Main Cast: Lana Turner, Cliff Robertson, Hugh O'Brian, Ruth Roman, Stefanie Powers
Release Year: 1965
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
Repeated infidelities and an unexplained death set the stage for this glossy soap opera. Kit Jordan (Lana Turner) is a wealthy woman slipping into middle age who likes attractive men and isn't averse to the notion of paying for their company. Her husband Pete (Cliff Robertson) is a one-time gigolo whom Kit met on the beach of the ocean side community in Acapulco she calls home. Neither are much on fidelity, and Pete sometimes has mistresses just as Kit has her boy-toys whom she meets in much the same way as she met him. One day, a dead body washes up to the shore wearing a bracelet with the inscription "Love Is Thin Ice." It turns out that the man was one of Kit's many former boyfriends, and the police are not sure if the death was an accident, suicide, or possibly murder -- with the Jordans as suspects. Carol Lambert (Stefanie Powers), the dead man's sister, arrives in town to get to the bottom of her brother's death, but she falls into a fling with Pete. Meanwhile, Hank (Hugh O'Brien), another beach bum, has been dallying with rich widow Margot Eliot (Ruth Roman), but with Pete getting more serious about Carol, he begins to think that Kit might be a more lucrative target for his affections. As the police step up their investigation of the death, the parties involved begin to realize that they're all going to have to settle on one partner, once and for all. Turner's costumes were designed by Edith Head, who spent a then-record $1 million on the many stylish beach outfits which are frequently changed by the cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A potboiler about the unhappy lives of rich women and their gigolos, Love Has Many Faces is a surprisingly dull film. No one really expects this kind of film to actually be good, but it should at least manage to be trashy fun. But Faces comes across as too labored for that, almost as if it expects us to take seriously the problems of these seriously self-absorbed, not particularly sympathetic characters, or as if it's actually showing us something fresh and new in its depiction of the seamier side of the lavish life.Marguerite Roberts' turgid script refuses to come to life, and director Alexander Singer can't find any way to help other than by letting cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg capture some beautiful Mexican locations and linger on the still-stunning Lana Turner (dressed in fabulous Edith Head creations) and the bare-chested Hugh O'Brian. Turner's work is about as good as can be expected under the circumstances, Stefanie Powers acquits herself well and Ruth Roman gets off a few good zingers. The men don't fare as well, with Cliff Robertson rather wooden and O'Brian spending more time on his physique than his character. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Virginia Grey - Irene Talbot; Ron Husmann - Chuck Austin; Enrique Lucero - Lt. Ricardo Andrade; Carlos Montalban - Don Julian; Jaime Bravo - Manuel Perez; Fanny Schiller - Maria; Rene Dupeyron - Ramos
Credit
Alfred Sweeney - Art Director, Edith Head - Costume Designer, Alexander Singer - Director, Alma Macrorie - Editor, David Raksin - Composer (Music Score), Del Acevedo - Makeup, Del Armstrong - Makeup, Ben Lane - Makeup, Joseph Ruttenberg - Cinematographer, Jerry Bresler - Producer, Marguerite Roberts - Screenwriter
