Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story (1998)
Told mostly in flashbacks, the film tells the story of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman, one of the greatest and probably most famous courtesans of the twentieth century. While not showing her childhood, first marriage to Winston Churchill's son, or most of her affairs, we do get to see her affair and eventual marriage to Broadway producer Leland Hayward, and then her marriage to politician Averell Harriman, with whom she had an affair while both were married to others in World War II. We also see her as ambassador to France during her last years, and her death in 1997. While some (mostly her lovers) adored her, others (mostly her son and her husbands' children) hated her.
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Great Film overall
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
This is a good film which could have been much better if it had been longer. The sets are sumptuous, the costumes accurate. Ann-Margret is uncanny in her portrayal of Pamela Harriman.Why was there no mention of her childhood, where she was fat and unloved? Why no depiction of her close friendship with Winston Churchill Sr., playing cards with him all night to raise his spirits? Why no mention of Gianni Agnelli's rejection of her? Her service as a Rothschild mistress in Paris?Many viewers will need more background to understand who the Whitneys are, who James Roosevelt was, why he was such a close parallel to Winston Churchill Jr., what role the "blackamoor" pin played in Pamela's relationship with Leland Hayward's daughter, and so on.The first half of this film will confuse even those who know her story. Stick with it. The second half shows her happy and successful marriage to Averill Harriman about as well as can be done.