User Reviews

An actor is determined to make it to Broadway, even if he loses his family because of his obsession. Based on a play, the film offers an interesting glimpse into show business, but turns into something of a soap opera. The Korean War and McCarthyism, hot-button topics at the time, are somewhat clumsily shoehorned into the story and the final act comes across as contrived. Franciosa has his first big starring role as the struggling actor and he acquits himself well. Martin has typical role as a boozing director who lets success get to his head. MacLaine's free-spirited character is poorly developed. Jones is quite good as Franciosa's agent.

I saw this film when I was in High School, 1959, the year it came out, and remember being really impressed with the quality of the acting, and although it was something of a melodrama, it was well cast and the actors brought real meaning to their roles. A young man struggling to become an actor, and Dean Martin as a kind of slick character who befriends him. I've always been a fan of Carolyn Jones, and of course Shirley McClain in those days was excellent too. I haven't seen it in over fifty years, but I grew up with films, great films, during what I consider to be the high water mark of film making in the 40's and 50's, and I remember this film fondly. Recommended.

This film is not perfect, but it is certainly very entertaining. The film is terribly underrated, and has images that invoke films like "Marty", "A Star is Born", " A Face in the Crowd", and even "Barefoot in the Park". One could even draw a slight parallel to "Midnight Cowboy". (Martin the NYC hustler and Franciosa the small town hayseed). . Shirley MacLaine, however, steals the film with her spectacular, energetic and exotic style of acting. It was not her debut, but it was early in her career. She would go on to make "The Apartment" shortly thereafter.

The plot was nothing new; hayseed comes to NYC to become a star. That has been done 100 times, but this film captures many of the different angles of the life choices one has to make to get to the top (or at least be a major player in the game). You can't have it both ways in entertainment; you can have a happy family life, or you can have a.....career. An engrossing film from start to finish.

Some of the finest work for both Franciosa AND Dean Martin, but Franciosa is extraordinary. More so for the limited but workable script. Carolyn Jones' role should have been larger as her character draws your attention every moment she is on.

On the whole a very good piece, poignant and bitter...

I'll be honest, when I first rented this movie, I thought it was going to be a comedy. After all, Dean Martin got first billing. Despite the billing, and despite my first impression, Dean is the second lead in the heavy, well-acted drama Career.

Anthony Franciosa wants to be an actor. He wants it more than life itself, as he shows the audience in Career. For the most part, this is an incredibly realistic portrayal of an actor's life. He leaves his fiancé and moves to New York; after a year, he's still auditioning and living in a glorified closet with no radiator. We see him beg for the chance to audition, spew hurtful words to his agent when he feels bad, and badmouth a producer when he loses a part. It's realistic.

There's a great scene with Dean and Tony in a restaurant. They're trying to keep their voices down to not attract the attention of other people, and the tension simmers! Tony is making his case for why he deserves a part in a show. "I've got talent!" he insists. Dean shakes his head. "That's what you start with," he says. Tony explains he's not good at the self-selling aspect of being an actor. "Then learn or get out!" Dean says. It's sad, but true. Talent isn't enough in show business.

Tony won a Golden Globe for his dramatic performance that year, beating out Richard Burton, Fredric March, and Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur! He does give a really good performance; even if you love Ben-Hur, you can appreciate it. Carolyn Jones, not a very well known actress, does a particularly good job as Tony's tired and tireless agent who knows the life of an actor very well. The acting and most of the story is really good, but I didn't really care for the ending. If you like realistic show business movies, add Career to your weekend watch list!

I remember seeing this film when it first appeared in theaters, and liked it very much. It was just well acted, by Tony Franciosa and Carolyn Jones. I remember the scene, funny how these things stick in your head, where Dean Martin, as a conniving agent, bums a hotdog off Tony on the street. Haven't seen it in many years, but it impressed me at the time. Always thought that Tony was somewhat underrated as an actor; liked him with Paul Newman in the couple of films they made together, and in a Hat full of rain. Intense, and good. I loved the scene in the Long, Hot Summer where he's trying to lure lovely Lee Remick inside, and she says, "Jody, I sure do wish you would find some other form of recreation." Good films in those days; still among my favorites.

Is the price paid for fame worth paying? Sam Lawson (Anthony Franciosa) thought so, despite what it cost, including his marriage to Barbara (Joan Blackman) a woman who - to quote an old cliche - just didn't understand him.

There were good performances in this film: Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Carolyn Jones, and a familiar face from TV (Jerry Paris, better known as Jerry Helper on "The Dick Van Dyke Show"), and it doesn't go the usual Hollywood route of having success come too fast, too easy and with too much fun on the way. Instead, the movie goes for realism, as well as a bit of Murphy's Law.

I'd have given it another star, but being more romantic than realist, it was too much of a Debbie Downer for me.

Career is one no-holds barred look at the theatrical profession and what it takes to get to the top. Anthony Franciosa had that determination, but it cost him big time in his personal life.

No pun intended, but this may have been Tony Franciosa's career role. He's Sam Lawson, World War II veteran with thespian ambitions. Franciosa literally starts at the bottom with a character named Maury Novak played by Dean Martin.

Career has it all, the performances in fly by night stock companies for indifferent audiences, the fighting for bit roles and the bigger fight to get even noticed for your big break.

It costs Franciosa two marriages and near blacklisting through his association with Martin. Career in fact is one of the first films to even mention the blacklist, albeit they do it in a very gingerly way. Had it been made 10 years later, I doubt that the script would have had a line in it for Carolyn Jones to say that the House Un American Activities Committee had some honorable intentions.

Speaking of Jones, she's great in a role as an agent who has a deep affection for her client Franciosa. You kind of hope that they will get together at some point in the future. Shirley MacLaine has a great part as the good time daughter of a big theatrical producer played by Robert Middleton. At some point MacLaine gets married to both Franciosa and Martin during the film.

Dino did a hit record of the title song for the film although it is only heard instrumentally during the film. His performance as Maury Novak, a sleazy friend indeed to Franciosa, further established him as a dramatic actor and more proof he didn't need Jerry Lewis to succeed.

Career is a dated film, it's very rooted in the Fifties when the story takes place. Yet it is a good dramatic story and a bit of a social commentary on the times.

This is the journey of Sam Lawson-from aspiring young actor to aspiring old actor. Along the way he befriends the fair weather couple(McLain and Martin) and unwittingly joins the communist party. A Hollywood milestone, this movie actually flirted with the idea that the Hollywood blacklist might be irrelevant. Franciosa in the best performance of his life, and a great supporting cast make this a must see.

Tony Franciosa lives and breaths for acting on the stage. He is working currently as a waiter to make ends meet when he's in between plays. When he sees an ex sit at one of his tables, he takes us back via flashback to where it all began, with he and his wife trying to make a go of it. He meets Dean Martin who's a stage director of off-Broadway plays. They form a working kind of friendship, one that's convenient and beneficial to each other, but Tony finds over time that Dean is an opportunist who only thinks of himself. Shirley MacLaine is Dino's girl, who's madly in love with him and that's too bad. Tony's wife leaves him when he can't get steady work, so she can find a dependable father for the new baby she's going to have, and Tony and Shirley wind up together. Then there's Carolyn Jones, who used to be a stage actress, but couldn't find work so she became an agent. She develops a silent crush on Tony. "Career" is a very character-driven film and the acting by its stars are nothing less than perfect. They grab your attention and tug at your heart with their eccentricities and dreams, especially Tony and Carolyn's characters. This may just be Carolyn Jones' best performance put on celluloid, save for "King Creole" with Elvis. This film, while reflecting the highs and lows of the acting profession, delivers solid entertainment and gives a very satisfying ending. It's interesting to see how when one person's star is on the rise, another's is down and that by the end of the film everyone's lives or outlooks are completely different than the beginning. Comeuppance is found for those who may need it in very realistic ways and happiness is found for those who deserve it and worked hard for it. "Career" is about listening to oneself and discovering the obvious. Similar in tone to the film in homage to Hollywood acting and backstabbing, "The Bad and the Beautiful," this underrated film has been swept under the rug. Wipe off the dust and discover your "career" today.

Dated, though still packing a dramatic punch, "Career" best serves as a showcase for some terrific acting. Anthony Franciosa's gives the best performance of his career; he appears to really be pouring himself into this role. Carolyn Jones is exceptional as his lonely agent; who self-destructively hides her affections for him. Their two performances alone make this worth viewing, but it's still a worthwhile film.

Great movie about how hard it is to become an actor. The best role I've seen Anthony Franciosa. The best role I've seen Dean Martin. Shirley MacLaine is also excellent in the role of a girl desperate for attention and a little love, as only she knew how to build a character. Very good are Carolyn Jones and Joan Blackman, the first in the role of a theater agent, the second in the role of a wife who leaves her husband (Franciosa). Joseph Anthony, the director, did a good job, probably because he was an actor himself, in fact, he worked more as an actor than as a director.

I didn't know this was about "the theatre." It seems very upfront about the struggles of an dedicated actor who completely respects and loves his chosen field. And "chosen" is the word. Franciosa doesn't become an actor simply hoping for the external rewards, though how could anyone not savor the applause. The script covers at least ten years between probably 1946 through 1959. Interesting to see Martin and MacLaine in supporting roles; very interesting roles. Jones is a marvel as always. Without her the film would have been much less interesting. This is so gritty, it is almost a film noir. Even the ingenue role of Barbara is honest and gritty with a very happy ending. The film ends with the hero's success but we all know that this could be fleeting A gutsy movie.

Was like one of those wholesome b/w Rod Serling Twilight Zone episodes.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Deliberately botched (for the "it's so bad it's good" crowd) 2 I don't want to see it 3 I didn't finish and or FF'd through it 4 Bad 5 I don't get it 6 Good 7 Great but with a major flaw 8 Great 9 Noir with moral 10 Inspiring with moral.