Constance B. vs. Lana Turner - catfight on the set!
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pauline-k — 18 years ago(October 05, 2007 11:34 AM)
If Lana Turner looks bloated and wrinkled owing to boozing off the set, then give me a drink!
Her figure remained trim all her life and I can see no evidence of excess fat in this film, or later ones.
I certainly agree she was brave to let herself be made up to look haggard in the second half of the film - a trend set earlier in the sixties by Davis and Crawford.
Well done Miss Turner I say. -
pauline-k — 18 years ago(October 10, 2007 12:42 PM)
If Lana Turner supposedly looked bloated owing to off-set boozing, then give me a drink! I cannot for the life of me see an ounce of excess flesh on the lady. I wish I'd looked like that at 45!
This film is a revelation. Brave indeed of Miss Turner to forgo her "Sweater Girl" image and be willing to look a tramp. Fine acting though, and still a beauty. -
phillindholm — 18 years ago(November 13, 2007 09:13 PM)
Bennett and Turner were both great in the film-but Bennett DID look beautiful ,and that in no way diminished the believability of her performance. As for the ''catfights'', the script called for the two ladies to hate each other anyway, so
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kenca-1 — 13 years ago(September 23, 2012 08:27 PM)
Madame X was a favorite movie of mine when i was a kid. It made me cry then, and now at 56 made me cry again while watching it today.
I had the surreal pleasure of meeting Ms. Turner at a party at Liberace's house when I first came to Hollywood. I was standing in the entry way when she entered the front door, accompanied by a body guard. I extended my hand and said hello, and blubbered something about being a big fan, but she was unfortunately too drunk to notice. Her body guard said "I'm sure Miss Turner is pleased to meet you."
Wow. Sad. But she was still a presence. -
fiftyfootqueenie — 17 years ago(April 22, 2008 04:38 PM)
I think you've a point there (not so elegantly put, mind!). David Thomson (best film writer in the world) once said that Turner's movies after the 40s 'only served to show how quickly her looks went puffy'. I think she lacked the hardy beauty of a Gardner or a Hayworth. She had those slutty-blonde-hottie looks that peak early (usually at about age 25) and then it's meringue-stiff hair and heavily-shadowed soft-focus from there on. I don't agree that this film gave her a chance to 'prove' she could act either - she couldn't. Here, she just racks up the melodramatics to screeching pitch, as she always did. It was her stock in trade to do so. She was a Movie Star, not an actress.
As for Constance Bennett - what a hoot! She once said something about being a gannet but having a vertebrae you could hang a hat on - she wasn't lying. Check it out through her bare-back gown. It looks reptilian! -
fiftyfootqueenie — 17 years ago(November 10, 2008 02:30 PM)
Hmm. I wouldn't call smoking yourself into an early grave and not eating 'Taking care' of one's self'. Those society broads were quick-fix gals. They (well, Bennett and her character) would have come of age in an era that worshipped cigarettes, red meat, and sunbathing. Come 40, it was facelifts, diets, and steam baths all the way.
Think I'd prefer Turner's what-the-hell hedonism, myself. -
PrometheusTree64 — 9 years ago(July 12, 2016 03:15 PM)
Bennett was indeed too young-looking to be Forsythe's mother though, at 14 years older, it could work.
And I'd argue it
does
work: Bennett's character, a high society, brittle dowager matriarch would likely have face lifts monthly, whether she needed them or not! Her son and daughter and law looking older than Mother does fits that kind of cultural environment. and it's funny!
That said, I though Lana looked great for 44 back in the '60s when people looked older faster than they do today.
And who knows if the rivalry, or the reason for it, is accurate?
(perhaps literally, as Contance Bennett she was dead of a stroke before the film was released).
Heh. I'm sure Cheryl was sent out to take care of things.
LBJ's mistress on JFK: