Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951)

Note Générale:

5,9/10   

Réalisateur:

Ida Lupino

Scénaristes:

John R. Tunis (novel)
Martha Wilkerson (writer)

Date de sortie:

21 avril 1952 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drame | Sport

Accroche:

The Price Of Fame In The Big-Time Sports Racket!

Intrigue:

Tennis prodigy Florence Farley is torn between romance and her mother's ambitions.

Plot Keywords:

Tennis | Based On Novel

Avis des utilisateurs:

Fine, Brief and Underrated

Ensemble

Claire Trevor	...	Millie Farley
Sally Forrest	...	Florence Farley
Carleton G. Young	...	Fletcher Locke
Robert Clarke	...	Gordon McKay
Kenneth Patterson	...	Will Farley
Marcella Cisney	...	Miss Martin
Joseph Kearns	...	J.R. Carpenter
William Hudson	...	Interne
George Fisher	...	Announcer
Arthur Little Jr.	...	Himself - Commentator at Forest Hills
Bert Whitley	...	Young official
Edwin Reimers	...	Announcer
Don Kent	...	Umpire
William Irving	...	Umpire
Barbara Brier	...	Girl

Autre(s) titre(s):

Mother of a Champion (USA) (alternative title)

Durée:

78 min

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Rapport de forme:

1,37 : 1

Son:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Classification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #14727) (original rating) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Australia:G

Société:

Filmakers, The

Anecdotes:

Cameo du metteur en scène: [Ida Lupino]in sunglasses, applauding, 33:30 into the film.

Connexions:

figure dans Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies (2000) (TV)

Fine, Brief and Underrated

HARD, FAST, AND BEAUTIFUL turns out to be rather good. It's well-acted by all concerned. Director Ida Lupino brings her actor's skills to the job and it pays off. The film also has a slightly quirky visual flair, especially in the tennis sequences.

However this is NOT, in the final analysis, a story about a young tennis pro's rise to fame. It really is the story of a mother's ambition gone wrong, a cautionary parable of the dangers of a parent trying live her own life through that of her child. Millie Farley (the great Clair Trevor, in an unforgettable performance) is a still-attractive woman who married a very nice, but dull man and had a beautiful, talented daughter. When Florence, the daughter, shows an aptitude for tennis and hooks up with what appears to be a rich boy connection, Millie goes into full-gear to make her daughter's career happen. Not only does she engineer the early stages of the career, but she engages in less than acceptable business practices to further it and to surround herself in the attending luxuries (including the apparent romantic attentions of a sleazy tennis impresario, superbly enacted by Carleton Young). This is a kind of less-spectacular variation on the MILDRED PIERCE theme. There are not as many fireworks and the daughter is no monster. It's a shorter film as well, but the final result is no less devastating.

Also very fine in the cast is Kenneth Patterson, as the saddened, neglected husband and father. Sally Forrest must have learned a lot from her director's attentions; at times she even physically resembles the young Lupino. Always welcome, too, is the amiable Robert "Hideous Sun Demon" Clarke, as the boyfriend who will not submit to Florence's career ambitions.

Not a great film, but definitely underrated.