The film is advertised as a well-known model's romance with a married millionaire. But it takes about 30 minutes before we meet the rich guy, Steve Harleigh (Ray Milland).
During all the lugubrious Act I exposition director George Cukor takes too much time showing us how greenhorn Lily James (Lana Turner) breaks into the tough modeling business and befriends Mary Ashton (Ann Dvorak), a former successful model now down on her luck and depressed to boot.
Some posters love Ms. Dvorak's performance, but I didn't understand why so much time was taken dwelling on the character-especially after she exits so ungracefully as a suicide (jumping out of the window of her apartment).
We do finally get the point of the suicide at the very end of the picture, but I only wish all of Act 1 moved a lot quicker.
The bulk of Act II is a melodramatic romance between Lily and Steve who is married to Nora (Margaret Phillips) now an invalid after she was paralyzed in a car accident while Steve was at the wheel.
Milland was not the first choice to play Steve and he ended up replacing another actor once production began. Unfortunately, he's completely miscast as a romantic leading man.
Turner, turning thirty when the film was made, was no longer the sultry pinup girl audiences craved. She still had a beautiful face but somehow the outfits she wore in this film made her look a little bit on the heavy side. It would have been better if Cukor had cast a younger actress.
Nothing much happens between Lily and Steve-they have a couple of inconsequential "dates" where we find out little about them leading to the birthday bash that Lily throws for Steve in which she throws a fit over his indecisiveness in leaving Nora.
The story was subject to numerous rewrites due to the touchy subject of marital infidelity which exasperated the director and later leading to his declaration that the film was an unmitigated failure.
The production code required that the lovebirds had to break up and that's what happens. Margaret Phillips, basically a stage actress for most of her career, steals the show as the enormously sympathetic handicapped spouse who dodges a proverbial bullet when Lily gives up on her quest to claim Steve as her own.
The original ending called for Lily to commit suicide. Given the already downbeat denouement (the breakup of the affair along with Steve going broke), that would have been a disaster of an ending.
Fortunately, we learn how the earlier suicide is tied in with Lily's fate. She breaks the figurine that Mary had given her, symbolizing that she's determined to go forward despite all the disappointments.
Given the weak script and dubious characterizations of the principals, this is a film that only confirmed soap opera addicts will truly find endearing.
During all the lugubrious Act I exposition director George Cukor takes too much time showing us how greenhorn Lily James (Lana Turner) breaks into the tough modeling business and befriends Mary Ashton (Ann Dvorak), a former successful model now down on her luck and depressed to boot.
Some posters love Ms. Dvorak's performance, but I didn't understand why so much time was taken dwelling on the character-especially after she exits so ungracefully as a suicide (jumping out of the window of her apartment).
We do finally get the point of the suicide at the very end of the picture, but I only wish all of Act 1 moved a lot quicker.
The bulk of Act II is a melodramatic romance between Lily and Steve who is married to Nora (Margaret Phillips) now an invalid after she was paralyzed in a car accident while Steve was at the wheel.
Milland was not the first choice to play Steve and he ended up replacing another actor once production began. Unfortunately, he's completely miscast as a romantic leading man.
Turner, turning thirty when the film was made, was no longer the sultry pinup girl audiences craved. She still had a beautiful face but somehow the outfits she wore in this film made her look a little bit on the heavy side. It would have been better if Cukor had cast a younger actress.
Nothing much happens between Lily and Steve-they have a couple of inconsequential "dates" where we find out little about them leading to the birthday bash that Lily throws for Steve in which she throws a fit over his indecisiveness in leaving Nora.
The story was subject to numerous rewrites due to the touchy subject of marital infidelity which exasperated the director and later leading to his declaration that the film was an unmitigated failure.
The production code required that the lovebirds had to break up and that's what happens. Margaret Phillips, basically a stage actress for most of her career, steals the show as the enormously sympathetic handicapped spouse who dodges a proverbial bullet when Lily gives up on her quest to claim Steve as her own.
The original ending called for Lily to commit suicide. Given the already downbeat denouement (the breakup of the affair along with Steve going broke), that would have been a disaster of an ending.
Fortunately, we learn how the earlier suicide is tied in with Lily's fate. She breaks the figurine that Mary had given her, symbolizing that she's determined to go forward despite all the disappointments.
Given the weak script and dubious characterizations of the principals, this is a film that only confirmed soap opera addicts will truly find endearing.