Main Cast: Kim Stanley, Lloyd Bridges, Steven Hill, Betty Lou Holland, Burt Brinckerhoff
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
Plot
Screenplay writer Paddy Chayefsky, and indeed everyone involved with the film, insisted that The Goddess wasn't really all about Marilyn Monroe. Nawww. Kim Stanley plays a neglected young woman living in poverty who aspires to be a movie star. She gets a few roles here and there on looks alone. She marries a washed-up athlete (Lloyd Bridges) who becomes fiercely jealous of her sex appeal. She sleeps her way to the top, then finds that her success is hollow. Regarded in many circles as the pinnacle of dramatic art in 1958, The Goddess is more likely to invoke howls of laughter from today's in-the-know audiences. The most famous bit: Patty Duke, playing Kim Stanley as a child, telling her pet cat that she got promoted in school. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although The Goddess as a whole has not aged well, it's still worth watching for its galvanizing lead performance by Kim Stanley. One of the theater's most accomplished actresses, Stanley made woefully few movies. Watching Goddess, it's easy to see why; though attractive, she lacked the traditional beauty that movies of the period demanded (a fact which, unfortunately, works against her in The Goddess, as her character is supposed to possess looks that suggest a special "availability" to men). More crucially where Hollywood was concerned, her talent was too confrontational; it didn't charm or invite friendship. That she overcomes both of these "negatives" in The Goddess is testament to her huge ability. One realizes that she is not as pretty as she is supposed to be, is not as vulnerable as she is supposed to be -- but one simply doesn't care. Goddess is fortunate to have Stanley, for Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay verges on -- and on some occasions crosses over into -- camp. Overwritten and overwrought, the script's big scenes nowadays are likely to provoke unintentional laughter rather than a dramatic emotional response. Stanley compensates for the flaws in the script -- but it's still hard going at times. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Gerald Hiken - Uncle; Joan Copeland - Aunt; Bert Freed - Lester Brackman; Elizabeth Wilson - Nurse; Joyce Van Patten - Hillary; Joanne Linville - Joanna; Patty Duke - Emily Ann Faulkner/Rita Shawn; Louise Beavers - Cook; Margaret Brayton; Curt Conway - Writer; Werner Klemperer - Mr. Woolsy; Mike O'Dowd; Gerald Petrarca - Minister; Sid Raymond; Linda Soma - Bridesmaid; Fred Herrick
Credit
Edward S. Haworth - Art Director, Frank Thompson - Costume Designer, John Cromwell - Director, Carl Lerner - Editor, Virgil Thompson - Composer (Music Score), Robert Jiras - Makeup, Leo Kerz - Production Designer, Arthur Ornitz - Cinematographer, Milton Perlman - Producer, Richard Meyerhoff - Set Designer, Tom Oliphant - Set Designer, Paddy Chayefsky - Screenwriter
In her movie debut, Kim Stanley gives a heart-rending performance in one of the very few films to show what effect Hollywood or show business, in general, can have on a single person. She captures the character's restless misery, fragile turmoil and neurosis, brought about by the rejection and unhappiness of childhood.
Plot
The Goddess is an in-depth character study about the life of a troubled, lonely girl, Emily Ann Faulkner, who becomes a successful movie star, Rita Shawn, and is adored by millions of fans, but is miserable in her private life. The story is said to be loosely based on Marilyn Monroe.
Emily Ann (played by Patty Duke at age eight) was born in poverty in The South, has no father, no friends, and is unloved by her indifferent mother (played by Betty Lou Holland), who does not want to be tied down with a child. When Emily Ann becomes a teenager (played by Kim Stanley) she is still a loner, but has a sensual sexuality and boys are attracted to her. She marries young, but leaves her first husband, a world wearied GI, John Tower (played by Steven Hill), when she meets a well-meaning boxing promoter, Dutch Seymour (played by Lloyd Bridges), whose jealously and possessiveness ultimately drives them apart.
She becomes an actress and is soon transformed by Hollywood into the glamorous superstarsex goddess Rita Shawn. Though she has attained fame and wealth, she is still a loner in the depths of despair. When her elderly mother, who has turned from immorality to religion, bordering on fanaticism, comes to visit, Rita is thrilled and clings to her. She tries to impress her and has a couple in to visit. As they are leaving her mansion, her mother thanks them for being such good friends to her daughter. She is told that they do not really know her daughter, they had just met.
Rita wants her mother to stay on, but Mrs. Faulkner insists on going home. When she is leaving the house, Rita becomes angry and screams from the doorway for her to go ahead; she hates her and wishes she were dead. When her mother dies, Rita is heavily sedated and miserable at the funeral. She now has the constant attention of a stern secretary/nurse (played by Elizabeth Wilson), who takes control of the self-destructive Rita Shawn.
