A Life of Her Own (1950)
Perhaps I’m too jaded to enjoy simple Hollywood stories, but I sometimes find the suspension of disbelief too difficult. Just as I’m sure doctors cringe when they watch medical dramas, if it’s a field I have some experience in, I can spot the inaccuracies. When films center around a young woman breaking into the modeling business, it’s very rare that the industry is shown realistically. In A Life of Her Own, Lana Turner is a small town girl who achieves instant success as a model when she moves to the big city.
However pretty her face is, if she was intending to model clothes in a catalogue or on the runway, she would never be accepted. In 1950, she was far too old to be even considered as a model, unless they were looking for a middle aged one. Her body type was not “model thin”, and her walk was not statuesque, elegant, or precise. No amount of suspension of disbelief could convince me that she was a model! I’m not trying to be cruel to her; if she’d been accepted as a middle-aged model for clothing catalogues, she’d just have been put on a diet and given posture and walking lessons.
The rest of the movie has the same message most Hallmark movies give you at Christmastime: when you move to the big, bad city, you get corrupted. Lana is supposed to be smart, shrewd, and savvy, even though she comes from a small town and would (given the theory of the movie) not have had any experiences to give her wisdom. She’s respected for her work ethic and high morals (in the fashion industry?) but soon gets corrupted like everybody else. She doesn’t want to end up like Ann Dvorak, an over-the-hill model who doesn’t know what else to do and commits suicide – but why would she think that’s her destiny? Obviously Ann was unhinged, with deep problems that stemmed beyond her getting fired from Louis Calhern’s modeling agency.
In any case, Lana wants more than a career; she wants love and a family, too. She falls in love with a handsome older man, Ray Milland. Poor Ray got typecast as either a drunk or a cheater. You’ll have to watch this movie to see which one he plays, but it’s not a stretch for his acting talents. You’ll also see Barry Sullivan, Tom Ewell, Jean Hagen, Sara Haden, and Whit Bissell in the supporting cast. In the dance number, if you recognize the lithe style of the male dancer, it’s Hermes Pan! Unless you’re a huge Lana fan, I think you can skip this movie. It’s melodramatic, but not very entertaining if you understand the fashion industry.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sunflower Movies" for posting!
More Whit Bissell movies here!
However pretty her face is, if she was intending to model clothes in a catalogue or on the runway, she would never be accepted. In 1950, she was far too old to be even considered as a model, unless they were looking for a middle aged one. Her body type was not “model thin”, and her walk was not statuesque, elegant, or precise. No amount of suspension of disbelief could convince me that she was a model! I’m not trying to be cruel to her; if she’d been accepted as a middle-aged model for clothing catalogues, she’d just have been put on a diet and given posture and walking lessons.
The rest of the movie has the same message most Hallmark movies give you at Christmastime: when you move to the big, bad city, you get corrupted. Lana is supposed to be smart, shrewd, and savvy, even though she comes from a small town and would (given the theory of the movie) not have had any experiences to give her wisdom. She’s respected for her work ethic and high morals (in the fashion industry?) but soon gets corrupted like everybody else. She doesn’t want to end up like Ann Dvorak, an over-the-hill model who doesn’t know what else to do and commits suicide – but why would she think that’s her destiny? Obviously Ann was unhinged, with deep problems that stemmed beyond her getting fired from Louis Calhern’s modeling agency.
In any case, Lana wants more than a career; she wants love and a family, too. She falls in love with a handsome older man, Ray Milland. Poor Ray got typecast as either a drunk or a cheater. You’ll have to watch this movie to see which one he plays, but it’s not a stretch for his acting talents. You’ll also see Barry Sullivan, Tom Ewell, Jean Hagen, Sara Haden, and Whit Bissell in the supporting cast. In the dance number, if you recognize the lithe style of the male dancer, it’s Hermes Pan! Unless you’re a huge Lana fan, I think you can skip this movie. It’s melodramatic, but not very entertaining if you understand the fashion industry.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Sunflower Movies" for posting!
More Whit Bissell movies here!