Entre bastidores

Dated, though still packing a dramatic punch, "Career" best serves as a showcase for some terrific acting. Anthony Franciosa's gives the best performance of his career; he appears to really be pouring himself into this role. Carolyn Jones is exceptional as his lonely agent; who self-destructively hides her affections for him. Their two performances alone make this worth viewing, but it's still a worthwhile film.

This is the journey of Sam Lawson-from aspiring young actor to aspiring old actor. Along the way he befriends the fair weather couple(McLain and Martin) and unwittingly joins the communist party. A Hollywood milestone, this movie actually flirted with the idea that the Hollywood blacklist might be irrelevant. Franciosa in the best performance of his life, and a great supporting cast make this a must see.

I saw this film when I was in High School, 1959, the year it came out, and remember being really impressed with the quality of the acting, and although it was something of a melodrama, it was well cast and the actors brought real meaning to their roles. A young man struggling to become an actor, and Dean Martin as a kind of slick character who befriends him. I've always been a fan of Carolyn Jones, and of course Shirley McClain in those days was excellent too. I haven't seen it in over fifty years, but I grew up with films, great films, during what I consider to be the high water mark of film making in the 40's and 50's, and I remember this film fondly. Recommended.

I'll be honest, when I first rented this movie, I thought it was going to be a comedy. After all, Dean Martin got first billing. Despite the billing, and despite my first impression, Dean is the second lead in the heavy, well-acted drama Career.

Anthony Franciosa wants to be an actor. He wants it more than life itself, as he shows the audience in Career. For the most part, this is an incredibly realistic portrayal of an actor's life. He leaves his fiancé and moves to New York; after a year, he's still auditioning and living in a glorified closet with no radiator. We see him beg for the chance to audition, spew hurtful words to his agent when he feels bad, and badmouth a producer when he loses a part. It's realistic.

There's a great scene with Dean and Tony in a restaurant. They're trying to keep their voices down to not attract the attention of other people, and the tension simmers! Tony is making his case for why he deserves a part in a show. "I've got talent!" he insists. Dean shakes his head. "That's what you start with," he says. Tony explains he's not good at the self-selling aspect of being an actor. "Then learn or get out!" Dean says. It's sad, but true. Talent isn't enough in show business.

Tony won a Golden Globe for his dramatic performance that year, beating out Richard Burton, Fredric March, and Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur! He does give a really good performance; even if you love Ben-Hur, you can appreciate it. Carolyn Jones, not a very well known actress, does a particularly good job as Tony's tired and tireless agent who knows the life of an actor very well. The acting and most of the story is really good, but I didn't really care for the ending. If you like realistic show business movies, add Career to your weekend watch list!

This film is not perfect, but it is certainly very entertaining. The film is terribly underrated, and has images that invoke films like "Marty", "A Star is Born", " A Face in the Crowd", and even "Barefoot in the Park". One could even draw a slight parallel to "Midnight Cowboy". (Martin the NYC hustler and Franciosa the small town hayseed). . Shirley MacLaine, however, steals the film with her spectacular, energetic and exotic style of acting. It was not her debut, but it was early in her career. She would go on to make "The Apartment" shortly thereafter.

The plot was nothing new; hayseed comes to NYC to become a star. That has been done 100 times, but this film captures many of the different angles of the life choices one has to make to get to the top (or at least be a major player in the game). You can't have it both ways in entertainment; you can have a happy family life, or you can have a.....career. An engrossing film from start to finish.