With a really stunning face for film (not a great beauty, but a really talented actress), this woman should have been Oscar nominated - not to mention at the very least credited - for her performance in The Snake Pit. She was excellent in a role that could easily have been over-the-top.
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I agree. Also if you've never read it, read her book. I forget the name, but I've read it in the last year. Very well written and she had an interesting life.
She was the best thing in the movie.
And she should've won that Oscar for MARTY btw.
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Mulholland CineLog: http://mulhollandcinelog.wordpress.com/
She was the most convincing in the movie - she truly looked like a tortured soul; I don't know how she was able to have such an expression on her face! I agree, while not a great beauty, there was something very lovely about her, and she was excellent in Marty as well!
"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl
I enjoyed her also, but I don't agree she is better than OD. She was
married to Gene Kelly and basically stayed in the background while
he worked at Metro doing his fabulous musicals. What hurt her career,
was being blacklisted. In fact, Kelly had to fight to get Blair cast
in "Marty."
What hurt her career, was that unlike many blacklisted people, SHE REALLY WAS A BRIGHT RED COMMUNIST. She totally bought into it and was "encouraged" to indoctrinate Gene Kelly, her husband at the time. For Kelly to turn Marxist would be a great PR coup for the Party. Fortunately for all of us, Kelly realized it was a crock and would have nothing to do with Marxist beliefs. Probably a big reason the two of them broke up. I read this on line, on Wikipedia, and other sources. Wow~!
shareShe totally bought into it and was "encouraged" to indoctrinate Gene Kelly, her husband at the time. For Kelly to turn Marxist would be a great PR coup for the Party. Fortunately for all of us, Kelly realized it was a crock and would have nothing to do with Marxist beliefs.
And who "encouraged" her to "indoctrinate" Gene Kelly? Fearless Leader? You've made the marriage of Gene Kelly and Betsy Blair sound like an episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
You claim Wikipedia as your source, but Wikipedia clearly states that Blair learned about Marxism through Lloyd Gough - someone she met through Kelly. While Kelly wasn't a communist himself, he had a wide circle of friends who were on the left of the political spectrum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Blair
Kelly was an outspoken opponent of the anti-communist hysteria of HUAC, and actually threatened to withdraw from one of his own films if Blair was dropped from the cast of Marty because of the blacklist. It's interesting to note that her application to join the Communist Party was rejected because it was felt she was "more valuable as the wife of the progressive Kelly." In fact, the party believed that if she became a member, it would have a negative impact on Kelly's leftist activities.
Their marriage ended (on an amicable note) because she wanted to create her own identity; she wanted to be known as more than the wife of Gene Kelly.
Of her political beliefs, she would later say her ideals "had always been American, not Russian." In her memoir The Memory Of All That, she stated that her "battles and contribution - small as it may have been - were against racism, for strong unions, for the rights of women; to put it simply, for democracy."
"And she should've won that Oscar for MARTY btw."
gus,
i came to this board to find out if she was the girlfriend in "marty" and you just answered my question, thank you!
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