Forever Female
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| Directed by | Irving Rapper | |
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| Release date | 13 January 1954 | |
| Runtime | 93 minutes | |
| RYM Rating | ||
| Ranked | #280 for 1954 | |
| Language | English | |
| Genres | ||
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Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Review
To rate, slide your finger across the stars from left to right.
Cast
- Ginger Rogers
Beatrice Page - William Holden
Stanley Krown - Paul Douglas
E. Harry Phillips - Pat Crowley
Sally Carver - James Gleason
Eddie Woods - Jesse White
Willie Wolfe - Marjorie Rambeau
Herself - George Reeves
George Courtland
Reviews
Was there a cycle of Hollywood films set on Broadway after the success of All About Eve? I'm not sure, but in recent weeks I've seen two films about the theatre world starring William Holden, both released in 1954. In this one Ginger Rogers is the Broadway star appearing in roles a little too young for her; Paul Douglas is her producer and ex-husband...but still in love with her; William Holden is the young writer with a new play centred on a mother-daughter relationship. Holden is idealistic and on their first meeting he is brusque and slightly dismissive of Rogers...so they are bound to fall for each other. In his play the daughter is 19, but pressure is put on Holden to make her 29 so Rogers can play the part...even though Rogers is obviously older that 29. Holden is drawn in, falling for Rogers' glamour, changing his play to fit her stage persona. And for Rogers Holden is the younger man entranced by her. And then there is Pat Crowley, an aspiring actress who wants to play the daughter - she falls for Holden while arguing he is compromising his play by changing it. Crowley was supposed to be Paramount's next big star: for much of the film her character is supposed to be charming but irritating...she's O.K., but her irritation factor is probably greater than her charm. At the end of the film she has matured, but she loses her sprightliness. The film is light without being comic and doesn't quite make it either as a melodrama or as a film grounded in the realities of Broadway. There are themes about age and self-delusion...I suppose the delusion links up with the idea of the stage as illusion...or something like that. If you like old Hollywood films it's O.K., watchable, probably not memorable. Rogers and Holden are O.K., but if you are thinking about their careers you might forget Forever Female. We can blame Irving Rapper for not giving the film a sense of lightness or focus, but, despite the occasional highlight in the 1940s, he was a bit of a trudger.
Published
OK. Imagine this. "All About Eve" meets "Sunset Blvd.", but it's more romantic comedy than anything dark, bleak or sinister. Too bad they didn't go full-on comedy because there are some very witty lines in the script throughout, and with more clever banter this could have easily been turned more towards the farce. As it was Forever Female was an enjoyable film that made me laugh quite a few times, though we saw the ending coming a mile away.
Cast:
Ginger Rogers plays Gloria Swanson, without the insanity
Bill Holden plays Bill Holden playing Joe Gillis, without the bullet holes
Paul Douglas plays Max, without the accent
Pat Crowley plays Eve, without the backstabbing
George Reeves plays Clark Kent IV
and Marion Ross plays Richie's Mom
Cast:
Ginger Rogers plays Gloria Swanson, without the insanity
Bill Holden plays Bill Holden playing Joe Gillis, without the bullet holes
Paul Douglas plays Max, without the accent
Pat Crowley plays Eve, without the backstabbing
George Reeves plays Clark Kent IV
and Marion Ross plays Richie's Mom
Published
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