This was a follow up vehicle for Bette Davis in the wake of her All About Eve success – she played another aging, temperamental star, albeit one whose career is in worse shape than Margot Channing’s. She’s in complete denial, desperate for a comeback part – she tries to borrow money off her sponging rellies and her ex husband, now a star, and finds true love from a stalker. Whoops, I mean honest mechanic who was a fan and so bails her out of gaol when she’s put in for a DD conviction. That’s just one not-very-realistic account of Hollywood stardom here – another is the screenwriter who comes along at the end and pitches to the star the idea of making a film about a fading star who doesn’t realise she’s fading. Post-modernism 50s style. But it does get points for a rather unflinching look at it’s lead character (based on Joan Crawford apparently – although surely Davis was an inspiration too). Bette Davis doesn’t repeat her role here – Ida Lupino steps in adequately (appropriate since Warners kept her as a Bette Davis back up).
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