Jeanne Eagels (film)
| Jeanne Eagels | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | George Sidney |
| Produced by | George Sidney |
| Screenplay by |
John Fante Daniel Fuchs Sonya Levien |
| Story by | Daniel Fuchs |
| Starring |
Kim Novak Jeff Chandler Charles Drake Agnes Moorehead Larry Gates Virginia Grey Gene Lockhart Murray Hamilton |
| Music by |
Mischa Bakaleinikoff George Duning Gil Grau Howard Jackson |
| Cinematography | Robert H. Planck |
| Edited by |
Viola Lawrence Jerome Thoms |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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108 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.1 million (US rentals) |
Jeanne Eagels (also titled The Jeanne Eagels Story) is a 1957 American biographical film loosely based on the life of stage star Jeanne Eagels. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film was produced and directed by George Sidney from a screenplay by John Fante, Daniel Fuchs and Sonya Levien, based on a story by Fuchs.
The film stars Kim Novak in the title role. Jeff Chandler, Charles Drake, Agnes Moorehead, Larry Gates, Virginia Grey, Gene Lockhart and Murray Hamilton co-star.
Many aspects of Eagels' real life were omitted or largely fictionalized. Eagels' family later sued Columbia Pictures over the way Eagels was depicted in the film.
Jeanne Eagels is a Kansas City waitress. After losing a carnival's beauty contest, she asks carny owner Sal Satori for a job. Her dancing in a skimpy costume is accused of being obscene. Sal decides to join his brother in New York and invites Jeanne to join them in an amusement park at Coney Island.
Taking acting lessons instead, the ambitious Jeanne becomes the understudy in a Broadway show and a star when she gets a chance to play the part. A once successful actress named Elsie Desmond wants to make a comeback in a new play, but Jeanne betrays her and takes the play for herself, willing to do anything to get ahead. Elsie denounces her in the theater before the first performance, then commits suicide. Sal is disgusted by Jeanne's behavior as well. She accepts a proposal from a ne'er-do-well named John Donahue, but both descend into alcoholism. Jeanne misses performances and causes fellow actors to lose out on paychecks.
Her situation deteriorates further when she's required to pay alimony to John after a divorce. A new play fails because Jeanne, drunk and on pills, collapses on stage. The actors' guild suspends her for 18 months. Unable to work, she returns to Sal's amusement park and is offered a job dancing. Another performer sexually assaults her in a dressing room. Jeanne, her life in ruins, continues to spiral downward and hallucinate. While trying to make it to a stage one night, she collapses on the staircase and dies.
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