A Life of Her Own

Director: George Cukor George Cukor

Overview

In this film, Lana Turner plays an ambitious model who seeks her fortune in NYC. She is befriended by over-the-hill cover-girl Ann Dvorak, who commits suicide. Turner promises herself that she won't end up like Dvorak, but she is inexorably drawn into the hectic social whirl that sealed Dvorak's doom.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/28/2013
UPC:	0883316733950
Original Release:	1950
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	7,152

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Lana Turner	Actor
Ray Milland	Actor
Tom Ewell	Actor
Louis Calhern	Actor
Ann Dvorak	Mary Ashlon
Barry Sullivan	Lee Gorrance
Margaret Phillips	Nora Harleigh
Jean Hagen	Maggie Collins
Phyllis Kirk	Jerry
Sara Haden	Smitty
Hermes Pan	Lily's Dance Partner
Carol Brannan	Model
Beth Douglas	Model
Roberta Johnson	Model
Alice Wallace	Model
Bunny Waters	Model
Pat Davies	Model
Dorothy Abbott	Model
Bridget Carr	Model
Charlene Hardey	Model
Marlene Hoyt	Model
Tom Seidel	Bob Collins
Hilda Plowright	Desk Clerk
Elizabeth Flournoy	Caraway Receptionist
Dorothy Tree	Caraway Secretary
Robert Emmett Keane	Hosiery Man
Meredith Leeds	People at Party
Richard Anderson	Hosiery Man
Wilson Wood	Cab Driver
Arthur Loew Jr.	Actor
Harry Barris	Piano Player
Beverly Garland	Girl at Party
Walter McGrail	Actor
Whit Bissell	Rental Agent
Kathleen Freeman	Peg
Kerry O'Day	Actor
Gertrude Graner	Woman Photographer
Major Sam Harris	Man Model
Frankie Darro	Bellboy
Beverly Thompson	Actor
Queenie Leonard	Hotel Matron
Paul Kramer	Airport Gateman
Geraldine Wall	Hosiery Woman
Joan Valerie	Actor
Percy Helton	Hamburger Proprietor
Sarah Padden	Overseer
Kenne Duncan	Man Asking Invitation
Maura Murphy	Vogue Receptionist
Kenneth Garcia	Actor
Sally Cooper	Uncredited
Bronislau Kaper	Composer
John Albright	Actor
Joe Bautista	Actor
Margaret Bert	Actor
Madge Blake	Regent Studios' Wardrobe Woman
Carol Brannon	Model
Carol Brewster	Party Guest
Clifford Brooke	Actor
Ralph Brooks	Cocktail Lounge Patron
Donia Bussey	Actor
William Cabanne	Actor
Sue Carlton	Actor

Technical Credits

Isobel Lennart

George Cukor	Director
Voldemar Vetluguin	Producer
Isobel Lennart	Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

A Life of Her Own is an entertaining enough little melodrama that might have been more memorable if Douglas Sirk had gotten his directorial hands on it. This isn't to impugn George Cukor, whose direction is solid and gets the job done in an admirable fashion, but this kind of ridiculous romance needs the kind of full-blown, devil-may-care commitment that Sirk excelled at. Even Sirk couldn't have made a classic of Life, the material is simply too weak for that. But he would have found the nuggets in it that really spoke to him and mined them for all they were worth, giving A Life of Her Own some mountainous heights rather than the little hills that Cukor builds up. Things certainly start out promisingly, but as soon as Ann Dvorak bites the dust -- which is less than 20 minutes into the film -- a lot of life goes out of the film. Things are also not helped by an ending that is lame and lifeless. Dvorak is a marvel, making the most out of what is really second rate material, and star Lana Turner suffers in comparison. However, Turner's glamour and appeal see her through the role and she's so stunning -- even with a few extra pounds on -- that one is willing to accept the fact that she's a little too old and too hefty to be playing an aspiring young model. Ray Milland is fine as her love interest, and there's good supporting work from Jean Hagen, Kathleen Freeman, and Margaret Phillips, among others. For fans of the genre, it's not bad and it's worth watching -- but it's not a classic.