A Life of Her Own (1950)

This movie is full of incandescent moments. Tom Ewell is funny and gritty at the same time, Ann Dvorak plays the has-been model to the hilt, Louis Calhern is reassuring, but the most amazing performing comes secondary roles--from Margaret Phillips as Milland's invalid wife--her speech about fighting for her marriage is riveting. Barry Sullivan is also strong as a cynical and world weary business executive. Lana Turner gives the impression that she has lived this situation. It is as real as it gets for her--the Postman Always Rings Twice with an empowering ending. There are also a couple of delightfully creepy scenes--Turner's Birthday Party for Milland and the bar scenes with the ventriloquist dummy--that make your skin crawl. The music is what really lifts this movie out of the ordinary. Bronislaw Kaper wrote one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever conceived that perfectly fits the tension of the dramatic situation. I like the ending and the music makes it convincing. Stay with it--it's worth it.

George Cukor was a well-know, good director who helmed films such as The Philadelphia Story, Born Yesterday and the last film John Dillinger saw, Manhattan Melodrama. This turkey, with Ray Milland, Lana Turner and Tom Ewell (recently on TCM) was laughable in its portrayal of a model on her way up in NY and the tawdry romance with a married man (Milland). Of course they toss in Milland's wife, who just happens to be crippled with no use of her legs (she does walk haltingly for a moment with two canes) to play on the sympathy of a woman wronged, though that plot line goes no where. To say this is a bad film is an understatement. Turner looks overweight and her costumes don't do her any favors either. The dialogue is stilted, stupid and overwrought; I would lay most of the blame on the screenwriter for this silly, pretentious and altogether forgettable movie.

Wow, my summary sounds like comments made about an off-brand paper towel! Lana Turner is a nice girl from Kansas who comes to the big city to become a model. Because of her grit, determination, moxie AND, most importantly, fantastic looks, she makes it big. But instead of being on top of the world, she is depressed because she falls for a married man.Overall, is a thoroughly adequate film with decent acting but a story that just never engaged me very well--partly because the relationships seemed rather silly and superficial and also because it was hard to feel sorry for Lana in the film. Despite her complaining about how "life isn't fair", it's really hard for the average person to feel sorry for this woman, as she's a very successful super-model who is sad she can't have a particular married man (Ray Milland). Since she lives in New York, I assume there must be at least a few nice single guys! Also, because Milland wants to sleep with Lana while he's married to a very nice lady, he comes off as a bit of a jerk as well.On the positive side, though the film seems to initially make their romance seem like a good thing, it later shows that there is a wife and she truly loves her hubby. This is NOT a victimless crime. It's not a bad morality tale, but had I cared more about Lana and Ray, it would have been a lot better.

Lana Turner heads an excellent cast in "A Life of Her Own," a 1950 film directed by George Cukor. Its other stars are Ray Milland, Louis Calhern, Margaret Phillips, Barry Sullivan, Tom Ewell, Ann Dvorak, and Jean Hagen.Both the beginning of the film and the end are the best parts; the in between is incredibly slow. Turner plays a young woman from Kansas who comes to New York to break into the modeling business. She meets what could be her future if she's not careful: a washed up, alcoholic, desperate has-been, beautifully portrayed by Ann Dvorak. No need to tell you what happens there - you've seen it a million times.As her career progresses, Turner meets a married millionaire, Steve, played by Ray Milland. She knows he's married and it starts off platonically enough. But, as we learn what seems like hours later, he's a lot more than married.This is a great cast, right down to the smaller roles, which includes Phyllis Kirk, one of my favorites, and Hermes Pan, who so often worked with Fred Astaire on choreography.Turner is excellent and has some fine dramatic scenes; Milland is handsome and sympathetic as her boyfriend. Margaret Phillips, as his wife, does a marvelous job, and Tom Ewell is a joy. Actually, everyone is very good.Alas, there's not much of a script here and you know what's going to happen along the way. The very end shows Cukor's directing mastery. Given what he had to work with by way of a script, it's a very well done movie. I shudder to think what it would have been like in someone else's hands.