The Goddess (1958 film)
| The Goddess | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | John Cromwell |
| Written by | Paddy Chayefsky |
| Starring |
Kim Stanley Lloyd Bridges |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Goddess is a 1958 Columbia Pictures drama film starring Kim Stanley and Lloyd Bridges. Others in the cast include Steven Hill, Betty Lou Holland, Joan Copeland, Patty Duke, and Elizabeth Wilson. It was directed by John Cromwell.
The film is an in-depth character study about the life of a troubled, lonely girl who becomes a movie star, adored by millions but miserable in her private life. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.[1]
Plot
Emily Ann Faulkner (Patty Duke) is born into poverty in The South, has no father, no friends, and is unloved by her indifferent mother (Betty Lou Holland), who does not want to be tied down by a child. When Emily Ann becomes a teenager (Kim Stanley) she remains a loner but has a sensual sexuality that attracts boys. She marries young but leaves her first husband, a world-weary GI, John Tower (Steven Hill), for Hollywood.
She becomes an actress and is soon transformed by Hollywood into the glamorous superstar sex goddess Rita Shawn. Though she has attained fame and wealth, she is still a loner in the depths of despair. When her elderly mother, who has turned from immorality to religion bordering on fanaticism, comes to visit, Rita is thrilled and clings to her. She tries to impress her and has a couple in to visit. As the guests are leaving, Rita's mother thanks them for being such good friends to her daughter. She is told that they do not really know her daughter, having just met her.
Rita wants her mother to stay on, but Mrs. Faulkner insists on going home. When she is leaving the house, Rita becomes enraged and screams from the doorway that she hates her and wishes her dead. When her mother dies, Rita is heavily sedated and miserable at the funeral. She now lives under the constant attention of a stern secretary/nurse (Elizabeth Wilson), who takes control of the self-destructive actress.
Production
The story is said to be based loosely on Marilyn Monroe.[2] According to an article at tcm.com, "Some critics have conjectured that The Goddess was based on the career of Ava Gardner, but most think its primary model was Marilyn Monroe, who studied at the Actors Studio at the same time Stanley did."[3]
The Goddess was filmed, in part, in Ellicott City, Maryland, which serves as the childhood home of Rita and provides the backdrop for the closing scene.[4][5] The interior scenes were filmed at the Gold Medal Studios, the Bronx, New York; in addition to Maryland, location filming was also done in Hollywood, at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills and at the Fox Village Theater, Westwood, California.[6]
Cast
Source: The New York Times[7]
Main cast
- Kim Stanley as Emily Ann Faulkner
- Lloyd Bridges as Dutch Seymour
- Steven Hill as John Tower (credited as Steve Hill)
- Betty Lou Holland as Mrs. Laureen Faulkner
- Joan Copeland as Alice Marie
- Gerald Hiken as George
- Patty Duke as Emily Ann Faulkner, age 8
- Elizabeth Wilson as Harding
- Bert Freed as Lester Brackman
- Joanne Linville as Joanna
- Gail Haworth as Emily's Daughter
- Joyce Van Patten as Hillary
- Louise Beavers as The Cook
- Gerald Petrarca as The Minister
- Werner Klemperer as Joe Wilsey
- Burt Brinckerhoff as The Boy
Supporting cast
- Margaret Brayton as Mrs. Woolsy (uncredited)
- Curt Conway as The Writer (uncredited)
- Fred Herrick as The Elder (uncredited)
- Donald McKee as R.M. Lucas (uncredited)
- Mike O'Dowd as First Man (uncredited)
- Sid Raymond as Second Man (uncredited)
- David White as Burt Harris (uncredited)
Adaptation
In 2013 director John Mossman adapted the screenplay for a stage production at Chicago's The Artistic Home, receiving a Jeff Award for New Adaptation and marking the first screen-to-stage adaptation of a Chayefsky screenplay.[8]
References
- ↑ " The Goddess Awards", The New York Times, accessed May 12, 2015.
- ↑ Stallings, Penny; Howard, Mandelbaum (1978). Flesh and Fantasy. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 245. ISBN 0-06-055175-5.
- ↑ Brottman, Mikita and Sterritt, David. " The Goddess ", tcm.com, accessed May 12, 2015
- ↑ Marsha Wight Wise (2006). Ellicott City. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-7385-4249-2.
- ↑ Joseph Rocco Mitchell, David L. Stebenne (2007). New City Upon A Hill, A History of Columbia of Maryland. Charleston, SC: History Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-5962-9067-9.
- ↑ " The Goddess Notes", tcm.com, accessed May 13, 2015.
- ↑ Crowther, Bosley. "Movie Review. The Goddess (1958)", The New York Times, JUne 25, 1958.
- ↑ "'Goddess' finds riches in familiar celebrity tale" (October 9, 2013) Chicago Sun-Times