very unacceptable then, was treated as a mental disease, and was even against the law in some states. I can't imagine the suffering that must have caused members of the gay community.