It is always a reliable pleasure to see Jeff Chandler on screen in whatever role he may be playing, here he is the luna park director of beauty contests, merry-go-rounds, roller-coasters and other crazy pleasures, when he is approached by a very annoying lady with towering ambitions to become an actress to the least. He is more or less forced to take her on, they become partners, but her ambitions soon separate her from him, while he remains faithful and is always ready to take her back. Her stage progress reaches awesome heights while her instability and liability of lacking self-discipline brings her into a chaotic roller-coaster of a stormy career, The turning point is when she encounters Nellie Desmond, a famous actress on her way down, who sees Kim Novak as her last chance of a come-back and offers her a play ("Rain" on Maugham's short story, filmed in 1933 with Joan Crawford) which she accepts and makes her own, ignoring Nellie Desmond. Jeff Chandler observes the foul play and warns her, but not even he can ultimately save her.
It's a normal the-other-side-of-Hollywood story with terrible ups and downs, the acting and direction is superb, so is the wonderful music all the way, so I can not agree with all the objections to this film. Kim Novak perhaps overacts at times, but that's part of the character she is playing. Agnes Moorehead is as impressing as ever, while the backbone and stamina of the film is Jeff Chandler, one of Hollywood's most likeable actors ever.
It's a normal the-other-side-of-Hollywood story with terrible ups and downs, the acting and direction is superb, so is the wonderful music all the way, so I can not agree with all the objections to this film. Kim Novak perhaps overacts at times, but that's part of the character she is playing. Agnes Moorehead is as impressing as ever, while the backbone and stamina of the film is Jeff Chandler, one of Hollywood's most likeable actors ever.