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What Douglas Sirk, and a better chosen cast, could have done with this material!

Hedy Lamarr plays "Vanessa Windsor," an aging movie queen who falls hard for a handsome extra named "Chris" played by George Nader. Chris feels himself genuinely drawn to Vanessa but fears becoming nothing more than a "kept" man. Vanessa's adopted daughter Penny, played by Jane Powell, enters the scene. Penny suffers the usual problems experienced as the child of a famous, rarely-present person and has drifted into alcoholism and promiscuous behavior. She also falls for Chris and he feels himself attracted to her though he tries to keep Vanessa from learning this fact. The movie soon becomes a question of (1) what will Vanessa do when she finds out the truth, and (2) which woman will Chris wind up with?

Miscasting weakens this movie which isn't quite flamboyant enough to be "camp." Hedy Lamarr fits easily into her role but Jane Powell seems about 10 years too old to be the adopted daughter. Similarly George Nader's part might have been better filled by an actor 10 years his junior. Like Robert Mitchum, Nader usually declined to shave off his chest hair but he obviously made an exception here for his various shirtless scenes. Perhaps he felt this would make him look younger in a "beachboy" sort of way.

Jan Sterling receives third billing and wanders into and out of the plot but her character isn't well integrated into the story. (She's the counterpart to Ruth Roman in "Love Has Many Faces.") Like the other performers, her "smart, sophisticated" lines generally fall flat. The plot also suffers a bit from a flashback device which kicks in shortly after the start of the movie but which is presented in such an off-hand way that some viewers may not realize that a flashback is now in progress.

As for the ending, it appears to have been decided upon by a committee anxious to please as many people as possible. As a result, it'll probably please no one and its ambiguity is more annoying than stimulating.

George Nader's quiet, dignified performance -- and he isn't given much to work with -- almost holds the movie together. It's good to see him with his shirt off but one can't help feeling a bit sorry that he's sometimes relegated to just being a slab of "beefcake." Those viewers familiar with Nader's private life will appreciate the fact that his character is given the sexually-ambiguous name of "Chris."

The 1950s brought to Hollywood a new sort of movie...the trashy soap opera film. The movies were quite salacious for their day and subtlety is NOT something you associate with the movies. Lana Turner and Susan Hayward made a bunch of these films. In this case, Hedy Lamarr tries her hand at the genre...and soon retired from acting! It's not that it's a bad film...it just isn't exactly artistic or something you might feel proud for having appeared in it.

The film finds aging actress Vanessa Windsor (Lamarr) falling for a gorgeous young hunk, Chris (George Nader). At the same time, Vanessa's daughter, Penny (Jane Powell*), is a mess....a drunk party girl who is on the road to destruction. When Penny learns that mom loves Chris, she makes her next task to seduce the handsome stud. Not surprisingly, this results in bad stuff...heart ache, hysteria and more.

Through the course of this movie, just about every lady throws herself at handsome Chris...which is ironic considering Nader soon left Hollywood after he was outed for being gay. Regardless, he really was the best thing about the movie...solid, an excellent actor and incredibly handsome. And, it was nice to see women chasing the guy this time! Overall, a trashy but thoroughly enjoyable soaper. Not for everyone's taste...but a film lovers of the genre will no doubt enjoy.

*This film was a very huge departure for Powell. Previously, she mostly played sweet roles or young girl parts. Here, however, she is thoroughly screwy...and mesmerizing.

Fading movie star Vanessa Windsor (Hedy Lamarr) is saved from a filming accident by extra Chris Farley. She takes an immediate interest in her rescuer. Penny (Jane Powell) is her grown troubled daughter.

In a fitting coincidence, this is Hedy Lamarr's final movie. I don't think George Nader is quite charismatic enough. He needs to be a true hunk. He's too stiff and too conservative for this to be a steamy romance. A modern version would have a younger and more willing man. At times, he comes off as self-righteous. This has lots of potential. I just don't think he's that much of a prize. The obvious comparison is Sunset Boulevard. It has similar tones but it doesn't reach those heights.

At one point in the film, a character professes to Hedy Lamarr, who plays an actress: "I always thought you were a better actress than the roles they gave you." The character might as well have been speaking about Lamarr herself, because this film typifies the substandard material that the actress was handed throughout most of her career.

While there were some highlights in Lamarr's career, such as the wonderful H.M. Pulham, Esq., The Strange Woman, and Dishonored Lady, there was also a lot of fluff. It seems Lamarr was always treated as a glamorous beauty rather than a great actress, although she was smart and talented.

The Female Animal was one of those fading star vehicles that Universal seemed to specialize in at the time (others included Female on the Beach with Joan Crawford, and The Price of Fear with Merle Oberon). By 1958, Lamarr had not been the leading actress in a film for a few years, but she was still youthful and beautiful. It's curious that she was not offered more roles, although back then the shelf-life of a glamorous star was even shorter than it is today.

The Female Animal is a somewhat trashy and sordid melodrama. It is perhaps the only film I have ever seen in which Hedy Lamarr was not the object of desire. Here she plays a more aggressive woman who is not ashamed to take in a house boy. The idea that Lamarr, even at the advanced age of 45 (*eye roll*), would need to pay for handsome male companionship is beyond absurd. She was still very sexy and could have probably had her pick of men. I agree with the other reviewer who said, to some effect: "Hedy past her prime was any other woman's peak." She is widely considered the most beautiful actress of all-time (interchangeably with Gene Tierney).

The film overall leans more toward camp classic than art house. You have drunk ladies, aging starlets out "hunting" for young studs, and of course glamorous Hedy, who has trouble speaking some of her lines. It's all kind of a mess, but it somehow hangs together, and it's a lot of fun. Jan Sterling is entertaining in a supporting role.

The ending redeems the film. Lamarr gives a rather poignant speech about determination, and we are reminded of what a remarkable actress she was. We think about how sad it is that her career was cut so short by...ageism.

Director Harry Keller and cameraman Rusell Metty were both fresh from working on 'Touch of Evil' for producer Albert Zugsmith (for which Keller had directed additional scenes) when Zugsmith reunited them on this shameless rehash of 'Sunset Boulevard', which in turn anticipates 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane' and 'Mommie Dearest'.

Although still a handsome woman at only 42, Hedy Lamarr in her screen swansong suffered the added indignity of being given a grown-up adopted daughter played by Jane Powell (herself nearly thirty although supposedly playing "a rebellious kid trying to find out about life"); while Jan Sterling completes this trio of feisty femmes as a poisonous former child star who has had her fill of "local, sunburned pseudo-virile types". Like George Nader. After Nader left Hollywood he was perfectly open about his homosexuality, which may have been an in-joke on Zugsmith's part, as well as enabling him to keep his head amid such alluring company (as when vamped in one scene by Powell in a polka dot swimsuit).