Lana Turner. Because movie stars need love, too.
Monday, July 6, 2020 at 9:30AM We've been celebrating 1957 these past few weeks. Please welcome our new contributor Baby Clyde...
Lana turner in "Peyton Place" and the closest she came to Oscar - presenting Red Buttons with his that same year
After nearly two decades as a topflight Hollywood star Lana Turner finally grabbed Oscar’s attention for her performance as the uptight mother Constance Mackenzie in the smash hit 1957 soap opera Peyton Place. It was to be their only serious encounter. Nobody argues that Lana was a great actress but by god was she a great Movie Star. Maybe the greatest of all in my estimation. There is no one in film history who ticks so many boxes or encapsulates so many Hollywood tropes and clichés.
Young Judy Turner went to Hollywood High School before literally being discovered at a soda counter by the editor of the Hollywood Reporter at age 16 (See how many times I’ve used the word ‘Hollywood’ already). Now named ‘Lana’ she made one of the most iconic debuts in movie history as the ill-fated murder victim in They Won’t Forget (1937) and was dubbed "The Sweater Girl" for the way her ample charms filled out said item of clothing...
Soon signed to the biggest studio in town MGM she served her apprenticeship playing ingenues in Andy Hardy and Dr Kildare serials, auditioning for Scarlett O’Hara and finished her education at the studios fabled Little Red Schoolhouse, alongside Judy and Mickey.
It soon became apparent that not only was she a natural in from of the camera but that her dazzling beauty suggested a bombshell in the making. Hair dyed to ice blonde she was groomed by the studio to be the next Harlow and by the age 20 was co starring alongside the biggest male stars on the lot including Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, Robert Young and The King of Hollywood himself Clark Gable. Rumour has it that it was their on set affair that caused his wife Carole Lombard to board the doomed flight that cost her life.
She made headlines and filled newspaper columns for the next 30 years. Not just because of a spectacularly successful movie run that continued for far longer than any of her glamour girl contemporaries, but also her eight marriage (To seven husbands), numerous other relationships and the biggest scandal of Golden Age Hollywood that would have sunk most careers but somehow only bolstered hers (Come on Ryan Murphy you know American Crime Story – Lana, Cheryl and Johnny Stompanato is what the word needs!!! Just give me a ring. We can knock the first draft out in an afternoon. Margot Robbie is already on the phone to her agent).
One Oscar nomination seems scant reward for all that hard work.
The problem is, of course, that even though it invented them Hollywood never had that much respect for ‘Movie Stars’, especially the sex symbols. They were there to make money and fans swoon, whilst serious actors got all the plaudits. The one thing The Academy always forgets is that Oscars are not awarded for the best acting, they’re for the Best Performance and if there is one thing Lana Turner knew how to do it was perform.
Things could have been so different……
Ziegfeld Girl
The film that really catapulted her onto the A List. Being teamed with ‘the most talented girl in town’ and ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’ must have been intimidating, but whilst Judy sings her heart out and Hedy is too gorgeous for words, this is the Lana show and she acts them off the screen. From gum chewing, wise cracking working class Brooklyn girl to the glamorous star of the Follies, a raging alcoholic and finally a beautiful movie death, it’s almost a character role and certainly far beyond anything she’d been asked to do up to that point. She was only 20. Just think if Louis B. Mayer had stopped his obsession with the dreary Greer Garson and put MGM’s block vote behind Turner. The first of many Oscar nods would have started here.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Nothing proves my point better than the 1946 line-up. Legendary movie goddesses Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner served us up their signature roles in The Killers, Gilda and The Postman Always Ring Twice. Oscar nominations went to the Roz Russell in the completely forgotten Sister Kenny and Jennifer Jones, making a total fool of herself, in Duel In The Sun. Lana, in her most iconic role, should have got a nomination for this entrance alone……..
The Bad And The Beautiful
It takes a Movie Star to play a Movie star and Lana’s brings every bit of her star power to this fabulous tale of Hollywood wealth, greed, love and betrayal. Maybe it hit a bit too close to home but 5 wins out of 6 nominations is still a record for a film with no Best Picture nom. Lana wasn’t alone in being snubbed as director Vincente Minnelli also missed out. Unaccountably Gloria Grahame won Supporting Actress for her totally forgettable wife role. Lana didn’t even get nominated for this sensational display of top rate emoting…..
Peyton Place
The start of her helmet haired, demurely dressed, mother phase which, unlikely as it seems, proved to be the most financially successful of her whole career. It’s hard to believe that this is what put her on Oscar’s radar although 1957 wasn’t exactly a banner year for Best Actress. I even know a very respected Oscarologist who give her the win (???). I won’t go that far but certainly don’t begrudge our heroine getting nommed for this gigantic hit, at an age when most stars of her ilk are beginning to fade away.
Imitation of Life
Another colossal box office smash, this classic got a lukewarm reception on release, but the subsequent critical reappraisal makes it Lana’s most beloved film today. To be honest I don’t really get the appeal. There’s something about Sirk’s artificiality that leaves me cold, but it was certainly rude of the Academy nominate her two Supporting co-stars and snub Ms Turner. Having said that, she agreed to a percentage of their films takings rather than a fee up front and made an absolute fortune when the it became one of the year’s biggest hits, so I doubt she was too disappointed.
Madame X
Madonna can’t be wrong. Ok so we can all agree that by 1966 Lana was a star out of her time and the chances receiving any kind of Academy attention for the umpteenth remake of the hoary old chestnut were slim to none. With that year’s nominees including two Foreign Language performances for the first time ever and two hot, young icons of Swinging London, Lana’s melodramatic turn was old fashioned to say the least. But as my good friend and Oscar scholar Dashiell M. Silva says…….
I’ve openly said many times that Lana really deserved a nom for MADAME X (1966). She has like 6 different hair colours, ages over 30 years, goes from Future Senator’s wife, to fugitive, to sex worker in Mexico, to death row inmate. Ugh. THE RANGE!
— Dashiell M. Silva (@dashiellsilva) June 28, 2020
It’s true. I mean good as Liz is in Virginia Woolf could she carry off this many hairstyles??? People have been nominated for far less.
Lana and her Madame X lewks
Over 30 years of an A List career Lana Turner proved time and time again that she was more than just a pretty face. While she may not be revered for her acting chops she’s firmly established in the pantheon of all time Hollywood greats. It’s just a pity Oscar didn’t appreciate her as much as audiences did.
Reader Comments (21)
Too bad she didn't get the lead in Where Love Has Gone
You have to see Lana in "Love Has Many Faces" (1965) a camp melodrama about beach boys in Acapulco and the rich women who pay for them!
I checked out with the "There’s something about Sirk’s artificiality that leaves me cold..." line. [Eye roll.]
Great article - I have many blind-spots when it comes to Lana Turner, though have always been annoyed that she missed a nomination for Imitation Of Life, in which I think she is pretty great (Juanita Moore's performance is one for the ages and the star of the show... but I don't really understand Susan Kohner's acclaim - she was never better than "fine" to me).
Lana's performance in Peyton Place is not good. I really love her in The Bad and The Beautiful--that's probably her best performance.
Jennifer Jones is terrific in Duel In the Sun.
Jennifer Jones and her brown face in Duel in the Sun is not terrific.
Lana Turner is all we need to fight coronavirus.
A real movie star. All she needed was a ladder, a lipstick and a car.
There's a story of a fire breaking out in her apartment building sometime in the 80's. Forced to evacuate Lana just picked up the essential - her cigarettes, her lipstick and her hairdryer. What a LEGEND!!!
Lana was a treue star and a medicore actress.
Jennifer Jones was a totally self conscious actress, but quite beautiful.
I think Lana's nod for PP was much like Katharine Hepburn's in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? A decent but unexceptional performance receives a career acknowledgement nomination when it is perceived that their star period is coming to an end.
How wrong the Academy was about both, though the circumstances that propelled that second act revival were very different.
It really is a pity Lana didn't make it in for either Postman or Bad and the Beautiful, I love the others mentioned but those two really are her best work. Peyton Place was such a huge success so even if Lana's Constance wasn't her customary flashy role she benefited from all the attention the film garnered. From what I've read she never expected to win realizing that Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve was too powerful to be beaten.
She was truly a Movie Star being able to enliven even the worst clunkers MGM handed her and there were several of those.
If I were a betting man, and I'm shocked that gambling is allowed!, I would have bet that Lana DID have a second nomination for "Imitation of Life". Love that movie!
Lana is great in Bad and the Beautiful. 1957 had such a dull supporting actress lineup that if she was nominated there I would vote for her.
Brooksboy I love Jennifer Jones as much as anyone but Duel in the Sun is not good. Her final scene where she realizes how doomed her plan is turning out is ok but the two hours leading up to it are terrible. The main goal of the film seems to be "let's prove that Jennifer Jones has breasts" because the camera keeps pointing to them. The director isn't helping or even directing her. Let's celebrate her truly better performances like in Madame Bovary, Carrie, and Towering Inferno.
The Bad and the Beautiful is Lana's best work and the performance that should have gotten her the nomination. Perhaps the problem was that the story structure didn't give her enough screen time to be considered as a strong lead actress contender? As a star actress, she and her studio would not have wanted her to be placed in supporting. She would have been far more deserving a winner than her co-star Gloria Grahame, an actress that I really like but cannot get behind that Oscar win.
I also agree that Madame X was a great performance from her, but given the number of times the story was made and the era in which her version was released, she didn't stand a chance of getting a nomination.
I'm not a fan of Imitation of Life and her performance. It's the one film of Sirk's major works that I find overrated. I prefer the 1934 version with Claudette Colbert.
Turner was really good in Johnny Eager (1942). She and Robert Taylor had great chemistry together.
Lana Turner absolutely mega star in Postman. Who wouldn’t do what John Garfield does for a dame like her.
I don't need to defend Duel in the Sun, because Martin Scorsese has already called it one of his favorite films. And the insightful, thoughtful Keith Phipps of the AV Club writes: "Beautifully filmed, overheated, uneven, and in many ways troubling, Duel In The Sun may be little talked about outside of discussions of Martin Scorsese (it's the first film he ever saw), but it's well worth seeing. Boasting a "cast of 2,500," it's a grand spectacle, and as an example of how much psychological complexity could be squeezed into the seemingly simple formulas of the studio system, few surpass it. It may not have the decades of curious affection behind it that Gone With The Wind does—perhaps because its dark streak is much closer to the surface—but it's every bit as compelling."
Mic drop.
If in 1966 Raquel Welch was considered a contender for Fantastic Voyage, Lana could easily be an “almost there” for me, even if maybe she was a very longshot. I remember she received in Italy a David (Italian main film award) as best foreign actress for Madame X and she was quite proud about it.
Duel in the sun is a great spectacle, flawed of course but still great
I love Jennifer Jones. Her winning performance in 1943 is possibly my favourite of the 40's but she totally come a cropper in Duel In The Sun. Writhing about and pouting she's desperately trying to act sexy instead of actually being so. Beautiful as she is it's just in her repertoire. This needed a proper movie star whose magnetism would have explained why brothers are shooting each other over her. Calling Rita or Ava who would have killed this but almost certainly been snubbed come Oscar time.
Lana deserved some kind of reward for the restraint she showed in TPART. How she kept her hands off John's lugs I'll never know.
Wonderful appraisal of the Turner mystique and the blindness of Oscar to what a great performance can be. But I'm disappointed and perplexed that one of her best movies was not mentioned; namely, that masterwork from circa 1960: "Portrait in Black." Re-uniting Lana with her Imitation of Life co-stars John Gavin and Sandra Dee, it tosses in Anthony Quinn for good measure and scores a camp knockout!
I just (re)watched The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Lana Turner is absolutely A+ in it. It's easy to see why James M. Cain, the acclaimed author (see also: Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity), was so taken with her depiction of Cora. She delivered on all counts, God bless her.