This "ABC Movie of the Week" installment is about a beauty pageant. However, if you are looking for a comedy such as "Smile" or "Drop Dead Gorgeous", you need to look further. And, if you want a film critical of pageants, you should also look further. Instead, it's a bit like a soap opera--with the lives and concerns of several of the contestants and contest officials played out for the folks at home. It's reasonably watchable but also easy to skip. Much of this is because there really is no edgy quality about the film...and you have all the usual caricatures (such as the girl with daddy issues, the activist, the angry black contestant, etc.). The only really interesting moment for me was Eleanor Parker's talk with the black lady who was ready to quit the pageant because she was sure the Miss American Beauty pageant would never allow a black lady to win. This little moment was lovely and had depth...just wish the rest of the film had these qualities as well.
5 Reviews
Wasn't Bad
garyldibert18 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
TITLE: THE GREAT American BEAUTY CONTEST was a TV movie that was released on television on February 13 1973 and this movie took 74 minutes to watch. The movie starred, Farrah Fawcett, Joanna Cameron and Susan Damante Shaw
SUMMARY: The integrity of a beauty contest is threatened by a scandal involving a judge, a former winner, and one of the finalists. The contestants start to arrive one by one. Farrah arrives with her boyfriend and he was told to leave if she wanted a chance to win. Joanna Cameron shows up with a group of women who are against The Great American Beauty Contest. She trying to get into the contest to win so she can belittle the contest if she does win. Susan Damante Shaw arrives and she is caught in a scandal that was somewhat similar to the one that the head of the contest was in. One of the judges wants to see Susan in his room so he can make her an up and coming star. However, it doesn't happen and the Judge is ask to leave.
QUESTIONS: Where did all these girls come from? Was there a scandal involved in this contest?
MY THOUGHTS: This wasn't a bad movie but it wasn't a good one either. Sure, you see Joanna Cameron, Farrah Fawcett, and Susan Shaw in bathing suits but you didn't see them very long. Based on action and drama in movie along with Farrah, Joanna, and Susan in bathing suits I give this movie 7 weasel stars
SUMMARY: The integrity of a beauty contest is threatened by a scandal involving a judge, a former winner, and one of the finalists. The contestants start to arrive one by one. Farrah arrives with her boyfriend and he was told to leave if she wanted a chance to win. Joanna Cameron shows up with a group of women who are against The Great American Beauty Contest. She trying to get into the contest to win so she can belittle the contest if she does win. Susan Damante Shaw arrives and she is caught in a scandal that was somewhat similar to the one that the head of the contest was in. One of the judges wants to see Susan in his room so he can make her an up and coming star. However, it doesn't happen and the Judge is ask to leave.
QUESTIONS: Where did all these girls come from? Was there a scandal involved in this contest?
MY THOUGHTS: This wasn't a bad movie but it wasn't a good one either. Sure, you see Joanna Cameron, Farrah Fawcett, and Susan Shaw in bathing suits but you didn't see them very long. Based on action and drama in movie along with Farrah, Joanna, and Susan in bathing suits I give this movie 7 weasel stars
"I've never slept away from home before." .. "Sooner or later it happens to us all."
moonspinner5526 September 2015
50 single girls show up in Los Angeles for the annual Miss American Beauty contest, overseen by a former winner (the implacable Eleanor Parker) and her version of a Bob Barker (Bob Cummings), both desperate to keep the proceedings honest. Spelling-Goldberg TV-movie for ABC portends to have some modern relevance amongst the standard fluff: Miss Oklahoma is really a feminist--planning to use her acceptance speech to shame the archaic institution of beauty pageants--while Miss New Jersey is "a Negro" with a race-chip on her shoulder. Unfortunately, the teleplay is more soap opera than incisive document, and the finale appears to be making a quasi-point when really it's just a cop-out. Farrah Fawcett is a giggly, high-spirited Miss Texas, Louis Jourdan is appropriately shady as a movie producer and substitute judge, but it's Brett Somers who gives the film's best performance as Farrah's seen-it-all chaperone. Not much style, wit or humor, just a run-of-the-mill movie of the week.
Pre-"Smile" Made-for-TV Beauty Pageant Movie Teases Then Disappoints
herbertatara15 June 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This movie has a lot going on, and discusses briefly many issues on the exploitative nature of the beauty pageant world. However, any time one of the character threatens to have something interesting to say, or is plotting something political, unethical, or illegal, we quickly switch to the next typical made-for-TV subplot.
The underrated Eleanor Parker puts in a well-rounded performance as a former queen who had been robbed of many of her illusions and ideals, but still puts forth a stiff upper lip and tries to play it straight, because at the end of the day, she really has nowhere else to go.
Robert Cummings, on the other hand, brings none of the glib humor that characterizes so many of his performances. Instead, he plays this so unbearably stiff and mechanically, he makes Bob Barker seem like Richard Pryor. Plenty of eye candy abounds, but none of it is risqué by the standards of its day, let alone by today's standards. And, just to top it off, the cop-out dramatic ending will leave an extremely sour taste in your mouth.
If you are a folklore major or a sociologist, this may be an interesting time capsule. Otherwise, don't waste your time.
The underrated Eleanor Parker puts in a well-rounded performance as a former queen who had been robbed of many of her illusions and ideals, but still puts forth a stiff upper lip and tries to play it straight, because at the end of the day, she really has nowhere else to go.
Robert Cummings, on the other hand, brings none of the glib humor that characterizes so many of his performances. Instead, he plays this so unbearably stiff and mechanically, he makes Bob Barker seem like Richard Pryor. Plenty of eye candy abounds, but none of it is risqué by the standards of its day, let alone by today's standards. And, just to top it off, the cop-out dramatic ending will leave an extremely sour taste in your mouth.
If you are a folklore major or a sociologist, this may be an interesting time capsule. Otherwise, don't waste your time.
It ain't so great.
mark.waltz29 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Certainly it's great to see veteran actors like Eleanor Parker, Robert Cummings, Louis Jordan, Patricia Barry and Brett Sommers, and newcomers such as Farrah Fawcett, Susan Anton and Christopher Norris, but the subject matter will really only appeal to those who like beauty pageants and the fashion industry. This could have been a camp classic like "Valley of the Dolls", but the characters don't have the same appeal. It's trying to be edgy, but lacks any real bite.
The situation involving Fawcett and boyfriend Larry Wilcox has such a sitcomish element to it that while the situation might be based on a past attempt by a contestant to sneak in a boyfriend, the way it's presented is almost like a really bad farce. Also, some of the attempts at the talent contest part of the pageant are so ridiculously bad (Fawcett's dance for one thing) that I could see the judges muffling laughs. Of the veterans, only Parker is interesting, and of the contestants, none of them are.
The situation involving Fawcett and boyfriend Larry Wilcox has such a sitcomish element to it that while the situation might be based on a past attempt by a contestant to sneak in a boyfriend, the way it's presented is almost like a really bad farce. Also, some of the attempts at the talent contest part of the pageant are so ridiculously bad (Fawcett's dance for one thing) that I could see the judges muffling laughs. Of the veterans, only Parker is interesting, and of the contestants, none of them are.
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