Ben Hecht was an amazingly good writer, there's no doubt about it. With such wonderful screenplays such as THE FRONT PAGE and NOTHING SACRED, he really had a way with dialog and wit. On a few rare occasions, he also directed or produced films--so it's obvious he was talented. However, with ACTOR'S AND SIN, he tried to do it all, as he wrote, produced and co-directed the film. In addition, he even had his very young daughter star in the film! Talk about a vanity project! And, unfortunately, this vanity project turned out to be horrible--absolutely horrible. He just apparently bit off more than he could chew. The film is made up of two short films. Both are absolutely dreadful but for different reasons.
The first part stars Edward G. Robinson and Marsha Hunt. He plays her father and they are both Broadway actors. He is an old hand at acting and has played a variety of parts, big and small. Hunt is a woman on the cusp of greatness. She is about to become one of the greatest stars on the stage. However, she cannot handle it, and soon the fame goes to her head. She is the worst sort of prima donna--treating those around her with contempt, drinking heavily and having a variety of affairs just out of sheer boredom and willfulness. As a result, though she is talented, her reputation soon precedes her and she becomes a bit of a joke. Then, her talent begins to slip as well and she is on the verge of becoming a has-been. During all this time, her father defends her and cannot allow himself to admit she is an awful person. To him, she is the greatest actress alive. Eventually, she is murdered but it's a lot like MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS--practically everyone who knew her could have easily done it! In the end, in a rather contrived moment you see who the real murderer is...or at least who the exposition say is the murderer, as he is now dead and can't say whether or not he actually did it!!
What was so bad about this segment was not so much the acting but the direction. While Robinson and Hunt are fine actors, here they are over-acting repeatedly--like all their scenes are on stage in front of an audience. They are loud and over-emote repeatedly and it's rather embarrassing. It is the job of the director to get good performances out of actors and give them guidance--in this case, it was all wrong. As for the writing, the idea was excellent (though a lot like ALL ABOUT EVE) but the execution was dull--especially the contrived ending.
The second segment is incredibly bad though a bit more enjoyable at times. Ben Hecht's very untalented and shrill daughter played the lead and that is a serious problem. With no discernible acting ability and little experience, having the film hinge on her was simply insane. To make matters worse, another young actor was used as well and he was even worse--looking the wrong direction when he gave his lines as well as looking as if he's struggling to read the cue cards.
The plot is really silly and impossible to believe. Eddie Albert plays a Hollywood agent who is pretty crafty (i.e., he's a born liar). By mistake, a terrible screenplay that was sent to him was forwarded to a Hollywood big-shot, J.B. Cobb (Alan Reed). Oddly, Cobb loved the script and wanted it at any cost. But, in a kooky twist, it turns out that this sexy love story was written by a small child (Jenny Hecht). While the script says she's 9 and she was about 10 when she made the film, she looked and talked like a 6 year-old. But, talent-wise, you'd have thought she was a toddler...with colic! She simply had no discernible talent at all--none. She also had zero charisma and was as pleasant as a boil--and this made the job of all the adult actors very difficult. After all, how do you try to overcome a boorish kid who is in many of the scenes and who is loud and woefully unlikable? The end result is sort of like a migraine that won't go away!
Surprisingly, Jenny did have a career in film after this, though not surprisingly, her father was never allowed such latitude on a project--no more directing or producing after this debacle! In fact, this movie was pretty much hidden until very recently when it was released on DVD. After seeing it, I can understand exactly why you wouldn't see this film on TV or in video stores all these years!
Overall, a truly awful film in most every way. Rarely have I seen such big-name actors and a famous writer involved with such a bad project.
The first part stars Edward G. Robinson and Marsha Hunt. He plays her father and they are both Broadway actors. He is an old hand at acting and has played a variety of parts, big and small. Hunt is a woman on the cusp of greatness. She is about to become one of the greatest stars on the stage. However, she cannot handle it, and soon the fame goes to her head. She is the worst sort of prima donna--treating those around her with contempt, drinking heavily and having a variety of affairs just out of sheer boredom and willfulness. As a result, though she is talented, her reputation soon precedes her and she becomes a bit of a joke. Then, her talent begins to slip as well and she is on the verge of becoming a has-been. During all this time, her father defends her and cannot allow himself to admit she is an awful person. To him, she is the greatest actress alive. Eventually, she is murdered but it's a lot like MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS--practically everyone who knew her could have easily done it! In the end, in a rather contrived moment you see who the real murderer is...or at least who the exposition say is the murderer, as he is now dead and can't say whether or not he actually did it!!
What was so bad about this segment was not so much the acting but the direction. While Robinson and Hunt are fine actors, here they are over-acting repeatedly--like all their scenes are on stage in front of an audience. They are loud and over-emote repeatedly and it's rather embarrassing. It is the job of the director to get good performances out of actors and give them guidance--in this case, it was all wrong. As for the writing, the idea was excellent (though a lot like ALL ABOUT EVE) but the execution was dull--especially the contrived ending.
The second segment is incredibly bad though a bit more enjoyable at times. Ben Hecht's very untalented and shrill daughter played the lead and that is a serious problem. With no discernible acting ability and little experience, having the film hinge on her was simply insane. To make matters worse, another young actor was used as well and he was even worse--looking the wrong direction when he gave his lines as well as looking as if he's struggling to read the cue cards.
The plot is really silly and impossible to believe. Eddie Albert plays a Hollywood agent who is pretty crafty (i.e., he's a born liar). By mistake, a terrible screenplay that was sent to him was forwarded to a Hollywood big-shot, J.B. Cobb (Alan Reed). Oddly, Cobb loved the script and wanted it at any cost. But, in a kooky twist, it turns out that this sexy love story was written by a small child (Jenny Hecht). While the script says she's 9 and she was about 10 when she made the film, she looked and talked like a 6 year-old. But, talent-wise, you'd have thought she was a toddler...with colic! She simply had no discernible talent at all--none. She also had zero charisma and was as pleasant as a boil--and this made the job of all the adult actors very difficult. After all, how do you try to overcome a boorish kid who is in many of the scenes and who is loud and woefully unlikable? The end result is sort of like a migraine that won't go away!
Surprisingly, Jenny did have a career in film after this, though not surprisingly, her father was never allowed such latitude on a project--no more directing or producing after this debacle! In fact, this movie was pretty much hidden until very recently when it was released on DVD. After seeing it, I can understand exactly why you wouldn't see this film on TV or in video stores all these years!
Overall, a truly awful film in most every way. Rarely have I seen such big-name actors and a famous writer involved with such a bad project.