That Kind of Woman

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.

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.

In Lafayette Escadrille which was released in Feb 1958, French prostitute Renee Beulieu gives up streetwalking for Tab Hunter's character Thad Walker. Less than a year later, Tab again uses his charm and swoon bait smile to do the same with That Kind of Woman. Some guys get the dirty jobs, other guys don't.

It's 1944 and paratrooper Red (Tab Hunter), becomes infatuated with expensive call girl Kay (Sophia Loren) on a train. He's from a nice family but says it's none of his business what Kay does for a living "if that's what (she) WANTS to do." The plot sounds unrealistic but works due to the strong performances of the two stars.

Kay easily toys with men and is intrigued by the persistence, boyish handsomeness, and what she thinks is naivete of Red who actually sees through her contrived aloofness. Despite growing mutual attraction, Kay abruptly brushes off Red and retires for the evening. Red soon visits Kay at her train compartment where they share a brief steamy encounter. After the train arrives at it's destination the next day, Kay says goodbye and leaves. Fortunately for Red, his buddy Kelly (Jack Warden) obtains Kay's home address which allows the paratrooper to show up and profess his love for her. This time Kay more forcefully brushes him off but her misty eyes tell a different story. The remainder of the movie continues along the same vein with Kay's resistance slowly crumbling while Red continues his pursuit. Hunter plays this well especially in a key scene where his facial expression changes from disappointment into a subtle smile (almost a smirk) once his character realizes the truth. Eventually Kay has to choose between passionate love with Red or a lush life as a kept woman.

While Hunter did not have the same on-screen chemistry with Loren that he had with other actresses (Linda Darnell, Dorothy Malone or Etchika Choureau), there was enough there to make the plot believable. This movie is underrated and deserves a second look. I can't give it a 10 because most of the outdoor scenes detracted from the overall quality of the film and the musical score could have been much better. That Kind of Woman is worth watching especially if you are a fan of Loren or Hunter.

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.

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.