7. Stage Struck
I missed the first half hour of this movie -- for some reason I thought watching an episode of The Waltons would be more fun than a Henry Fonda movie. Boy, was I wrong! Well...maybe.
Stage Struck features Henry Fonda as Lewis Easton, a theater producer. When I came in, he was throwing a big opening night party and his playwright Joe Sheridan(Christopher Plummer, in his first film role) has brought along Eve Lovelace (Susan Strasberg), an aspiring actress. She ends up doing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, impressing everyone with her acting skills.
Easton tries to send her home, but she falls asleep in the coat room on top of some lady's fur coats. She wakes up around four a.m. (Why no one woke her up when they got their coats, I don't know, but it's a movie!) and ends up kissing Easton. Flash forward four hours, and Easton meets Joe in the park. He wants to break it off with Eve, and gets Joe to do his dirty work.
Eve disappears, but Joe finally manages to track her down at a club where she wears a black turtleneck and reads poetry next to a column. Ah, the late 1950s! They wind up getting dinner together, and Joe decides to help her with her acting career.
Meanwhile, Joe is directing the play her wrote, which Easton is producing. They've got a star -- Rita something or other -- in the female lead, and she's not quite working out. Joe keeps getting annoyed with her, but he wants the play to be successful -- and having a star will help! Nevertheless, he rehearses the play with Eve in the lead role after everyone goes home, and finally Eve doesn't want to be taken advantage of. But Joe is rehearsing her because he loves her -- he loves her before she became successful! Eve leaves, and Easton comes in, having heard the whole scene.
Rita leaves the play at the very last minute, and Eve is the replacement. She needs some convincing to buck up and take the role from Easton, but she does eventually. Eve is the toast of Broadway, and the play is huge success! Yay for everyone. In the end, Eve and Easton have a long talk about how you shouldn't love actresses and how she isn't in love with Joe, but they kiss -- a thank you kiss. Easton applauds for Eve, "from me to you, personal, private, before I get lost in the crowd." She smiles at him, and it's THE END.
Now, I have to say the reason I even taped the movie is because I caught a glimpse of Christopher Plummer and thought that he was Laurence Harvey. The two do actually look a bit alike, and are good at playing vaguely awkward young men -- Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate and Plummer in The Sound of Music.
But I did enjoy the film, mostly for Fonda. His voice is just so...so...different. I don't feel as though I would be able to recognize contemporary actors based on their voices -- but you could back then! Before the Midwestern drawl became standard -- and I'm not complaining, that's what I sound like!
Susan Strasberg was also quite good, although her character is vaguely annoying, being so obviously theatrical and naive. She reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, with her brunnette hair and thin, ballerina-esque features.
The scenery is also quite good -- lots of New York City exteriors. Movies like this make me want to move to NYC, despite all the practical reasons not to!
The real question is: would I watch it again? Probably not. I might try to catch the first half hour, but otherwise, unless you really enjoy Christopher Plummer or Henry Fonda, skip it!
Stage Struck features Henry Fonda as Lewis Easton, a theater producer. When I came in, he was throwing a big opening night party and his playwright Joe Sheridan(Christopher Plummer, in his first film role) has brought along Eve Lovelace (Susan Strasberg), an aspiring actress. She ends up doing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, impressing everyone with her acting skills.
Easton tries to send her home, but she falls asleep in the coat room on top of some lady's fur coats. She wakes up around four a.m. (Why no one woke her up when they got their coats, I don't know, but it's a movie!) and ends up kissing Easton. Flash forward four hours, and Easton meets Joe in the park. He wants to break it off with Eve, and gets Joe to do his dirty work.
Eve disappears, but Joe finally manages to track her down at a club where she wears a black turtleneck and reads poetry next to a column. Ah, the late 1950s! They wind up getting dinner together, and Joe decides to help her with her acting career.
Meanwhile, Joe is directing the play her wrote, which Easton is producing. They've got a star -- Rita something or other -- in the female lead, and she's not quite working out. Joe keeps getting annoyed with her, but he wants the play to be successful -- and having a star will help! Nevertheless, he rehearses the play with Eve in the lead role after everyone goes home, and finally Eve doesn't want to be taken advantage of. But Joe is rehearsing her because he loves her -- he loves her before she became successful! Eve leaves, and Easton comes in, having heard the whole scene.
Rita leaves the play at the very last minute, and Eve is the replacement. She needs some convincing to buck up and take the role from Easton, but she does eventually. Eve is the toast of Broadway, and the play is huge success! Yay for everyone. In the end, Eve and Easton have a long talk about how you shouldn't love actresses and how she isn't in love with Joe, but they kiss -- a thank you kiss. Easton applauds for Eve, "from me to you, personal, private, before I get lost in the crowd." She smiles at him, and it's THE END.
Now, I have to say the reason I even taped the movie is because I caught a glimpse of Christopher Plummer and thought that he was Laurence Harvey. The two do actually look a bit alike, and are good at playing vaguely awkward young men -- Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate and Plummer in The Sound of Music.
But I did enjoy the film, mostly for Fonda. His voice is just so...so...different. I don't feel as though I would be able to recognize contemporary actors based on their voices -- but you could back then! Before the Midwestern drawl became standard -- and I'm not complaining, that's what I sound like!
Susan Strasberg was also quite good, although her character is vaguely annoying, being so obviously theatrical and naive. She reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, with her brunnette hair and thin, ballerina-esque features.
The scenery is also quite good -- lots of New York City exteriors. Movies like this make me want to move to NYC, despite all the practical reasons not to!
The real question is: would I watch it again? Probably not. I might try to catch the first half hour, but otherwise, unless you really enjoy Christopher Plummer or Henry Fonda, skip it!
posted by Rebecca at 8:52 PM
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