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Bookmark this pageThe Sex Symbol (1974)
Director: David Lowell Rich
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The biopic at its most seedy and vulgarly full-blown, scripted by 'Hollywood Ten' blacklist victim Alvah Bessie from his own novel The Symbol. Dripping with clichés, it's based, perhaps too closely for some, on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Connie Stevens acts as far as the title and the camera's preoccupation with her cleavage will allow, displaying at least a talent for tantrums. The film's value, if any under the leering censoriousness and tatty analysis, lies in its stripping of illusions to reveal the pathetic vulnerabilities underneath. A callous, if unintentional, exposé of a myth, and another instance of Hollywood's insensitivity towards itself. This version, prepared for cinema release, is half-an-hour longer than the original shown on American TV under threat of libel action.Author:
Cast & crew
Director: David Lowell Rich
Producer: Douglas S Cramer
Cast: Connie Stevens, Shelley Winters, Jack Carter, William Castle, Don Murray, James Olson, Nehemiah Persoff, Madlyn Rhue full cast
Duration: 110 mins
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