Nobody will ever confuse actresses Gene Simmons and Ruth Gordon. This is based upon Gordon's autobiographical play "Years.Ago" that reveals how she got bitten by the acting bug and the struggles she had to face in her own family to make the move to New York to become one of their most successful actresses, eventually becoming a screenwriter and later an Oscar-winning character actress. Simmons is excellent, scaring on lovingly as she watches an early musical on tour in her local theater. She writes to the star, and gets a nice letter back and eventually, this leads her to make contacts who express interest in her. You really don't get to see Simmons acting onstage herself, as this focuses mainly on the conflicts Simmons faces with poppa Spencer Tracy who is opposed to her career choice. Tracy isn't a brute as a father, only concerned for her well-being, and if being "Father of the Actress" could be an alternative title for this, it's obvious that he'll be hatch her opening night, cheering her on with love along with wife Teresa Wright.
The young Anthony Perkins is amusing as Simmons' boyfriend, the typical all American boy who faces a romantic night with Simmons in her home where off camera, you hear Tracy and Wright making all sorts of noises then Tracy complaining about Perkins still being there. Another sequence features Mary Wickes as a female athletes performing a calisthenics routine. It is very bizarre, and sadly, she gets no dialogue. What a waste for one of the stage and screen's great wisecrackers to not even get to speak! The mixture of comedy and drama (directed with care by George Cukor) makes this a nice slice of life in the experiences of one of stage and screen's great performers, and indeed, it does feel like you've gone back in time through a kaleidoscope of memories, although outside the performances and situations is missing that little something extra that would have made this great.
The young Anthony Perkins is amusing as Simmons' boyfriend, the typical all American boy who faces a romantic night with Simmons in her home where off camera, you hear Tracy and Wright making all sorts of noises then Tracy complaining about Perkins still being there. Another sequence features Mary Wickes as a female athletes performing a calisthenics routine. It is very bizarre, and sadly, she gets no dialogue. What a waste for one of the stage and screen's great wisecrackers to not even get to speak! The mixture of comedy and drama (directed with care by George Cukor) makes this a nice slice of life in the experiences of one of stage and screen's great performers, and indeed, it does feel like you've gone back in time through a kaleidoscope of memories, although outside the performances and situations is missing that little something extra that would have made this great.