Gloria(Liz Taylor) is usually described as a high price call girl or prostitute, but she made it very plain that she didn't think of herself as such, as she refused to accept money, gifts or privileges for her 'services'. She claimed she chose her bed partners, rather than them choosing her. And, since she didn't charge them, technically, they weren't gigolos. The way she saw it, sex should be mutually pleasurable to both partners. Thus, neither should pay the other for their 'services'. At least, that's how it was supposed to work in her world. Thus, technically, she was just the town's most popular tramp. She explains that she was initiated into sex at age 13, by a friend of her mother's, while her mother was away for a week. And, she loved it! Didn't think of it as abuse. That got her started looking for sexual adventures.
Rather late in the film, Gloria ends up with a mink coat of the wife(Emily) of her then main boyfriend: Weston Liggett(Lawrence Harvey). Initially, she borrowed it as something from Weston's closet for her to wear, while Emily was away visiting her sick mother, since Weston had torn her dress. She went to see her platonic friend Steve(Eddie Fisher), who arranged for his girlfriend, Norma(Susan Oliver) to bring over one of her dresses, as she was about Gloria's size. Gloria left the mink at Steve's, and forgot about it for a few days. Unfortunately, she waited too long to return it, as she saw Emily(Dina Merril) returning home. Emily soon noticed it missing and queried Weston about it. He didn't have a good answer, but said he would look into it. Later, he happens to meet Gloria in a restaurant, already drunk. He berates Gloria about the mink, and about her persona, in general. After he gets in a fight with the manager, Gloria drives him home. She gives him the mink, hoping he can come up with a reasonable-sounding story to tell his wife. But, Emily is watching them from an upstairs window. She sees Gloria give the mink to Weston, and him throw it back at her, saying he didn't want to give it to his wife, after it had been worn by such a disreputable person. Thus, she ended up with the mink, and motored to see friend Steve. There, she sobbed that, in possessing the mink, that made her a high-priced call girl. However, I don't agree with her hysterical logic.
Many reviewers criticize Eddie Fisher's acting, and even Eddie said he hated his acting and the film. However, I, for one, didn't see anything wrong with his acting. He was Liz's current husband, and famous for his singing, but not for acting. ........... Weston's wife, Emily, seemed awfully blasé about Weston's womanizing, and his claim that he was preparing to divorce her, and marry Gloria. When told about Gloria's untimely death, she expressed her sorrow!
Steve and Norma are a secondary romantic couple, who presumably married, as they claimed they would immediately, the last time we saw them. However, for a time, Norma was weary of Steve's strong friendship with Gloria, based on a long time knowing each other, and, at one moment, she gave him an ultimatum to choose between them. But Steve calmed her, she trusting his word that he had no sexual relationship with Gloria.
Although Liz, surprisingly, won her first Oscar, and the film was popular enough to earn MGM a handsome profit, neither she nor Eddie was pleased with the film.
The film was based upon the 1935 novel by John O'Hara. From reading a few reviews of the book, I should point out that, unlike in the film, as described by Gloria, she was traumatized, not exhilarated, by the sexual abuse as a young teen. In either case, this was blamed for her later promiscuity. Also, in the book, Gloria was 22y.o., not the late 20s Liz Taylor.
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