Does anybody else find Eleanor Parker too elegant for the part of Zosh? She's one of my favorites but I just can't quite accept her as common, like the character. Seems sort of like casting Olivia DeHavilland as a prostitute. Marie Windsor or Shelley Winters might have been more apt.
shareExactly. Too young, too beautiful for the part. But she also brilliantly played the slut in Of Human Bondage (1943).
shareSome day I'll finally see Parker's Of Human Bondage. Finally saw Davis' last year and have to admit I was a bit disappointed. Never seen Novak's, but I can't imagine.
shareI wanted to like Eleanor in it more than I did, but Zosh was no more "common" than her role in "Caged." Zosh was just a weird character. Why did she blow the whistle before she died?
"Just close your eyes...but keep your mind wide open."
One will never know!
But, she was "insane in the membrane"...I think the whistle was for emergencies and it was like her last "whistle" on Earth. She was basically signifiying her death.
"I have no memories I'm prepared to share with you."- Peter O'Toole
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Parker was one of the best actresses of that era. She played many different roles in her career. Too elegant, no way! Her voice was grating on my nerves, as it should have been. She nailed the role of Zosh.
shareIn my opinion, Eleanor Parker was not a very good actress in anything. Terrible voice, always over-acted, face not quite pretty . . . but she had a great body. I think Shelly Winters would have been perfect in this role. Parker was a huge miscast. But I do like this film. Kim Novak was gorgeous!
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Dance with me, you little toad
What sort of a name is "Zosh" anyway? Didn't she say at one point that her real name was Sophie? Was this explained in the book?
shareMy mother's name who is Polish was Sophie. The correct way to pronounce it in Polish is "Zosha", we would kid around with her and call her "Zosh". Since the film I believe was to be set in Chicago and Chicago has a very large Polish community it would make her nickmane very common.
shareAh, thanks.
shareI agree that East St. Louis' Shelley Winters would have been a perfect choice for the whining, clinging wife Zosh. (She had basically already played the same role in A Place in the Sun, a role which was nominated for an Academy Award.) She probably would have won her first Oscar for her performance. She later won two for the Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue, along with her two nominations for A Place in the Sun and the Poseidon Adventure.
sharePinky, I agree with your assessment of Parker's acting but not her appearance. Her face was her meal ticket, not her body. She was at her most beautiful in a little-known, black-and-white movie called "The Woman in White". She was almost an archetype of feminine loveliness in that. Absolutely flawless. I never particularly noticed her body. She was lean and fit, I guess. Not a Racquel Welch, though. Or Sophia Loren.
Kim Novak was great in "The Man with the Golden Arm". Very nurturing to Frankie when he needed it, particularly when he was detoxing. I envied him when she held him closely to her bosom. Lucky guy. Other than the fact that he was going through hell at that time. You know what I mean! If he didn't have the shakes/cold sweats trying to kick the habit. But it was his weakness at that moment that made her succor all the more moving. If I'm ever trying to get the monkey off my back I want a strong woman like that helping to pull me through.
I also love the final shot of the two of them walking toward the camera.
So...thumbs down for Parker's performance as the nails-on-the-chalkboard Zosh and thumbs way up for Kim's performance as Molly.
I just this moment finished watching TMWTGA...and, whoa, what a great little movie! I'm not certain why it took me so long to finally see this film, but I am very glad I did.
I love Preminger's ANATOMY OF A MURDER, and this movie was almost as good. I agree that Parker missed the mark (talk about scenery-chewing), and reliable Shelly Winters would have been spot on in that role.
Sinatra was amazingly good...too bad he later got to be such a lazy actor as he regained his popularity. He could have gone on to do some quality acting as he aged. But, I guess he really did have fun as the too cool for school rat-packer.
Lucky for us movie-buffs he was still hungry when he did this role...because it was a terrific job. Bravo, Mr. S.
-AnaElisa
This sounds like it's reviewing the characters, not the performances.
sharei just didn't find her character interesting. i thought shelley winters would have been marvelous too.
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