Great songs, great performances across the board....
The only thing is that Mama Rose is such a loathsome character. She manipulates everyone around her, and subjects her children to years of privation and uncertainty in pursuit of a successful stage career for June. When June, who has been happy to be top of the pile within the family troupe, finally takes off in her own direction, Rose transfers this to Louise - who isn't very talented and doesn't really want it. On the point of finally giving up - which Louise and long-suffering doormat Herbie both want - Rose makes a last-ditch attempt at success by forcing Louise into stripping. It turns out that Louise is pretty good at this, but she too pursues her own career in her own way. Good for her, I say.
It is clear from very early on that Rose is doing it all for Rose, no matter how much she says she's doing it for the girls, and every time I see this film - and I've seen it quite a lot - I badly, badly want to see her get her comeuppance. But she never does. For me, the key scene is when Rose reads the letter - a firm but loving letter - from June, explaining that June is cutting loose. After a long period of stunned silence from Rose during which Louise and Herbie excitedly make plans for a normal life, Rose comes out of her funk and wildly expounds her ideas for putting Louise on the stage. She comes across as, frankly, deranged at this point, and Louise and Herbie hug each other closely in utter horror, which I shared.
But that can't take away from the songs, or the performances, or Natalie Wood's luminous beauty.
The only thing is that Mama Rose is such a loathsome character. She manipulates everyone around her, and subjects her children to years of privation and uncertainty in pursuit of a successful stage career for June. When June, who has been happy to be top of the pile within the family troupe, finally takes off in her own direction, Rose transfers this to Louise - who isn't very talented and doesn't really want it. On the point of finally giving up - which Louise and long-suffering doormat Herbie both want - Rose makes a last-ditch attempt at success by forcing Louise into stripping. It turns out that Louise is pretty good at this, but she too pursues her own career in her own way. Good for her, I say.
It is clear from very early on that Rose is doing it all for Rose, no matter how much she says she's doing it for the girls, and every time I see this film - and I've seen it quite a lot - I badly, badly want to see her get her comeuppance. But she never does. For me, the key scene is when Rose reads the letter - a firm but loving letter - from June, explaining that June is cutting loose. After a long period of stunned silence from Rose during which Louise and Herbie excitedly make plans for a normal life, Rose comes out of her funk and wildly expounds her ideas for putting Louise on the stage. She comes across as, frankly, deranged at this point, and Louise and Herbie hug each other closely in utter horror, which I shared.
But that can't take away from the songs, or the performances, or Natalie Wood's luminous beauty.