In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool," there is an extended interview with the actors, the director, and Peter Turner, the author of the memoir on which the film is based. At one point in the interview, it is revealed that 98% of the film is true, based on Turner's recollections of his romantic relationship as a young man with the much older actress Gloria Grahame. Clearly, the film was intended as a biographical portrait of the actress best remembered for "The Bad and the Beautiful" and "A Lonely Place."
Unfortunately, the film fell flat in developing what was intended as a combination biography, romance, and depiction of a tender relationship of the aging film star and with a young actor from Liverpool. Much of the film sounded "scripted" with references to films and plays.
The one allusion that worked effectively was when Gloria in her late '50s mentioned to Peter that she wanted to audition for Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Peter corrected her by saying, "Shouldn't you be auditioning for the Nurse?" Of course, that response led to one of their torrid arguments. It also resulted in one of the best emotional moments in the film when the Peter and Gloria read the scene of the first meeting of Romeo and Juliet.
The film also was not served by a structure that skipped around extensively in time. Instead of developing the relationship of Gloria and Peter in a linear way, the audience was jolted in and out of the past. It was especially confusing as the drama was toggling between Liverpool, New York, and Los Angeles. This is really not the way to write a screenplay of a biographical romance.
In the bonus segment of the DVD, actress Annette Bening described the life of Gloria Graham as "tempestuous." Bening's interpretation was mostly a one-dimensional version of "tempestuous." The film was also manipulative of audiences in presenting a crucial scene about the "break-up" of Gloria and Peter in New York. The audience had to endure two rendition of the exact scene with the exact dialogue, before the truth is revealed about Gloria's visit to her physician. The authors of the script do not receive a passing grade in Screenwriting 101.
In the final analysis, the film seemed exploitative in its depiction of a deeply personal relationship that often came across as unflattering. In the extended interview with the performers and the director, it was never once mentioned what Gloria Graham might have felt about this cinematic portrayal of her life. In all likelihood, Graham would have preferred to have been remembered as an Academy Award-winning film artist, as opposed to a "has been" with a youthful, bisexual paramour in a film with too many similarities to "Sunset Boulevard."
Are you ready for your close-up, Miss Grahame?
Unfortunately, the film fell flat in developing what was intended as a combination biography, romance, and depiction of a tender relationship of the aging film star and with a young actor from Liverpool. Much of the film sounded "scripted" with references to films and plays.
The one allusion that worked effectively was when Gloria in her late '50s mentioned to Peter that she wanted to audition for Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Peter corrected her by saying, "Shouldn't you be auditioning for the Nurse?" Of course, that response led to one of their torrid arguments. It also resulted in one of the best emotional moments in the film when the Peter and Gloria read the scene of the first meeting of Romeo and Juliet.
The film also was not served by a structure that skipped around extensively in time. Instead of developing the relationship of Gloria and Peter in a linear way, the audience was jolted in and out of the past. It was especially confusing as the drama was toggling between Liverpool, New York, and Los Angeles. This is really not the way to write a screenplay of a biographical romance.
In the bonus segment of the DVD, actress Annette Bening described the life of Gloria Graham as "tempestuous." Bening's interpretation was mostly a one-dimensional version of "tempestuous." The film was also manipulative of audiences in presenting a crucial scene about the "break-up" of Gloria and Peter in New York. The audience had to endure two rendition of the exact scene with the exact dialogue, before the truth is revealed about Gloria's visit to her physician. The authors of the script do not receive a passing grade in Screenwriting 101.
In the final analysis, the film seemed exploitative in its depiction of a deeply personal relationship that often came across as unflattering. In the extended interview with the performers and the director, it was never once mentioned what Gloria Graham might have felt about this cinematic portrayal of her life. In all likelihood, Graham would have preferred to have been remembered as an Academy Award-winning film artist, as opposed to a "has been" with a youthful, bisexual paramour in a film with too many similarities to "Sunset Boulevard."
Are you ready for your close-up, Miss Grahame?