The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Hugo Butler (writer)
Edward DeBlasio (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 1968 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

OVERNIGHT A STAR...OVER MANY NIGHTS A WOMAN!

Plot:

A dictatorial film director (Finch) hires an unknown actress (Novak) to play the lead role in a planned movie biography of a late, great Hollywood star.

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Hollywood | Director | Star | Starlet

Cast

Kim Novak	...	Lylah Clare / Elsa Brinkmann / Elsa Campbell
Peter Finch	...	Lewis Zarken aka Louie Flack
Ernest Borgnine	...	Barney Sheean
Milton Selzer	...	Bart Langner
Rossella Falk	...	Rossella
Gabriele Tinti	...	Paolo
Valentina Cortese	...	Countess Bozo Bedoni
Jean Carroll	...	Becky Langner
Michael Murphy	...	Mark Peter Sheean
Lee Meriwether	...	Young girl
James Lanphier	...	Legman #1
Robert Ellenstein	...	Mike
Nick Dennis	...	Nick
Dave Willock	...	Cameraman
Coral Browne	...	Molly Luther

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Grauman's Chinese Theater - 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Trivia:

When Kim Novak walks along Hollywood Blvd, a theater she passes by is playing The Dirty Dozen (1967), a film Robert Aldrich made a year earlier, and whose commercial success made it possible for the director to start his own production company and make movies like this.

Quotes:

Barney Sheean: I make movies, not films!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Vertigo (1958)

Soundtrack:

Lylah

A carousel of deluded souls

Another piece of yesterday from Robert Aldrich, filthied-up through his askewed, slightly campy/slightly too-serious vision. We never know where we sit with an Aldrich movie--he enjoys setting up a comfortable scenario, then wickedly pulls the rug out from under his audience. He exposes all the weaknesses of Kim Novak as an actress, brutally letting the puckered blonde look silly (at her expense) and without ever giving her a fair shot at a meaty scene. The opening moments, with Kim (in a mousy wig) surrounded by movie magazines in a dingy Hollywood apartment, are richly evocative. Turns out Novak resembles a long-deceased movie queen and is tapped to star in a picture of the actress' life--to be directed by the woman's real-life husband! Bits of satire, supernatural elements, and symbolism muddy up this stew--but I admit to being engrossed by it all. Peter Finch, as always, is worth watching, and Novak's mere presence is tantalizing (even if her acting is not). DeVol's background score is lush, and I loved some of the set-pieces and overwrought melodrama. As for the ending, I would have a tough time explaining it to anyone, except to say that it is Aldrich's stamp as a director to go over-the-top. Here, he goes a little bit over-the-edge as well. ** from ****