Small-town girl goes to big city to break into modeling, falls in love. Conflicts arise, are resolved. I would call this second-rate Cukor. The pluses: A good amount of wise, perceptive dialog in the cynical vein, well choreographed ensemble scenes in claustrophobic interiors (the hubbub at a busy modeling agency, a crowded restaurant, a hotel visitors' lounge, a wild party in Turner's apartment) and two strong supporting performances: Ann Dvorak as a has-been alcoholic model at the beginning and Margaret Phillips as the stoic, paraplegic wife toward the end (lesser turns have won Oscars). Lana Turner is appealing to the eye but miscast - too slick and mature for a Kansas girl trying to break into the modeling world. She is persuasive only when she is playing anger, disgust or drunkenness. Ray Milland with his patrician accent convinces no one that he runs a copper mine in the boonies of Montana and has seldom seen a big city. Neither performer even attempts an appropriate regional accent. The central problem, however, is that Turner and Milland do not click as a couple. And both seem bored.
Review of A Life of Her Own
