The Idol

The Idol was announced and starring Michael Parks and Kim Stanley. Ms. Stanley withdrew from the film and Parks is on record recommending Jennifer Jones- a true superstar - of the 1940's and 1950's with such hits as The Song Of Bernadette, Duel In The Sun, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. Jennifer had not appeared on the movie screens since 1962 with the starring role in Tender Is The Night which was an obsession of her late husband and Svengali David Selznick. Jennifer was beautiful and was a glamour star of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Jennifer's husband David Selznick was negotiating with Ross Hunter to star Jennifer in one of Hunter's soap operas that were so popular : Imitation Of Life ( Lana Turner) Back. Street (Susan Hayward )etc. Jennifer and Ross Hunter seemed to me to be the perfect combination. However Sekznick died and. Jennifer was offered this role and had to quickly make up her mind. There was also an offer to join Stephen Boyd in he Oscar at Paramount

The Idol was Directed by Daniel Petrie The Idol moves along well with the attraction of Parks to Jennifer Jones. Filmed in gorgeous black and white in England, Jennifer gives her always intelligent performance. The film was distributed by Embassy Pictures and faded quickly from the movie audiences.

Jennifer was molded and promoted by David Selznick into a world famous superstar with the films cited above and also with great roles in Since YouWent Away, Madame Bovary, and a remake with Rock Hudson in A Farewell To Arms.

Jennifer stayed off the screen for 5 years from 1957 to 1962-too long for a major star. Compounding this was a very difficult private life: Her first husband Robert Walker died at age 32 from a combination of drugs, Walker never got over losing Jennifer to Selznick, JJ had a difficult relationship with one of her sons Michael, and a disastrous relationship with her daughter Mary Jennifer who committed suicide shortly after Mother's Day from a skyscraper overlooking the 20th Century Fox backlot where Jennifer made many of her films such as The Song Of Bernadette, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, Tender Is The Night and The Towering Inferno among others,.

Jennifer Jones was a fine actress and one wished she had worked more especially in the later part of her career to take her mind off her personal troubles.

See The Idol to see a fine actress at work. Parks is very fine

Having finally acquired a copy of this film after years of searching, I expected the worst, having heard stories about what a disaster and a piece of trash it is. Instead I found a rather tame, but very dark character study: certainly flawed, but interesting nonetheless and well worth the wait for Jennifer Jones fans. She gives an interesting, complex, disciplined performance, and is very striking looking at this late stage in her career. The movie seems to meander and lose some of its believability from time to time, but it leaves one with a haunted feeling that is hard to shake. Not great stuff, but not the bomb that legend has made it out to be.

It looks like a parboiled cross between Douglas Sirk and Michelangelo Antonioni ,with a touch of French nouvelle vague thrown in for good measure.It depicts a spoilt youth playing with trash.None of the young actors became a star afterward,which is easily understandable;for instance,John Layton was supposed to play nineteen-year old Jones' son,and he was already 27 (!) at the time if IMDb informations are accurate.

Jennifer Jones is the only reason why you would watch this boring "psychological" melodrama.She had already worked in GB for "gone to earth" (1949)but Daniel Petrie cannot hold a candle to Michael Powell.Her character(a still attractive middle-age woman who falls for a two-bit James Dean) is nothing short of worthless:only the open ending might make this part a bit original ,but it's too little too late.

One scene is particularly unpleasant nay obnoxious:the would-be drunk idol asks a prostitute to "evaluate" the girls of the party.

As I just watched Wild Seed (1965), I wanted to try with another movie where Michael Parks looked his best and I found it. Someone here compared it with Plan 9 From Outer Space by Ed Wood...C'mon! It's not that terrible. That's an exaggeration. Plan 9 is senseless and terribly acted. Hilariously horrible, though.

The Idol is not the best movie, but not the worse. I love that it was shot in London. The problem here is that I never understood the motivation behind The Idol (Parks). And I believe it's a problem with the script. They don't hint why he is self-destructive and obnoxious towards people around. As some reviewer said here, James Dean had a reason behind his rebelliousness. Here, we're left with nothing, but a bad taste.

I thought I was going to hate Jennifer Jones' character, but then, I kind of understood her point of view of a repressed woman from a different era, who felt a bit thrown-off by the modern generation and their liberties. It was an interesting and entertaining story, but without much explanation by the end.

What a banner year 1966 was in England!We won the FIFA World Cup in our country for Association Football (soccer) vs. West Germany, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones et all bestrode the pop world, trendy fashion, "dolly birds" and....Jennifer Jones came to England to make "The Idol" with fellow American Michael Parks.Our own John Leyton (who had had several pop hits e.g. "Johnny Remember me" and had appeared in "The Great Escape" (1963)),completed the star line-up.

Previously Jennifer Jones had not made a film since 1962 (Tender is the Night) with Jason Robards Jnr.She was a last minute replacement for Kim Stanley and as Selznick had died the previous year, Jennifer was again a widow and needed a project to keep her going.JJ is/was an old hand at making films in Europe and England c.f."Gone To Earth" (1950 ) made in Shropshire, "Indiscretion of an American Wife" (1953)made in Rome, "Beat The Devil" (1954)filmed in Sapporo, Italy,"The Barretts of Wimpole Street"(1957) filmed in England.Selznik had become disillusioned with Hollywood in the late 1940's after what was then the costly flop "Portrait of Jennie"(1948).It was a British film debut experience for Michael Parks. In this contemporary story, Michael Parks (Marco) is a talented American art student living in London who is friendly with John Leyton (Timothy), a 19 year old student.Timothy despite a contemplated career in medicine, actually has artistic leanings himself, especially in sculpture and he secretly admires the girl friend (Jennifer Hilary) of his American friend.Jennifer Jones (Carol) a divorcee, as John Leyton's mother, at first is wary of her fellow American thinking him a bad influence on her son.Although Carol has a mature male friend, (Guy Doleman), she too succumbs to "The Idol" especially when he rescues her son from a vicious beating from a couple of thugs.The Idol however appears to have cut himself off from his American parents and decides to spend Christmas in Wales instead.After his return to London he seems intent on bringing about his own self destruction and continues on a downward spiral, seemingly alienating himself from his friends on purpose. Timothy is distraught at a new year's party on a riverboat barge on "The Thames" to find out his mother has evidently been intimate with his friend who has arrived at the party in a drunken stupor with a prostitute.Somehow the Idol then completes his own self-destruction but Timothy refuses to implicate anyone especially his mother in what the police now see as a murder charge.

I have spent 1 1/2 years collecting on video all 24 films Jennifer Jones made, so have been able to compare and assess the transition of each of her roles from 1939(New Frontier)-1974(The Towering Inferno).Many of these titles are no longer available commercially if they have just been deleted by mainstream dealers.Readers may have to bid on "E-Bay" at auction, check with rare video dealers or in the case of "The Idol" buy it for $210 from a "video detective", as this title is so hard to find that not even rare US video dealers had a copy when I checked with them.

A certain video guide regards it as trash worthwhile only for Jennifer Jones fans to see her make it with a younger man.Another states it is not even worthy of the worst film of the year award missing that exalted status by a mile.I have not read one favourable review of this film.Personally, I found this film quite engrossing as my heroine filmed it in England with a British supporting cast well known to someone of my generation born in 1946.Its rarity status also added to a sense of exclusivity.The film lasts 108 mins and is in B&W and I have definitely seen worse films than this.I will therefore certainly run this "Idol" through my VCR again when I get the urge!