That Kind of Woman

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.

Outstanding 50s love story. I saw this film about 30 years ago as part of a double feature at the Cameo Theater (now the Crowbar nightclub) on Washington Avenue and 14th Street, South Beach. Tab Hunter is at his prime. Tall, well-built, handsome, and blond; the All-American boy. Playing a paratrooper named Red, he and his Sergeant (Jack Warden in his typical outstanding performance) meet two women on a train. Sophia Loren and Barbara Nicolas are the "ladies of the night", with whom they all found love in the big city. If you like Tab Hunter, and want to see the lovely and shapely Sophia, this film is a must-see. A rainy night delight. 10 out of 10.

Reworking of 1938's "The Shopworn Angel", based on a short story by Robert Lowry, has Sophia Loren playing former Italian immigrant, now beautiful American citizen in 1944 traveling from Miami to New York City by train to be with her millionaire lover; a soldier with the U.S. Airborne Division meets and falls in love with her, even though he understands she's a "kept woman". Essentially, Loren must choose between love and money, though with green, self-conscious Tab Hunter as her new beau, her predicament seems based more on infatuation. Hunter, a veteran of several pictures by this point, has no temperament on screen (and director Sidney Lumet allows him no personality, either). Even when he angrily slaps something out of Sophia's hand, Hunter is still benign as a Boy Scout, with an overly-alert stare and no mannerisms, no depth. Loren comes off a bit better, and actually saves a few scenes in the beginning when Lumet awkwardly introduces us to the characters, yet the movie has no drive and no soul. It comes and goes painlessly, but leaves not a trace of passion. ** from ****

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.

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.