La déesse

Kim Stanley was the great interpreter of William Inge at the time he was the most successful playwright in America. On Broadway she played Millie, the younger sister, in his "Picnic" and Cheri in "Bus Stop" -- ironically, the role played in the movie by Monroe, the model for "The Goddess." Cast in "The Goddess", Stanley is clearly too old for the part, and not cinematically 'beautiful' enough. What she does bring to the role is an astonishing talent based on flawless technique and an emotional sensitivity that both made her career and destroyed it. I ran across the movie by accident when I was about 12 years old, and Stanley's performance has continued to haunt me for 36 years. The making of "The Goddess" was so emotionally agonizing that Stanley essentially fled from the movie business. How brilliant she would have been in dozens of roles that won acclaim for lesser talents. Many years later she played Jessica Lange's mother in "Frances" -- a similar story of a glamourous and tragic film star. She told Lange, "As soon as this movie's over, do a comedy. Immediately. Any comedy you can get your hands on." That comedy was "Tootsie" which won Lange her first Osacr.

"There ain't no God! Do you hear me? There ain't no God!"

Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky traces the arc of celebrity from troubled childhood, never feeling loved, being used by men, and the feeling of loneliness despite fame. He channels Tennessee Williams early on especially, with a poor teenage mother in the South dumping off her child with her brother so she's not tied down. The child grows up and searching for a connection, becomes sexually promiscuous, and marries a man who gives her an inroad into Hollywood. He's got problems of his own, and he sardonically summarizes their relationship by saying "You have a passion for respectability, I have a horror of loneliness - that's love." She leaves him and her child, ironically parroting the sentiments of her mother.

The woman (Kim Stanley) achieves fame after a second marriage to an athlete (Lloyd Bridges), posing nude and makes herself physically available to powerful men in Hollywood. All of that is just alluded to which is understandable, but it was frustrating that the rest of the woman's professional life was also described at a distance, and never shown. The result was a film that wallowed in overwrought speeches and was emotionally one-sided as it played out. Kim Stanley is the main reason to see it despite a script that languishes, and she has some fine "method" moments, especially in the charged scenes with her mother (Betty Lou Holland). Unfortunately, she's far less successful playing a teenager, not acting or looking the part in the slightest. Overall though, this is just not a strong enough vehicle for her, as interesting as she was. Terrible ending too.

In "Broadway: The Golden Age", Rick Mckay's wonderful documentary, Kim Stanley receives tremendous praise from all the great actors of that time as being especially influential. With the publication of her biography there seems to be a renewed interest in her life and career.

Unfortunately very little is left in the way of documentation of her talents. She came to movies after a career on Broadway and a number of live television plays. But her film career was not to be, owing to the many personal problems she suffered from, which seemingly burnt her out.

"The Goddess" was her first film and it remains the most complete testament to her talents. As such, it really is a must for anyone who appreciates the art of acting. The title role allows for a huge range, from hopeful teenager to jaded Hollywood star. Although clearly too old to play a teenager and definitely no screen beauty worthy of the title "goddess", Stanley pulls it off with the sheer force of her acting. Her portrayal of the breakdown of the actress is devastating. It's particularly disturbing in the light of the similarity of what would become her very own fate.

Paddy Chayevsky paints a bleak picture of the Hollywood Star system as he would later do with network television in "Network". Although well written, it's not an especially astute script lacking in both scope and depth. There is good support form Betty Lou Holland and Lloyd Bridges, but the only reason to seek this one out remains Kim Stanley.

After watching Kim Stanley give an absolutely great performance in "Seance On A Wet Afternoon", I wondered if that was a one time great performance! I recently watched "The Goddess", and I got my answer: another great performance by Kim Stanley, and so I now conclude that Kim Stanley was a great actress, and, by the way, in looks and acting style, she reminded me of another great actress: Geraldine Page! In this movie, she portrayed a Marilyn Monroe type woman who sought stardom in Hollywood, but paid a heavy price for it! The supporting cast was good! I rather liked Steven Hill's excellent performance as her first husband; likewise, Lloyd Bridges excellent performance as her second husband! Also worth mentioning was Betty Lou Holland's excellent performance as her mother! An interesting movie worth watching for Kim Stanley's great performance!

We have come, over the years, to venerate the famous, no matter how good the work they turn out. Paddy Chayevsky wrote some great works, MARTY, of course, for one. THE GODDESS is not one of the them. In order to make a "well made play", Chayevsky leaves out a great deal of much needed character development. Things happen quickly; too quickly in fact, to either have a semblance of truth or make us feel anything for any of the characters. Instead of agonizing over the rise and fall of THE GODDESS, we spend the whole time trying to piece things together to see if the main character IS based on Marilyn Monroe after all. Look...instead of a baseball player, she marries a boxer! "Is that supposed to be Joe Mankiewicz talking about her in that scene? Is that Daryll Zanuck inviting her back to his home? Is the film she's talking about supposed to be GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES? ALL ABOUT EVE? What should be a heart wrenching drama, turns out to be instead, a far from subtle, far too short and badly over written Hollywood guessing game.

The wonderful Virgil Thompson did the musical score, but here it is totally out of sync with the rest of the film. His jaunty melodies put us in mind of the WPA films he did with Pare Lorentz instead of the background to a human drama. (To see how good a score can be in illustrating the images on the screen, go to Leonard Bernstein's amazing work for ON THE WATERFRONT.)

But the acting IS good. Thank goodness we see what a fine actress Kim Stanley was. Some of her moments, especially the quiet ones, are breathtaking. Sometimes, alas, she is allowed to go over the top. At her best in this film she gives one of the screen's greatest performances; at her worst, and there are moments, she is a caricature of every Tennessee William's female character with a little Eunice from MAMA'S FAMILY thrown in for good measure. Happily, the good moments far out number the bad, and one should see THE GODDESS to see why Stanley is so justly venerated. (Lloyd Bridges and Elizabeth Wilson are also good.)

THE GODDESS should have been a masterpiece. Instead what we get is nothing more than a fairly good film. No matter how good its pedigree, THE GODDESS turns out to be no more than a mixed blessing.