​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​

Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.

Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board
Start a New Topic 
Author
Comment
View Entire Thread
Re: I'LL EAT MY HAT!

Hi Trish:

I used to spend ALL day Saturdays at the movies. No need to hide in the restroom because the movies would just show over and over and no one kicked us out. On those Saturday afternoons, kids ruled big time. A lot of yelling and booing during the love scenes. Of course I was a teen when I saw "I'll Cry Tomorrow," so I am sure I saw it in a more genteel atmosphere. That movie had quite an effect on me, owing to family stuff I was experiencing at the time. It was the first movie that paralleled things I was seeing in my own family life, and of course Susan's performance absolutely blew me away.

Also, something I don't think has been mentioned is how well written the script for the "I'll Cry Tomorrow" was, and I am sure Susan knew that the minute she read it. As a writer I can appreciate the excellence of the writing in many of the scenes, especially the monologue Susan has about forgetting David and the torment she feels. It has a rhythm and nuance that kept it from being merely a maudlin display of self-pity, and Susan knew exactly how to hit all the beats to create a perfect blend of actor and material. I always thought this speech was poignant and heartbreaking, but only years later when I had lost someone dear to me did I feel the full impact of those words.

Jill

Re: I'LL EAT MY HAT!

In "I'll Cry Tomorrow", there is one scene, in which Susan's portrayal of the true horror of loss and grief is so beautifully interpreted, that I have gone back and watched it many times.......and that is the monologue,
which, as Jill so aptly says, is so 'poignant and so heartbreaking', as Susan realizes that the very worst part of her losing David--is the losing of her MEMORY of him. I think we have all had that experience of coming to terms as to just WHY we begin to feel less raw with pain after a great loss......and that is because our brain can release that agony only through allowing what were once the most beautiful details of those images to begin to fade.

I completely agree with Jill that Susan managed to take a scene that could be so self-pitying and over-acted---and, with the help of a brilliant script, turned that monologue into something so gripping and so real. And, although I find that watching the entire move of "I'll Cry Tomorrow" can be almost TOO intense to see too often--I am discovering that certain scenes--like that particular one--can be watched over and over again, as I notice something different each time. The script in this scene DOES have 'nuance and a certain rhythm', as Jill notes.......and Susan performed it so beautifully.

On a completely different note re. that scene! I seem to remember reading, in one of the 5 books I have on Susan, that director, Daniel Mann, secretly filled the 'water' glass that she is given by her mother's friend 'Helen' to 'relax her', with actual vodka!? If this is so--that would certainly explain this rather amusing on-camera 'eye-roll' that Susan gave her, as she handed the glass back to 'Helen'!!!

Although I missed seeing "I'll Cry Tomorrow"' on the big cinema screen (I saw it for the first time only last year.....on the 'big screen' on Youtube!!), this means that I shall have to do a lot more 'homework' to fully absorb both the brilliantly written script---and the brilliantly acted role of Lillian Ross. And I don't think doing THAT homework will ever be a chore!!!

Thanks for reminding me of that scene, Jill.

Lynn

Re: I'LL EAT MY HAT!

MEA CULPA!! Of course....I meant Lillian ROTH!!



Lynn