Oscar-winning star Margaret "Maggie" Elliot (Bette Davis) is a broke actress struggling to accept her new, non-wealthy reality. She is in denial, and confident she somehow can re-launch her career to its earlier brilliance. After suffering another big disappointment while vainly striving to get one good role, she gets drunk, gets arrested for DUI, and spends a night in jail. She is bailed out by Jim Johannsen (Sterling Hayden), a younger former actor whom she had helped in the past. Jim, now comfortably settled as the owner of a boatyard, admits that he has loved her ever since those days, and helped by Margaret's daughter Gretchen (Natalie Wood), tries to help Margaret see that her days as a famous actress are already over. She reluctantly tries to work as a saleswoman in an upscale department store, but gossip from two customers wounds her pride and she runs out. Her old agent manages to get her a screen test for a role in a film she'd always wanted to play. She takes the screen test for a supporting role, believing that if she plays that character as a sexy younger woman, rather than the middle-aged frump she is seen as by the studio, she might be able to win the more coveted lead role. It does not work.
MPAA Rating: | NR |
Genre: | Drama, Romance |
Country: | United States |
Produced By: | Bert E. Friedlob |
Directed By: | Stuart Heisler |
Written By: | Katherine Albert, Dale Eunson |
Cast: | Paul Frees, Fred Rapport, Robert Warwick, Lars Hensen, Bette Davis, Fay Baker, Herschel Graham, Florence Auer, Al Hill, Sterling Hayden, Byron Foulger, Katherine Warren, Barbara Woodell, Russell Custer, Hans Moebus, Alphonso DuBois, William H. O'Brien, Steve Carruthers, Lorin Raker, Marie Blake, Claire Carleton, Frank J. Scannell, Barbara Lawrence, Herb Vigran, Brick Sullivan, Minor Watson, Oliver Cross, Natalie Wood, Dorothy Vaughan, James Anderson, Paul Bradley, David Alpert, John Indrisano, Marcia Mae Jones, Gil Frye, Sam Harris, June Travis, Warner Anderson, Kay Riehl |
In Theaters: | Dec 11, 1952 |
Runtime: | 1 hour 29 minutes |
Production: | Bert E. Friedlob Productions |
Available On: | Vudu |
Read More On: | Wikipedia |