The Actress
Director: George Cukor
Year Released: 1953
Rating: 1.0
Pauline Kael was right when she said she was a little baffled by the portrayal of the hardened Ruth Gordon of real-life as a flighty, easily-broken talent-less dreamer (Jean Simmons) in this film (which was based on Gordon's play), and I'll add to it that I was even more baffled by the play itself, which should have been called The Father, since it's centered around Spencer Tracy. Daughter wants to leave home and become an actress, spurns potential boyfriend Anthony Perkins (you could say all of Simmons' sexual energy is career-directed instead of other-directed) and begs Dad to lend her money; the Father, who starts off hardened and bitter, softens in a hurry, and before you know it he caves in. Simmons' acting is obnoxious and the movie lacks energy; using the cat ("Punk") as some kind of metaphor (the feline's determined! the girl is determined!) is really stupid.
