Anna Lucasta

This movie is frequently on a basic cable channel this month but I had seen the movie years ago.It still holds up.I think Eartha Kitt captured the personality of "Anna" completely and Sammy Davis Jr. did a good job in the role of "Danny." I felt like I was watching a stage play and I was never bored.Since it was practically unheard of for an all Black cast to do a film where the characters weren't all servants,slaves or criminals ,I enjoyed the actors being like actors in most movies.Some better than others etc."Rudolph" was the weakest role,"Stella ","Kathy".and "Stanley" barely had anything to do but "Frank" was spooky since he kept smiling all the time even when he was hitting and abusing "Mr. Lucasta."The previous poster was incorrect when he said "Rudolph" was the son of evil,shifty "Frank."He was the son of "Mr.Lucasta's" very religious friend from down south who wanted the "Lucastas" to find a wife for his farmer son."Frank" was "Stella's" husband and the son-in-law in the family.I would love to have this movie on VHS or DVD.Eartha Kitt was on TV today and she is still very pretty and youthful looking.Funny since the movie was black & white you can't tell that Miss Kitt is very light-skinned as was the mother,"Kathy",and "Stanley" and another prostitute.The actress playing "Stella" years later would play "Mother Winslow" on "Family Matters." I have never seen the version with Paulette Goddard playing Anna but I would like to just to compare the two movies.

When Sammy Davis Jr and Eattha Kitt act together it's dynamite and a feast for the professional cinéaste. But they are not alone. Equally prominent is Rex Ingram as the father in a completely wayward character that can't control himself, disoriented in life, lost in booze, all mixed up because of his beloved daughter, that he felt he had to banish from his life forever, without succeeding - he is the one who begs her to come back. This is a great play enacted with grim intensity and empathy concerning all the characters, including the mother, the suitor, the family and even the lower people at the joint. An important part is played by Elmer Bernstein's music, ingeniously illustrating the rapidly changing moods and trains of thoughts, also including a fabulous show scene with Sammy going solo - this is actually the apex of the film and story, a spectacular visualization of Anna's downfall and helplessness in the hands of the totally irresponsible Danny, who loves her none the less, but like everybody else, not even he can control his love or his feelings but drifts to the storms of his caprices. In fact, Anna, the fallen woman, adored and despised by them all, is the only one with a character, while the others are hopelessly and helplessly without. But what fabulous acting by these three main characters! This is truly a film to enjoy for a theater and drama gourmet. 9,5 would be my vote.

At the core of Anna Lucasta is a creaky plot that isn't seen often today -- the decent man who falls in love with the irresistible prostitute (see also The World of Susie Wong, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Owl and the Pussycat, etc.). However, instead of focusing on the man's dilemma, Anna Lucasta focuses on the prostitute's family and friends. The screenplay is by a distinguished playwright and screenwriter, Philip Yordan, who based it on his own Broadway play, so it does have its moments -- an occasional good line, striking monologue, or clever exchange of dialogue. But it remains stagy, and the director's infrequent attempts to "open up" the play with cinematic devices don't work well.

However, the movie is valuable because it preserves performances by prominent black stage actors who for the most part rarely appeared on screen, certainly not in major, non-stereotypical roles. Nearly every actor and actress in the film is given a moment to shine, and they all acquit themselves well, with the possible exception of the great actor Rex Ingram, who sometimes chews the scenery as Anna's drunken and vengeful father. The beautiful Isabel Cooley, in a small role as Anna's sister, is a revelation here.

Eartha Kitt always plays Eartha, but her Anna more than adequately shows many facets -- on the edge of hard-bitten, but still yearning to be accepted as innocent and sweet, attracted to the fast life, but hurt and wounded and feeling unloved. And Sammy Davis' performance is much better than the reviews he received when the movie was released or on IMDb. He plays Anna's other suitor, who loves her in his own fashion, but who wants her as a companion for good times and partying, not as a wife. He's shallow, but he has a core of decency and concern for Anna, and Davis portrays both sides well. (Think of Sammy as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess, whom he would portray in the same year, but with depth.)

This features a powerhouse effort from Eartha Kitt in the title role. Ostracised from her family for her rather wild ways, she quickly falls into a life of easy money and virtue - eventually falling in with the savvy sailor "Danny" (Sammy Davis Jr.). The two have an on/off relationship to which he won't commit, so she keeps looking and meets the more respectable, would-be teacher, "Henry" (a rather underwhelming Rudolph Slocum) - who just happens to have $4,000. There might just be light at the end of her tunnel? Thing is, her drunken and rather cruel father "Joe" (Rex Ingram) is still determined to wreck things for his daughter - and even now married, things are still pretty messy and there looks like there is little scope for any redemption of that relationship. The story itself is really little more than a familiar family melodrama with a strong supporting cast. What makes this stand out is the chemistry between Davis and Kitt with the latter oozing charisma, even if her character isn't the most pleasant to hit the silver screen. There's some entertaining music and dance and some lovely cartoons right at the end and though probably not the greatest of stories, it is worth watching for the two at the top of the bill.

I can see why Eartha Kitt has always been a gay icon and why her legion of gay fans - black and white - kept her working during the twilight years of her extremely long career in show business. She's campy, witty, sexy, and vulnerable...and a very funny funny girl with a very sharp tongue especially when she delivers her trademark rapid-fire one-liners in the opening barroom scene. Her grand entrance is over-the-top and her timing perfect. In a perfect world Kitt would have been right up there with Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth...BUT she was BLACK...and Hollywood has had few decent leading roles for black actresses like Kitt, Dandridge, Horne...or even Halle. The black family in this movie is captured with humor and dignity by a sterling cast of black actors hungry for work other than playing maids, butlers, African natives, and southern slaves. "Anna Lucasta" is a Black Classic.