La fille qui avait tout

And it isn't.

William Powell is a tough criminal lawyer. He may not have a lot of scruples but he has money. And he wants the best for his daughter, played by the ravishing young Elizabeth Taylor. Truly, she has hardly ever looked more beautiful than she does here.

She is, as the title suggests, spoiled. And she decides she wants Daddy's recent client, gangster Fernando Lamas. She already has Gig Young but Lamas is more dashing, if a real cad.

Everyone is good. It has a solid plot. The direction moves things along briskly. The score by Andre' Previn is exceptional.

If you don't have access to "A Place In the Sun," probably Taylor's most famous movie from this period,, catch this one. You will be knocked out by her beauty. And her acting is good, too.

... and this film is a good example of that.

Attorney Steve Latimer (William Powell) defends an old client of his, Victor Ramondi (Fernando Lamas) when he is hauled before a senate committee concerning his illegal gambling operations. Steve's daughter, Jean (Elizabeth Taylor) goes with her father when he travels to Washington, and there she meets and begins dating Ramondi. Ramondi follows the Latimers back to Kentucky, rents a place, and begins courting Jean. It doesn't take long until she is in love with him and the two plan to marry. But against his lifelong principles of being "a free soul" Latimer for once decides - Not with my daughter you don't! Complications ensue.

This is a very sanitized and watered down version of the precode "A Free Soul" from 1931, which was a big hit for MGM at the time. In the original the attorney/father Stephen Ashe is a hopeless alcoholic, the gangster is somebody Ashe defended for a murder of which he was very much guilty, and when the gangster threatens the daughter if she tries to leave him, her discarded fiance kills him but lies about his motive to protect her honor. I won't tell you what does ultimately happen in this film, but I will tell you that these three aspects are missing to the point that I wondered why MGM even bothered.

The 1931 film was made during the precode era during which there was much freedom to portray human nature with all its warts. The production code ended that in 1934. Thus it was not unusual for studios to remake their precode films in such a way that they could be exhibited in the production code era. What was unusual was for them to wait until the 1950s, as MGM did with this film, to produce a remake. As a result this film just seems like there is something missing mainly because there really is. All you have left is some cautionary tale about a girl who always had her way growing up in the shadow of a father who shunned convention who, as a result, goes after the wrong kind of man. Although Vic Ramondi does tell Jean he intends to change, is going to retire from the rackets, and is initially only showing his softer side, so even the accusation that she is attracted to a bad boy does not hold water.

The acting is good in this film, and as usual, William Powell makes it look effortless. He was the reason I decided to watch it, although the other performers do the best that they can with such thin material.

Steve Latimer (William Powell) is a hotshot defense attorney. However, problems develop when his daughter, Jean (Elizabeth Taylor), becomes fascinated with a scum-bag gangster that her father is defending. Steve advises her to keep away--he knows that Victor (Fernando Lamas) is bad news. But Jean is either really stupid or has some really bad personality defects and soon is chasing after this charming creep. Regardless why, she seems willing to give up on her nice-guy boyfriend, Vance (Gig Young), and live life on the wild side. Her permissive father is alarmed...but also not about to demand she call off this relationship. What's next?

While the idea of a seemingly nice girl hanging with a scummy gangster might seem ridiculous, there are folks like this. I used to work with prisoners as well as do counseling and saw many seemingly normal ladies being swept off their feet by evil men. I don't get it, but it isn't really that unrealistic and I can't fault the movie for this plot line. It's very possible that Jean has a Borderline Personality--and folks like this crave excitement even if it is very harmful and stupid!

So is it any good? Well, the acting is lovely---and I love William Powell's seemingly effortless performance. He's the best thing about the film. Sadly, this film is William Powell's last film with MGM and he'd only go on to make two more films before retiring. Apparently he had some cognitive slippage and was having more and more trouble remembering his lines. It's a shame, as he was a heck of an actor and always made it look so effortless. But at least he knew when to call it a day.

Overall, I'd recommend this one. It's slickly made, well written and offers little to complain about...and I usually LIKE to complain! It was tough and enjoyable throughout...especially the ending. An excellent film.

The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent remake of A FREE SOUL has William Powell playing a lawyer who gets his scumbag client (Fernando Lamas) off some serious charges only to live to regret it when his spoiled daughter (Elizabeth Taylor) starts to date him. The lawyer tries to talk some sense into his daughter but as the title says, he's always given her everything she's wanted so she's not willing to take his advice. This MGM production had big shoes to fill as the original 1931 version featured Lionel Barrymore playing the role of the father, which ended up getting him the Oscar and it also featured Norma Shearer as his daughter and Clark Gable in the role of the gangster. Both versions have good and bad things so it's really hard to compare the two as this one here at least changes up quite a bit of things including the ending and also missing are various courtroom scenes. It's funny to see such a powerful cast and then watch the movie and realize that this is basically a "B" picture that doesn't have any of the lavish production that you'd expect from the studio and the cast. This actually somewhat helps the film because we never get too much melodrama, although it's constantly on display. Thankfully the film runs a short 69-minutes and it doesn't overstay its welcome at that time but had this thing gone on another twenty minutes or so then it would have been a lot less entertaining. The best thing going for the movie are the three lead performances. Powell didn't get to show off his dramatic skills too often but he's very believable here and manages to turn in a fine performance. Taylor is as beautiful as always and also manages to turn in a good performance. Lamas was the real scene-stealer as he's perfect in the role of the gangster who lets his guard down. Gig Young and James Whitmore are both good in their supporting roles. As I said, there's certainly plenty of melodrama here and while there aren't as many hard-hitting scenes, this remake does offer up a few good things including a rather brutal finale that you'll see coming a mile away but it still hits home. While the movie is predictable there's no question that it's worth seeing thanks in large part to the terrific cast.

This is tripe dressed up in fancy clothes. A loose remake of "A Free Soul" this silly melodrama is a painless time waster and not much else. What was once a racy provocative drama has become an empty potboiler.

True it does have Elizabeth Taylor at the peak of her beauty and that's always worth seeing. Additionally she is a much more relaxed and natural actress than Norma Shearer ever was. But she is handed a part that has been diluted from the original which is true of the entire picture.

William Powell, a welcome presence as always, isn't given the flashy part that Lionel Barrymore won an Oscar for in the original just a disapproving father without any real bite. No wonder he left MGM after this if this is the best they had to offer.

The real problem is the casting of Fernando Lamas in the old Clark Gable role, with Gable and his animal magnetism you could understand Norma's desire and willingness to stray with him. With Lamas, attractive though he may be, there is none of that and he comes across as a cheap hood made good and an oily one at that and Liz's headstrong determination to be with him makes her seem a foolish, spoiled nitwit.

For fans of the stars, and of course this being an MGM film they are beautiful dressed and the surrounding sumptuous, it's worth one watch but that will be more than enough.