''Forever Female'' is a 1953 black and white film directed by

Irving Rapper Irving Rapper (16 January 1898 – 20 December 1999) was a British-born American film director. Biography Born to a British Jews, Jewish family

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

and

William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...

. It won a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

in 1954.

Plot

The reviews are in and a new play starring Beatrice Page and produced by Harry Phillips is a flop. Long divorced but still a team, they need a new project and meet playwright Stanley Krown, who has written one in which the lead roles are a mother and a 19-year-old daughter. Beatrice wants to play the daughter. She can't pass for 19 but believes she can for 29, so wants the play rewritten. She also displays a romantic interest in Stanley. A young actress first calling herself Sally Carver and then Peggy Pruitt wants an audition. Stanley has her do some typing on his rewrite, and a jealous Beatrice finds her an acting job out of town. Stanley's play previews in Washington, D.C., and flops. Sally, now calling herself Claudia Souvain, tries to persuade Stanley that the actress is too old for the role. Seeing the play in a small town with Sally in the lead, now under her real name of Clara Mootz, convinces Stanley that she is right. Beatrice finally concedes that it's time for her to act her age. She agrees to take the mother's part, and on Broadway the play is a huge success.

Cast

as Beatrice Page *

as Stanley Krown *

Paul Douglas Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senat ...

as E. Harry Phillips *

Pat Crowley Patricia Crowley (born September 17, 1933) is an American actress. She was also frequently billed as Pat Crowley. Early life Crowley was born in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Helen (''née'' Swartz) and coal mining foreman Vincent Cr ...

as Clara Mootz/Sally Carver *

James Gleason James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold." Life and career Gleason w ...

as Eddie Woods * Jesse White as Willie Wolfe *

Marjorie Rambeau Marjorie Burnet Rambeau (July 15, 1889 – July 6, 1970) was an American film and stage actress. She began her stage career at age 12, and appeared in several silent films before debuting in her first sound film, '' Her Man'' (1930). She was t ...

as Older Actress at Bar *

George Reeves George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958). His death at age 45 from a g ...

as George Courtland *

King Donovan King Donovan (January 25, 1918 – June 30, 1987) was an American film, stage, and television actor, as well as a film and television director. Early years Francis King Donovan was born in Manhattan on January 25, 1918. His parents were vaudev ...

as Playwright *

Vic Perrin Victor Herbert Perrin (April 26, 1916 – July 4, 1989)Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether fr ...

as Scenic Designer *Russell Gaige as Theatrical Producer *

Marion Ross Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom ''Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she receive ...

as Patty * Richard Shannon as Stage Manager

Production

The film was originally called ''Rosalind'' then ''Reaching for the Stars''. The role of Clara was meant for

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

. However, she was unavailable and the producer and director were not happy with other girls under contract to Paramount. They saw over 500 actors in New York before settling on Pat Crowley, who made her film debut. At the very end of the film, a clip featuring Pat Crowley is shown with the caption "A future Paramount star". Rogers later wrote in her memoirs that although she liked the script she felt the studio "spent more money publicizing" Crowley "than they did on the entire production." She respected her co stars William Holden and Paul Douglas as actors but said they would go drinking at lunch and form a tight group that excluded her; "they never spoke to me unless I spoke to them." She added that Rapper "was not my type of director. His behaviour was cold and unfeeling. Because of the attitudes on set, I was unhappy I ever became involved with this film."Rogers p 304

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{Irving Rapper 1953 films 1953 comedy films American comedy films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Films scored by Victor Young American films based on plays Films directed by Irving Rapper 1950s American films