The Actress

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Blu B @RT43513976 Dec 3, 2024 Odd little nugget this one. A telling of Ruth Gordon's roots with Spencer Tracy and Cukor in it sounds interesting, but it's clear why Ruth Gordon never wrote another script. The acting isn't bad thanks to Tracy who is the best thing in this and is pretty decent. Sometimes he can meander a bit to much like a grumbling old man but the best moments of the film are with him in it and focused around him ironically. Simmons as Ruth is just alright and feels a bit to over the top at times and gets dominated whenever Tracy is with her. Wright is just alright and kind of forgettable. The acting in general feels a bit like a stage play for better or for worse. Everything is just alright though. The direction is pretty basic, nothing much pops in this. The biggest problem here is the script is too unfocused and meanders at times. This feels more like the fathers film more than Ruths half the time. Scenes just feel like they don't connect well into a series of cohesive events. Tracy goes on like 10 minute rants at times that feel so meandering and take away form Ruth and the acting story. We never even get to see her really act much either besides the acting once for her family which is a letdown. It feels like for a film called the actress there really isn't that much actressing in it. But there are some good moments (usually Teacy's though) and it makes perfect sense. Perkins subplot feels completely pointless though as well. A Star is Born did this way better. Skip This unless your a hardcore Tracy fan. See more Steve S @RT32687682 Apr 23, 2022 Screen writer Ruth Gordon chronicles her teenage years hen she wanted to move out of her small town and head to New York City to become an actress. Here she is played by Jean Simmons. Spencer Tracy plays her stern father and Teresa Wright her caring mother. Anthony Perkins is also on board as a suitor. Director George Cukor usually thrived at telling these types of stories. This story is simply episodic moments that might be fine for dramatic little skits, but fail to compose itself into a coherent feature length movie. Spencer Tracy is always good at playin the loveable yet cranky father figure. He even on a Best Actor award from the Golden Globes for it. Though well enough made, even Cukor seems bored behind the camera. See more steve d @RT35616104 Jul 21, 2020 sweet and strongly acted. See more May 1, 2020 I can’t believe this sweet, beautifully acted film does not have higher ratings. Yes, Tracy is grumpy and great and funny, but it is the incredible (and never fully appreciated) Jean Simmons who really shines. It is not easy to play teenage angst and enthusiasm, but Simmons nails it. In the first 10 minutes she was worthy of an Oscar nomination. She won the National Board of Review Best Actress award 1953 for the combo of this film and Young Bess (I guess for The Robe too, but meh to that film). See more joe s @RT65550607 Jan 31, 2020 Dreadful script. Jean Simmons's adopted squeaky voice is like chalk on a blackboard and excessively irritating. Spencer Tracy is all on one key and he too becomes irritating. It's inters interesting to see Anthony Perkins in one of his early roles, but he's not on screen long enough to sit through this awful film. See more Nov 24, 2013 I've never been in a situation yet where having a little money made situations worse. Clinton Jones is a poor seaman that has settled down to a job where he barely makes enough to feed his family and make ends meet. His daughter has just turned seventeen and is about to graduate from high school. She decides her career path is to become an actress, but she doesn't know where to begin to make her dream come true. Jones, who is a bit old fashion, will do whatever he can to make his daughter's dreams come true. "It isn't only men you have to worry about. Women are worse than men." George Cukor, director of My Fair Lady, A Star is Born, Adam's Rib, The Philadelphia Story, Born Yesterday, A Life of her Own, Pat and Mike, and Holiday, delivers The Actress. The storyline for this movie is very good and fairly standard for this time period (a struggling family trying to make ends meet). The characters are well developed and the acting is first rate. The cast includes Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, Teresa Wright, and Anthony Perkins. "What she knows you could fit in a frog's ear." I DVR almost all of Spencer Tracy's pictures that air on cable that I have not seen. This is a movie I DVR'd some time ago and finally got around to watching. I must say this movie has a "Christmas Story" feel to it with ups and downs and a few comedic sequences. Overall, this is a fun movie that is definitely worth watching at least once. "That's my own blood." Grade: A- See more Read all reviews

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