bkoganbing
Although Susan Strassberg has been unfairly compared to Katharine Hepburn from the original Morning Glory, it's not quite a fair comparison. Forgetting that there is no one like Hepburn, Strassberg does do a decent job with the material given in Stage Struck. The problem is that the story has been changed and not for the better.Romance was added to this production and it weakens the basic story of a young girl who is so single minded in her determination to be a success in the theater. The characters played by Adolphe Menjou and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in Morning Glory are now played by Henry Fonda and Christopher Plummer. The producer and the playwright now engage in a rivalry for Strassberg which weakens the story.In the original Morning Glory it's made clear from the beginning that Menjou is a love 'em and leave 'em type and he's really got no interest in Hepburn in that direction as he sees she's not the type. Pipe smoking Fairbanks after Hepburn makes good would like to get something going with her, but she's into her art first and for always.But Fonda and Plummer have a civilized rivalry for Strassberg and the story is which one will she choose. That I'm not telling.Stage Struck has some nice location shots of New York in the late Fifties, Broadway and the Greenwich Village area and a bit of Park Avenue. Joan Greenwood is here as the star who falters and allows Strassberg her big break. Greenwood's quirky personality that British films utilized so well is strangely missing here. Herbert Marshall is great as the older actor that C. Aubrey Smith played in Morning Glory.Stage Struck is a nice film, but definitely a come down from Morning Glory.
RanchoTuVu
Susan Strasberg plays Eva Lovelace, an aspiring Broadway actress possessed by some theatric god that directs her to precisely pronounce and deliver each and every word with impeccable timing. She comes to New York by way of Vermont where she performed in numerous summer stock productions and her persistence and personality capture the attention of playwright Joe Sheridan (Peter Cushing) and actor Robert Marley Hedges (Herbert Marshall). Producer Lewis Easton (Henry Fonda) tells her to study the Actor's Studio (would that be Lee Strasberg's school of method acting?) but she doesn't want to dilute her gift by having it altered in an acting school. Strasberg's performance makes and at times almost breaks this picture. It manages to annoy and captivate, often simultaneously. When she delivers Juliet's lines on the stairway of Easton's swank townhome after drinking four or five glasses of Champaigne in front of a party of theater luminaries, it knocks you out. It is as if Eva Lovelace is playing Susan Strasberg. In any event, she (Strasberg) has an unusual beauty and sincerity that come shining through in spite of the theatrics.
geoff-161
Was Susan Strasberg over the top? Absolutely.I made the mistake of not turning the TV off while preparing for bed and Stage Struck came on. I thought I'd just watch a moment or two and hit the sack.Well, I watched the whole thing. I couldn't turn it off.Susan Strasberg was most certainly over the top. But, the amazing feat was that Eva was not totally and completely obnoxious. Instead, she was lovely and thoroughly likable. (Unlike Katherine Hepburn who made Eva obnoxious in Morning Glory.)I agree about the chemistry bit - there was none between Fonda and Strasberg. On the other hand, wasn't that the way it was supposed to be? They didn't end up as a couple in the end. Fonda clearly was infatuated with Eva, but what he really loved was her talent.There wasn't any romance in the movie - it was more about never making the romantic connection. Fonda gets his hit, Plummer is now a director to match his success as a playwright, and Strasberg is launched as a potentially great star.The beauty of it is that, because Fonda and Strasberg, and Plummer and Strasber only stuck their toes in the romantic waters, the movie ends with us knowing that the three of them will be great friends and that the truly obnoxious Rita Vernon as delightfully played by Joan Greenwood has been edged out by the much more appealing Eva.There was great chemistry between Herbert Marshall and Susan Strasberg. That was the real romance in the film - they regarded each other with such warmth. Herbert Marshall went from "Who the Hell is this naive creature" to caring deeply for her.
tomassacci
I watched this movie about 15 years ago and I loved it. I have been trying to purchase a copy of it ever since. If any one reads this message and has a copy they would like to sell or can tell me where I can get this movie please help. I would be extremely grateful. Thank You,
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