Sunday, June 10, 2012

Lizabeth Scott (1922-)

The ultimate femme fatale.

“The privilege of being a screen actor is having the opportunity of seeing yourself as others see you. Believe me, it is very traumatic. When I saw myself, I thought, Get a train ticket and leave.

With Burt Lancaster in I Walk Alone (1948).

“I dont want to be classed as a personality. Something to stare at. I want to have my talents respected, not only by the public, but by myself.

Technicolor brilliance in Desert Fury (1948).

“Theres no point putting your heart and soul into a part when you know in advance it isnt worth the trouble. Im not speaking as a dedicated actress. Enthusiasm and hard work are requisites for any job a person undertakes. I tried working just for money once and it made me almost physically ill.

With Humphrey Bogart in Dead Reckoning (1947)

[On Bogart] “He didnt take acting seriously at all. I remember after we had worked together for a week or so, he said to me, You know, some days I come in here and I feel so ridiculous, so stupid. Being an actor is crap. Really, I felt that he disparaged, somewhere in his subconscious, being an actor when he was in front of the cameras.” (1974 interview with Robert Porfirio)

Lobby card for Dark City (1950).


“By the time I did Pitfall, I realized when you do your best work, you really have to save it for when the cameras rolling, so I learned to love the camera. I adore the camera. I dont mean I used to yearn for a close-up or anything. I mean I adored it most when a close-up came because I could make love to the camera, and even though my character might need a pair of eyes and a human being to relate to, I never tried to hold back as an actress.” (1974 interview with Robert Porfirio)


Happy new year, indeed.


“Maybe there was a script or two when I was borrowed that I might not have believed in totally. But by the time I started a film, I believed in it totally, because, before Id start any film, Id make a psychological makeup of my character. And once I had that in hand, I knew her motivation. If there was no motivation in the script for what she did, I always psychologically made one up so that my path could be clear as an actress, and as that character in that film.” (1996 interview with Carole Langer)

My favorite Lizabeth Scott films: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Dead Reckoning (1947), Desert Fury (1948), I Walk Alone (1948), Pitfall (1948), Too Late for Tears (1949), Dark City (1950), Two of a Kind (1951), The Racket (1951), Bad for Each Other (1953), Pulp (1972)  

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