Film buffs who relish movies about movies will appreciate "The Female Animal." However, this low-budget effort is no "Sunset Boulevard," "The Bad and the Beautiful," or even "The Carpetbaggers," although the writer and director most likely aimed for something akin to the last-named picture. Unfortunately, writer Robert Hill's screenplay, which attempts to coin some deliciously bad dialog, comes up short, and whatever aspirations to cult status were intended, the film misses the mark. The concept is appropriately pulp fiction; three predatory women mark a handsome movie extra for conquest and set out to trap and seduce him. A beautiful aging star, her alcoholic daughter, and a faded actress compete for the same prey, an athletic wannabe actor, whose best prospect is co-star to a giant orchid in a Mexican horror flic.
In her final film role, Hedy Lamarr was still lovely in her mid-40's as the aging star Vanessa Windsor, who is rescued from a swinging arc light by an extra and rewards him with a job as caretaker of her beach house. Lamarr is cooly adequate in the role, but neither credible enough to be good, nor inept enough to be camp. However, in a break from her goodie-goodie roles in MGM musicals, Jane Powell is quite good as Penny Windsor, Vanessa's neglected daughter, a sex kitten on the make; Powell is quite a dish and should have displayed her gifts for these roles more often. The third female animal is Jan Sterling as Lily Frayne, an over-the-hill actress who has taken to consorting with gigolos. The tall good-looking extra, Chris Farley, is played by George Nader, whose appeal to the three women, beyond lots of hair and rippling muscles, remains a mystery. Nader's performance is just short of wooden, and no heat or chemistry is discernable between him and any of the three man-hunters. However, viewers familiar with Nader's closeted personal life will understand the actor's evident lack of interest in his female co-stars.
Among the film's major assets is Russell Metty's velvety black-and-white cinematography, which flatters Lamarr and makes Powell glow, while creating shadowy film sets, desolate beaches, and cozy interiors worthy of film noir. Director Harry Keller, a veteran of westerns and television episodes, lacked the sensitivity to raise this Hollywood potboiler to the trashy excess necessary for a cult camp classic. Some of the lines come close, such as Sterling's comment that her men are "scallopini with sideburns," but most of the dialog is flat and unmemorable. Casting Lamarr could have paid off if she had over-played the part instead of her nearly expressionless take, which rivals Nader's low-key performance for blandness. Not good enough to join the classics and not trashy enough for camp, "The Female Animal" just plays out as a passable curiosity in between.
In her final film role, Hedy Lamarr was still lovely in her mid-40's as the aging star Vanessa Windsor, who is rescued from a swinging arc light by an extra and rewards him with a job as caretaker of her beach house. Lamarr is cooly adequate in the role, but neither credible enough to be good, nor inept enough to be camp. However, in a break from her goodie-goodie roles in MGM musicals, Jane Powell is quite good as Penny Windsor, Vanessa's neglected daughter, a sex kitten on the make; Powell is quite a dish and should have displayed her gifts for these roles more often. The third female animal is Jan Sterling as Lily Frayne, an over-the-hill actress who has taken to consorting with gigolos. The tall good-looking extra, Chris Farley, is played by George Nader, whose appeal to the three women, beyond lots of hair and rippling muscles, remains a mystery. Nader's performance is just short of wooden, and no heat or chemistry is discernable between him and any of the three man-hunters. However, viewers familiar with Nader's closeted personal life will understand the actor's evident lack of interest in his female co-stars.
Among the film's major assets is Russell Metty's velvety black-and-white cinematography, which flatters Lamarr and makes Powell glow, while creating shadowy film sets, desolate beaches, and cozy interiors worthy of film noir. Director Harry Keller, a veteran of westerns and television episodes, lacked the sensitivity to raise this Hollywood potboiler to the trashy excess necessary for a cult camp classic. Some of the lines come close, such as Sterling's comment that her men are "scallopini with sideburns," but most of the dialog is flat and unmemorable. Casting Lamarr could have paid off if she had over-played the part instead of her nearly expressionless take, which rivals Nader's low-key performance for blandness. Not good enough to join the classics and not trashy enough for camp, "The Female Animal" just plays out as a passable curiosity in between.