A tough movie buoyed by a very strong Anthony Franciosa performance. Franciosa leaves his mid-west hometown and becomes a struggling New York actor, suffering the slings and arrow of show business over ten or so years. He marries & loses two wives, gets fired from myriad plays, battles insensitive directors and blow-hard producers...all in his quest for success. Joseph Anthony, who only directed six films, does an excellent job at showing us the pitfalls and misery a struggling actor faces and the film is very much enhanced by Franz Waxman's jazz-tinged music score & Joseph LaShelle stark B&W photography. The supporting cast features Dean Martin as an unscrupulous stage director, Shirley MacLaine, Carolyn Jones, Donna Douglas and Jerry Paris. Joan Blackman is terrific as Franciosa's hometown sweetheart. This is brutal, unforgiving exposé.
Review of Career
