Paddy Chayefsky evokes a cynical Tennessee Williams in his screenplay for The Goddess, a Hollywood cautionary tale directed by veteran John Cromwell. Episodic in progression — the film is broken into three pulpy chapters — The Goddess serves as a spotlight for a daring Kim Stanley performance, playing within the middle-brow arena of melodrama even as it stages dark comedy and acute commentary.
In The Goddess, Stanley is Emily Ann Faulkner, a broken woman from rural hickdom who has been abandoned by her irresponsible mother. (The child is portrayed by Patty Duke; Betty Lou Holland is persuasive as the selfish biological mother.) She is raised by relatives, primarily a Seventh Day Adventist aunt. Stardom, however, is Emily’s higher calling.
She mimics the flirty sensuality of a young Lana Turner, even taking a job at a soda fountain-cum-pharmacy. She then takes the ‘sweater girl’ image further than anything seen on-screen, gaining a reputation in town as ‘promiscuous.’ (Chayefsky slyly suggests that young women imitate starlets with an inherent knowledge of sex beyond anything overtly showcased on film or in fan magazines.)
In The Goddess, Stanley is Emily Ann Faulkner, a broken woman from rural hickdom who has been abandoned by her irresponsible mother. (The child is portrayed by Patty Duke; Betty Lou Holland is persuasive as the selfish biological mother.) She is raised by relatives, primarily a Seventh Day Adventist aunt. Stardom, however, is Emily’s higher calling.
She mimics the flirty sensuality of a young Lana Turner, even taking a job at a soda fountain-cum-pharmacy. She then takes the ‘sweater girl’ image further than anything seen on-screen, gaining a reputation in town as ‘promiscuous.’ (Chayefsky slyly suggests that young women imitate starlets with an inherent knowledge of sex beyond anything overtly showcased on film or in fan magazines.)
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