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Femmes devant le désir

Original title: The Female Animal
  • 1958
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 24m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
709
YOUR RATING
Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell, and George Nader in Femmes devant le désir (1958)
Film NoirDramaRomance

An aging film star and her alcoholic daughter compete for a handsome extra.An aging film star and her alcoholic daughter compete for a handsome extra.An aging film star and her alcoholic daughter compete for a handsome extra.

  • Director
    • Harry Keller
  • Writers
    • Robert Hill
    • Albert Zugsmith
  • Stars
    • Hedy Lamarr
    • Jane Powell
    • Jan Sterling
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    709
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Harry Keller
    • Writers
      • Robert Hill
      • Albert Zugsmith
    • Stars
      • Hedy Lamarr
      • Jane Powell
      • Jan Sterling
    • 34User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos8

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    Top cast34

    Edit
    Hedy Lamarr
    Hedy Lamarr
    • Vanessa Windsor
    Jane Powell
    Jane Powell
    • Penny Windsor
    Jan Sterling
    Jan Sterling
    • Lily Frayne
    George Nader
    George Nader
    • Chris Farley
    Jerry Paris
    Jerry Paris
    • Hank Galvez (not Lopez)
    Gregg Palmer
    Gregg Palmer
    • Piggy
    Mabel Albertson
    Mabel Albertson
    • Irma Jones
    James Gleason
    James Gleason
    • Tom Maloney
    Richard H. Cutting
    Richard H. Cutting
    • Dr. John Ramsay
    Ann Doran
    Ann Doran
    • Nurse
    Yvonne Peattie
    • Hairdresser
    Max Showalter
    Max Showalter
    • Charlie Grant
    • (as Casey Adams)
    Douglas Evans
    Douglas Evans
    • Al The Director
    Aram Katcher
    Aram Katcher
    • Mischa Boroff
    Gertrude Astor
    Gertrude Astor
    • Actress on Movie Set
    • (uncredited)
    Richard Avonde
    Richard Avonde
    • Pepe, Lily's Gigolo
    • (uncredited)
    Al Bain
    Al Bain
    • Crew Member
    • (uncredited)
    Gail Bonney
    Gail Bonney
    • Vanessa Windsor's Maid
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Harry Keller
    • Writers
      • Robert Hill
      • Albert Zugsmith
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews34

    6.1709
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    Featured reviews

    7grahamclarke

    A lot of meat for film buffs - not much for regulars

    Were a regular movie watcher to dismiss "The Female Animal" as cheap trash, they would not be wrong. However, for movie buffs there's much enjoyment to be had, despite the glaring weaknesses

    It's certainly not the plot that holds our interest, nor the dialog, though there are a couple of memorable lines; it's simply the somewhat miscast headliners Hedy Lamarr, George Nader and Jane Powell - whose ages hardly approximate the characters they portray. One needs to have some awareness of their personal lives and careers in order to perceive the added layers of meaning their very presence lends to the film.

    Forty-four-year-old Hedy Lamarr still lovely to behold, apparently much aided by various surgeries, was coming to the end of her career, so playing an older movie actress in what seem to be B movies adds much resonance. Her beauty is legendary, but alas not her acting talent which was always a couple of notches below her contemporaries. However she turns in one of her better performances in what would be her last screen role. In the final scene, a nurse tending to her says, "Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I've always thought you were a much better actress than the roles they gave you." It's hardly a line you would expect from the character but clearly something probably Lamarr herself wanted aired. She thanks her and the nurse goes on: "Because the one great thing you have on the screen is believability". She then turns out the light and exits. Hedy rolls over and says, "Believability; I certainly hope so". Hedy's swan song.

    George Nader was one of the hunks from the Universal stable. It's widely rumoured that he left Hollywood after being outed by the notorious Confidential magazine in some sort of deal the studios made to save Rock Hudson, his lifelong friend, from the same fate. Some sources claim it was to save Rory Calhoun's career. However in later years Nader emphatically denied all that, though he did say "every month when Confidential came out, our stomachs began to turn. Which of us would be in it?" Whatever the case, he realised he wasn't making much headway in Hollywood and turned to Europe where he enjoyed much success in a series of German films. He was a fairly competent actor and an extremely good-looking one. Physically he was at his very prime at this particular point in his career. He spends much screen time bare-chested, uncharacteristically waxed. Other scenes show him off in elegant evening wear and an extremely tight T-shirt. All in all, his film career was hardly a distinguished one and "The Female Animal" is certainly one of his better moments.

    Former MGM star Jane Powell totally discards her effervescent girl-next-door image and plunges into fifties misunderstood daughter a la Rebel Without a Cause, acting out, boozing it up and flinging herself at men. You get the picture. A brave move for Powell, sometimes bordering on the ludicrous.

    Jan Sterling in a bit part with some delightful lines also deserves special mention.

    What gives "The Female Animal" a certain veneer of class is the work of master cameraman Russel Metty, Douglas Sirks favorite DP. Even someone of lesser talent could hardly go wrong with the likes of Lamarr, Nader and Powell, but Metty, as always, makes them luminous.

    Put your critical faculties on hold and join this somewhat odd ride, one I find I enjoy more and more each time I take it.
    8beyondtheforest

    Hedy Lamarr's Last Film

    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.
    bruno-32

    Hedy's last Film

    The movie was filmed in Cinescope b and white, a rarity in those days of large screens. Hedy was perfect as a woman fading from the limelight and ageing, but turning to alcohol. That is why she looked and acted like she was supposed to. Jane Powell looked too old to be Hedy's daughter and way overacted her dramatic scenes. She should of stuck to musicals. George Nadar, looked the part, but his acting was wooden. jan sterling was good for the small part she had in it.
    7planktonrules

    Trashy and overwrought....but enjoyable and well performed and written.

    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.
    7atlantic965

    Hedy Lamarr's Final Bow

    This movie was Hedy's last. It was intended as her comeback film but her time had past. The plot was a rip off of Sunset Blvd. Hedy plays a aging, movie star named Vanessa Windsor who has a party girl brat adopted daughter. Ms Lamarr was 45 years old when this movie was made and she aged well. This movie is pure late 50's in theme and fashion. If you can find this film on TV which it seldom appears, ( I found a pirated copy on Ebay ) it is a worthwhile film but it pale's to Hedy's glory days of the 40's. It is always fascinating to see the stars of the silver screen of the 30's and 40's in their more mundane later work.

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    Related interests

    Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in Le grand sommeil (1946)
    Film Noir
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Final film of Hedy Lamarr although she would live until 2000.
    • Goofs
      Chris Farley (George Nader) suffers a nasty cut on his right arm after saving Vanessa Windsor (Hedy Lamarr) from a falling light. Shortly afterward on their first date, while having a moonlight swim, the cut is nowhere to be seen. Then, days later, Vanessa visits Chris at his bungalow court apartment. and he has a very visible bandage and tape covering the cut on his arm.
    • Quotes

      Lily Frayne: [Lily Frayne and her date, Pepe, are at the restaurant bar; Pepe looks troubled as he examines a bracelet on his wrist] I don't know why you're objecting to that slave bracelet. I buy one for all my friends. I used to wear two or three of them myself around my ankle in the old days. Everybody wears them.

      Pepe, Lily's Gigolo: Mon cher, please, I'm bored hearing about "The Stone Age."

      Lily Frayne: [shakes her diamond-covered hand at Pepe] That's where these rocks came from, lover, and don't forget it.

      [turns to Bartender]

      Lily Frayne: Darling, give Lily a shot for her bronchitis.

      Bartender: Of course, Miss Frayne.

      Lily Frayne: It's the sea air. I don't know why I live here.

      Bartender: I thought you liked the beach.

      Lily Frayne: Oh, I do, darling, I do.

      [glances at Pepe]

      Lily Frayne: But it's so boring. Nothing to do night or day but go to bed.

      Bartender: Why don't you make another picture, Miss Frayne? I thought you were great in "Salammbô."

      Lily Frayne: Lubitsch did, too, darling. Lubitsch did, too. We were giants in those days. Now you could put the whole bunch under a card table and nobody'd muss a hair.

      [glances at Pepe]

      Lily Frayne: Did you ever see me in "Salammbô," darling?

      Pepe, Lily's Gigolo: Sorry, I wasn't born then.

      Lily Frayne: [angry] Well, I was only eleven myself! They called me "Little Lily Frayne." I was the first child star ever to be chased around a desk.

    • Connections
      Referenced in The Hollywood Miss Sapientia: Hedy Lamarr, Actress-Inventor (2012)

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    FAQ14

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • September 5, 1958 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Female Animal
    • Filming locations
      • Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Universal Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 24m(84 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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