Customer Reviews

The Actress

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The movie based on Ruth Gordon's girlhood and yearning to become an actress is exquisitely realized by Jean Simmons' beautiful performance. The great Spencer Tracy plays her crusty father and the underrated Teresa Wright, her mother. Anthony Perkins in a very early role, provides the handsome but lanky love interest. The semi comic-tragic determination to realize her dream, is the core of the movie with father Tracy, an ex-seaman vehemently opposing daughter Simmons at every turn.

This is not a movie that will raise the roof through action or suspense, but rather a very fine character study. Audiences enraptured by the recently deceased Ms. Simmons were mainly enthralled with her stunning beauty, overlooking her remarkable talent as one of our finest actresses. No matter how poor the material she worked with, she managed to rise above the most trite scripts and inadequate characterizations with ease, turning a poor movie into a personal triumph.

First time on DVD, this beautifully scripted/directed black and white flick is a must see for classic movie goers and lovers of fine acting. It's all here complete with crackling chemistry between the two leads. The young Simmons was in real life, married to much older fellow actor, Stewart Granger the first of her two husbands. Granger had a daughter close to Miss Simmons' age.

"The Actress" is part of Warner's fabulous "Archives" collection featuring many great movies on DVD for the first time. The majority of our greatest actors have sadly parted, and movie lovers will never find equals that will fit the bill. An original can never be replaced, only mimicked. The disc is a bit pricey, but film aficionados will will find this a most welcome addition to their movie collection. Hollywood does not make great movies like "The Actress' anymore nor produce tremendous talents like Tracy and Simmons, which is all the more reason for purchasing this DVD.

I just love Spencer Tracy. He was certainly one of the best actors of his generation (possibly the best) and his career is no joke; he was fantastic in nearly everything. `The Actress' is no exception. In fact, this may be one of his finest moments. He is heartfelt and paternal, with an obvious lean towards controlling and authoritative, but he is surprisingly light and funny. All of those assets culminate in a charming and completely mesmerizing star turn that etches yet another notch on his glorious belt of big screen accomplishments. Tracy aside, `The Actress' is certainly admirable. It isn't as profound or as outstanding as a whole as it is in parts, but it is engaging and entertaining and contains a few stellar performances outside of Tracy's; in particular Jean Simmons. She really captures the spunk and tenacity needed to sell her character; a young a vivacious `child' who is endeared to the stage and consumed with a lust for the limelight. Simmons really pulls this off without a hitch. The film stumbles a little in its inclusion of the clichéd love story, but Perkins' screen debut is worth it (I really wish that his career were regarded as more than a single performance, because he really was a true talent). At the end of the day, this film lives and breathes with two stunning lead turns, but it is more than that. It is a nicely constructed tale of ones love for their craft (written by Ruth Gordon as a semi-autobiographical account of her own beginnings) but it is also a beautifully rendered account of one man's love for his daughter and the steps he must make in order to show that said love.