The Actress
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The Actress is a 1953 American drama film.
Based on Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play Years Ago, it focuses on young Ruth Gordon Jones, a teenaged student who dreams of a theatrical career after being mesmerized by a performance of The Pink Lady in a Boston theatre. Encouraged to pursue her dream by leading lady Hazel Dawn in response to a fan letter she sent her, Ruth schemes to drop out of school and move to New York City, much to the dismay of her father, a former seaman now working at a menial factory job, who urges her to continue her education and become a physical education instructor instead. When Ruth's audition with a leading producer proves disastrous and the girl's enthusiasm is crushed, her father offers to support her during her first few months in New York if she will at least get her high school diploma.
The film basically is a series of vignettes involving Ruth, her parents, her best friends, and the college boy romantically pursuing her. Although Gordon did in fact become an accomplished Academy Award-winning actress and a successful writer, the film ends before the audience knows if the girl will achieve her goals. Oddly enough, based on the emoting she displays to her family in an effort to convince them she is destined for the stage, one would think her chances were slim.
Gordon herself wrote the screenplay, which was directed by George Cukor. The cast included Teresa Wright, Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, and Anthony Perkins.
The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Black-and-White Costume Design. Tracy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Drama and was nominated for a BAFTA as Best Foreign Actor. Simmons was named Best Actress by the National Board of Review, and Gordon's screenplay was nominated Best Written American Comedy by the Writers Guild of America despite the fact it was far more dramatic than comedic.
