larrysmile-18-337694 Within the first 5 - 10 minutes I felt that this film was a waste of the talents of Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty. Both are miscast as there is little 'energy' between them throughout the entire film. A great film starts out with a great story. This story is from duds-ville. Taylor, as an adult, is best in dramas, intense dramas, where the story allows her to be in conflict with the male paramour. That's why Burton-Taylor's rendition in Wm, Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" is so great. Anybody could have done Beatty's role in this film. He is lackluster, to be fair. I guess the players did it for the money and not for the art for there is no real art in the story or the setting or the movie itself. Sorry, George Stevens. Not a film to be proud of.

Nazi_Fighter_David Playing one of her rare working class girls, Liz is a Las Vegas showgirl who lives in a plastic little apartment and watches old movies on late night television… The ambiance doesn't take shape for Liz; we've heard too much about the diamonds and the yachts and the enormous household staff to believe her in such modest circumstances… Frank D. Gilroy's slight, sentimental script is about practically nothing at all… A girl meets a guy (Warren Beatty), they go to bed, they part, they get together again… He has a gambling problem, and she's engaged to an older married man who keeps promising to get a divorce… The gambler is a ladies' man; clever and suave, he tests his way into the girl's bed and then into her heart…In a lightweight romantic comedy-drama like this, the charm is everything… As the gambler, Warren Beatty has it; as the bruised, lonely, overage chorus girl, Liz doesn't… Her off-screen aura works 'against' the role, just as Beatty's image as her capricious lover works beautifully for the character… Liz tries, though, but she is really too old for this sort of thing, and far too heavy and matronly to pass as a chorus girl kicking up her heels every night to earn a meager living…Beatty transforms the material, making it seem much sharper and brighter than it is… His reckless, cocky charm, his clever comic timing, his light seductive voice reveal some of his best work… When she catches Beatty's light style, Taylor is pleasant, but when she goes weepy, when Stevens encourages her to play the dramatic actress with style, she misplaces the character

jotix100 It's unimaginable that George Stevens, the distinguished director that gave us "Swing Time", "Shane", "Giant", among others, could have agreed to be associated with this dud! I vaguely remember the Frank D. Gilroy's play, in which this movie is based, as a not too interesting night in the theater. Well, with the help of the author, the film was made under Mr. Stevens direction, and the results are there for anyone to judge! The worst thing in the film is the running time! At 113 minutes, it's way too long. The two principals are so miscast that it pains the viewer to watch them go through the motions feigning to love one another when probably the stars ended up hating each other for the duration of the shoot that took almost three months to be completed.Elizabeth Taylor was into one of her fatty periods while doing this movie. One only sees her in unflattering costumes that don't do anything for her. Those shmattes make her even look older and heavier, but Liz must have thought she was making a fashion statement, or who knows what went through her mind? Warren Beatty is seen in the film as though he were under the influence. His take on Joe Grady, as directed, seems the kind of man that would be a turn off for Fran. After all, she was having a thing with a rich man who kept her in some kind of luxury. Mr. Beatty doesn't do anything to get us to like him. He is a loser, and that's that.Watch this film on a sleepless night. Maybe it'll provoke you to sleep and have great dreams about what this movie is not!

moonspinner55 Oddly old-fashioned chronicle of a gambling addict/pianist and a showgirl sharing an apartment in Las Vegas. From an unsuccessful play, this talky exercise with excitable characters does have interesting things to say about relationships and addictions, but it goes on too long and begins to repeat itself. Elizabeth Taylor is upstaged by her hairdo (it hides her face half the time) and her shriek grows tiresome; Warren Beatty is too young for his role (when he talks to Liz of growing old together, one can only visualize her growing much older before he), but his pent-up nervousness is palpable and his frustration is convincing. The film is claustrophobic and looks bad (it was mostly filmed in Paris, France--and one can practically sense the dislocation), with a principal set decorated in gold and avocado. Some good scenes, otherwise an interesting failure. ** from ****