Hi Kerry!

I always enjoy your astute comments, and I think you are so on target in your remarks about THE HAIRY APE (and, also, its parallels to William's STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE).

I found Bendix and Susan totally compelling and would love to see them both come alive and recreate their characters in a contemporary production - without all that censorship of the '40s. I can so easily imagine Susan giving such a layered performance - breathing fire into the character of Mildred with all the "unsettling motivations" (as you so aptly put it) intended by O'Neill's play.

At any rate, even within the confines of '40's scripts, I thought Susan was superb. Her eyes, when she's first confronted by Bendix, reflect right into her soul!

Kerry, please keep up your imput on NOIR. I'm only first beginning to appreciate the finer distinctions of this cinematic era and the amazing women who dominated the box office!

Actually, I think we've all been wrong--including me. The strangest film Susan ever made--and rather despicable--was her scene in Paramount's STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM,which paired her with Ernest Truex and a girdle.

For me the strangest film Susan ever made is "thunder in the sun" from 1959.I hate to say it but i think it is a bad movie...i can not believe the story ,and there is a lot of camp...nothing is credible here.....
i read that she accepted to do it to help her friend Jeff Chandler.....

Compared to "Thunder in the sun" ,"The conqueror " is a big joy to me :-)

Phil, Amsterdam,the Netherlands.

Hi, Bill!

Okay, you really got my curiosity on this one. My Eduardo Moreno book does have a page about this "Star Spangled Rhythm" film (sounds like a sort of "Let's Have a Show" plot--a la Mickey Rooney)!

It certainly does seems a rather oddball film, but what's even worse is that I now have this totally bad-joke/sick comment that's running around in my head, since you mentioned that Paramount paired Susan with Ernst Truex and a GIRDLE!!!

Are you ready for my sick NY humor?? - I am now dying to know which of the two did Paramount consider the 'beter fit'?!?!?

Okay! Okay! I did say it was my sicko-humor coming out--I never promised it was good! I just couldn't help it! And I do hope that Susan will forgive me--but since we both come from similar New York City turf--I think she will!

You made my day, Bill! And, now--how can I get to see that film? Is it on Youtube? Sounds like crazy fun!

Lynn

PS I never saw the film that Philippe mentioned either, although I've read about it---and the critics did tend to agree with you, I think. Susan did promise to help her childhood friend, Jeff Chandler, out, which was very kind. They'd gone to (or near) the same school in their neighborhood and were pals.

Errol--I have dvd's of every one of Susan's flicks, including the girdle story---which of coruse is very short--just a segment with all the Paramount stars. None of it very good, in my thinking, though Godard, Lake, and Lamour in "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peek-a-Boo Bang" is quite cute.

Thunder in the Sun was probably her worst film. Not that she was part of the "worst"--and there are others--prboably that all of us--think are not up to her standards--but Thunder was the pits--and yes, the critics thought so too.

(We could--or have we?--argue for days about the quality of Valley of the Dolls, but her Helen Lawson was really marvelous (though they ought to have let her do her own singing).