A&E worked its magic again, profiling one of Twentieth Century Fox's "premier leading ladies" of the 1940s. Linda Darnell has been somewhat neglected in recent times (the fact that there is no photo of her submitted in her profile here supports this), but she reigned at Fox as one of its most beautiful and talented actresses. She was born in Texas, pushed into performing in beauty pageants at an early age by a stage mother, and finally signed by Darryl F. Zanuck. She made many notable films throughout the early part of her career, when she was in fact only a teenager. "Day-time Wife", "Stardust", "The Mark Of Zorro", "Brigham Young", and "Blood And Sand" were just few of the films that had people flocking to the theaters. When she married a middle-aged cameraman, Zanuck placed her on suspension, but she gained her power back, maturing in such films as "Anna And The King Of Siam", "Hangover Square", "Fallen Angel", "My Darling Clementine", "Forever Amber", "Unfaithfully Yours", "A Letter To Three Wives" and "No Way Out". But her personal life was conflicted: she developed a drinking problem, was unable to bear children (she and her first husband later adopted a baby girl), and she endured three failed marriages, as well as a long-running but unfulfilled affair with the married producer/director Joesph L. Mankiewicz. Her career went into a free fall, she had to work in nightclubs to make ends meet, and once attempted suicide. But her career was showing promise after she made a comeback in the western, "Black Spurs", and her relationship with her daughter was improving when she became trapped in a fire while visiting a friend. By the time she was rescued she was so severely burned that there was no hope of survival. She died in hospital the next day. One thing that this documentary does not touch on is Darnell's lifelong phobia of fire, which haunted her, and she had a fear that she would die as a result of this element.
With interviews with her daughter Lola Marely, sister Undeen Darnell Turner, and fellow actors Richard Widmark, Dorris Bowden Johnson, and the late Alice Faye, as well as producer A.C. Lyles, this biography is a fitting tribute to Darnell, with film clips, photographs and rare home footage.
Worth every minute.
With interviews with her daughter Lola Marely, sister Undeen Darnell Turner, and fellow actors Richard Widmark, Dorris Bowden Johnson, and the late Alice Faye, as well as producer A.C. Lyles, this biography is a fitting tribute to Darnell, with film clips, photographs and rare home footage.
Worth every minute.