This should be fun. I want it to be fun. The poster was great. Arlene Dahl sued Columbia because of the poster - she thought it was misleading. It is, not in a good way. A movie more like the poster would have been better.
I don't think Arlene Dahl is a star. Attractive, sure. She can act well enough. But this film needs a star.
It's about a Scarlet O'Hara ish style lead - a woman sick of poverty, hanging around gangsters (including Sid James! this was shot in England), who rigs a beauty contest so she wins and goes to England. Philip Carey is a scoundrel who loves her Rhett Butler style but she pursues married Herbert Marshall.
It's set in England but everyone in it seems to be American.
This film was boring. It was an attempt to make a Joan Crawford movie without Joan Crawford. Philip Carey isn't up to his role either - he's a smarmy prat.
The structure was off - maybe it would've worked better in flashback instead of all this set up. At least it acknowledges the effect of sexual assault on women - that's quite progressive. She does have to be saved by a man but something is better than nothing. It feels wonky all this time is devoted to her and Marshall but then the rich guy she marries isn't Marshall - it should have been him.
This was made by Ken Hughes. I saw a couple of great Hughes films and figured he was this undiscovered gem but this is simply dull.
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