A Life of Her Own (1950)

not horrible nor great

Let's be realistic.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is melodrama near it's best - offering style, class, surprisingly good performances and an almost believable script. George Cukor as director and George Folsey as director of photography are a solid combination - drawing the viewer into a rather engrossing drama. It's also quite unlike the general Hollywood production (it's reminiscent of the realistic sharp edge that might have come from a writer more like Clifford Odettes). As far as original screenplays go this must rank as one of writer Isobel Lennart's best dramatic character studies. And, could be one time that enforced studio alterations just may have improved the final outcome.Turner is convincing as the small town girl striving for a modeling career in hard bitten N.Y. city. Milland is always reliable and carries his guilt ridden out-of-town businessman role with fitting aplomb. All performances by an unusually cast, fully professional ensemble, are strong. It could be said that Turner was a little too mature for her part and some script elements might not always gel but this remains class entertain for those that want their melodrama treated with less gloss and more character driven. It was obvious this material was never going to be popular stuff.Bronislau Kaper's (Lili '53) dramatic but melodic score sets the emotional tone for this above average piece of storytelling and ranks as one of his best.

As other reviewers have noted, the first 15 or 20 minutes of this film are quite watchable -- energetic, lots going on, well photographed. But when Ann Dvorak starts getting plastered, the speechifying starts, and there isn't one honest note that follows. It all becomes very overwrought, with ridiculous, exposition-filled dialog...and some pretentious speech making at the end. When Ray Milland enters the story, it basically becomes a poor remake of "The Divorcée" with the last act pretty much identical -- possible spoiler here -- with his wife revealed as a cripple in a wheelchair. There is zero chemistry between Turner and Milland. Milland is totally miscast, which doesn't help. Don't be fooled by the fact that George Cukor directed this because it's a pretty awful film, made worse by the fact the expectations you have given all of this A-list talent.

Wow, my summary sounds like comments made about an off-brand paper towel! Lana Turner is a nice girl from Kansas who comes to the big city to become a model. Because of her grit, determination, moxie AND, most importantly, fantastic looks, she makes it big. But instead of being on top of the world, she is depressed because she falls for a married man.Overall, is a thoroughly adequate film with decent acting but a story that just never engaged me very well--partly because the relationships seemed rather silly and superficial and also because it was hard to feel sorry for Lana in the film. Despite her complaining about how "life isn't fair", it's really hard for the average person to feel sorry for this woman, as she's a very successful super-model who is sad she can't have a particular married man (Ray Milland). Since she lives in New York, I assume there must be at least a few nice single guys! Also, because Milland wants to sleep with Lana while he's married to a very nice lady, he comes off as a bit of a jerk as well.On the positive side, though the film seems to initially make their romance seem like a good thing, it later shows that there is a wife and she truly loves her hubby. This is NOT a victimless crime. It's not a bad morality tale, but had I cared more about Lana and Ray, it would have been a lot better.

Nothing much happens in A LIFE OF HER OWN to make anyone understand why a director as famous as George Cukor would bother to direct this potboiler after reading the script. And even more questionable is why MGM chose this script for Lana's return to the screen after a two-year absence. She's supposed to be a young woman who sweeps into the big city looking for a model agency that will hire her and immediately clicks as a top fashion model even though she lacks the fresh-faced beauty anyone would expect in a New York model. So much for credibility.Nor can one understand why there is absolutely no chemistry between LANA TURNER (beginning to look matronly at 30) and RAY MILLAND, who had already seen better days at his home studio, Paramount. The characters they play, a model and a successful, married businessman, are cardboard through and through with nothing about them to stir the interest in a long soap opera with a bittersweet ending.ANN DVORAK has a brief role at the start, but as soon as she meets her fate we get a sluggish introduction to RAY MILLAND's character and the film simply goes on and on at great length until it's disclosed that he has a crippled wife at home that Turner feels needs his attention more than she does, before she walks off nobly into the night.This kind of stuff wouldn't have been fashionable even fifteen years prior and it just meanders all over the place before it gets to that final scene. Not recommended for fans of Turner or Milland.