User Reviews

In widescreen glorious Universal black-and-white, this very '50s melo has an unusual angle amid all its conventional suds: What if the man couldn't decide between a mother or daughter? Tough choice, because the mom's Hedy Lamarr, in a relaxed performance as a slightly fading movie queen, and the (adopted) daughter is Jane Powell, a spoiled drunk Hollywood rich kid who becomes more likable as the script progresses. Faced with the difficult decision: George Nader, with a shaved chest, but looking mighty fit, and it's a real performance, not just the eyelash-batting he got away with in some other Universal product. He must have liked the screenplay: A lot of it is just the women talking about how handsome he is. There's also Jan Sterling, always underrated and absolutely splendid here, as the nasty-obnoxious even-more-faded movie queen saying sarcastic things to everyone else and making a pathetic play for Nader. It's ludicrous, but it's entertaining, and you may chortle at the '50s morality that says, no, ladies, you'd better not attempt to be cougars, youth shall seek youth and anything else is wrong, wrong, wrong. Not badly written, and, in a fun and budget-conscious touch, the pre-credits sequence later shows up again, with new connotations. Jane, in her first big non-musical, seems to enjoy all the luridness, and she's good enough to suggest maybe she should have tried more of these roles and fewer sunny-MGM things.

This is the film where Tondalayo of "White Cargo" meets Millie, the feisty singing heroine from "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", and the film print should have been drowned upon release. It is the opportunity for musical star Jane Powell to play against type, and she chews the scenery to the point of it becoming a bare sound stage. The script indicates that Powell is the adopted daughter of the still pretty but aging screen star (Hedy Lamar), and on the set of her latest film, Lamar falls in love with an extra (George Nader) who saves her from falling equipment. Unaware of her personal situation, Nader runs into the drunken Powell (very sloppy drunk!) and they become close as well. Toss in campy Jan Sterling as a vicious aging child star (the first to be chased around a desk) and you've got the ingredient for a piece of trash that the incinerator would gladly burn to ash.

A sloppy mess of a script, this is not only badly written and horribly acted, but embarrassing for all involved. It's one of those things that might have worked for Lana Turner and Sandra Dee, but minus that Ross Hunter touch, just looks cheap and vulgar. Poor Jane Powell was ill advised to take such a drastically different part and besmirches her image instantly. I have the feeling that this was an instant bomb and hardly anybody witnessed her fall off the musical bandwagon as well as off of a bar-stool. The narrative is all choppy, the mood more melodramatic than a Saturday afternoon serial and the representation of Hollywood completely phony. Amusing moments with Mabel Albertson as an over zealous fan and James Gleason as a philosophy spouting bartender give only a smidgen of quality. To have the film open and close with the buildup to everything that happens in between turns this into a perplexing mess that ultimately makes the whole thing pointless.

I having been reviewing Jane Powell movies this week and this might be the worst movie she made. She is not given a very good part and she is only likable during the end. This movie basically stars three people: Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell & George Nader. George Nader is given the most likable part, Jane Powell is sexy after her drunken stage & Hedy Lamarr is awful until the last scene. George is a bit actor who saves the leading lady Hedy from an accident. Jane Powell is her neglected daughter who likes to party and get drunk. Hedy and George have romance, but he feels she owns him. During that time Jane is saved by him from her drunken date. He takes her a beach house he is watching for Hedy. Jane thanks him and later seduces him while wearing a polka dot swimsuit. This scene showed me how sexy Jane could be. She straddles his leg and tells him she knows he been waiting for it, and she kisses him. They fall in love. Finally the three meet and George tells Hedy he does not want to be owned. She does a scene and falls into water because she is devastated. George saves her. She tells him it would not have worked and he should be with Jane. He respects her for that and she is seen crying as the movie ends. Hedy Lamarr gave a terrible performance. It was hard for me to watch her scenes. George Nader saves the film with his honest character. Jane Powell did what she could with her character. I would have liked to see her not be a drunk for half the film, but when she sobered up, she was sexy. With all said about Hedy, this film seemed rushed. It needed more story between mother and daughter and between Jane and George.

First, be advised that this is not the 1970 adult film of the same title, for which the title is better suited. Both films are available at YouTube. As the title applies to the present film, I assume that it is referring to the sexually aggressive personalities of the two lovely leading ladies, played by Heddy Lamarr(Vanessa) and Jane Powell(Penny). Vanessa is the mother and Penny is the troubled alcoholic daughter, who resents her mother's celebrity and the fact that she was adopted, hence feeling that she had not received the same attention had she been her mother's native daughter........... Eventually, both fall for the hunk, Chris Farley, played by a generally stiff, formal, and charmless George Nader. He was less so with Penny than Vanessa. The film would have been much better if someone more talkative and charming had taken his place.......... Perhaps it was due to some plastic surgery and make up, but I thought Heddy was more beautiful than in her early career. Especially, her eyes look different and more expressive than in some of her earlier films. It's too bad that this was her final Hollywood film, at age 45. Before, she had not made a film by a major studio since1951. I'm not familiar with most of her films, but I get the impression that she generally was not a very exciting actress. Here, like Chris, Venessa isn't much fun. She's too formal in her pursuit of Chris, in a role that was minimally challenging...........Much has been written in other reviews about the supposed miscasting of 29yo Jane Powell, as 45yo Heddy's daughter. True, she seems older than the 20ish daughter she's portraying. But, she had the most animate and difficult role, and still had a great figure and her special -looking eyes. Her glory MGM days were long gone, and she hadn't made a film for a few years. In fact, like Heddy, 1958 saw her last Hollywood films made, although the present film was not her last. I think she did a great job in her difficult role, playing a young drunk who was almost molested by Piggy, getting shoved in the shower when half asleep, by Chris,to try to wake her up so she could go home, and fighting like a wildcat to get out of the shower. On another occasion, again, they happen to meet in Vanessa's beach house, and Penny is coming onto Chris. Suddenly, she lays on top of his prone body, like she's ready to make love. Chris pushes her off and gives her a good spanking, as he was then somewhat involved with Vanessa. They argued and fought, and she cried, before kissing Chris: Quite an emotional rollercoaster! Chris still didn't know she was Vanessa's daughter. But, he found out when he visited Vanessa at home, and was introduced to Penny, who was shocked. Later, Vanessa would be shocked when she found out that Penny was the woman she suspected Chris had entertained at the beach house(of which he was now the caretaker)...........Several times, Vanessa proposes to Chris. But, Chris says the man should do the proposing, and he should be ready to support his wife and any kids that come along.(Yes, things have changed in recent years). He complained that if they were to marry now, he would feel like a legalized gigolo or boy toy. Vanessa says she thought she could dictate who and when she would marry, like other things in her life, but found out that wasn't the way things work......... Presumably, Chris and Penny patched up their inauspicious introduction, and perhaps married.