Best movie of this year hands down!

the audience applauded

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

I saw this most memorable movie on television, late night, when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I was drawn into it from that time. I saw it on only one other occasion.From the start, the story compels the viewer to keep watching to the end. The combination of real acting, directing, cinematography and the riveting story that spans many years is impossible to resist.I saw this fine film about 10 years after I first saw it. I was never given the chance to see it again. I would give anything to own a copy this unique film for my own benefit.John Martin, 46, Texas

We have come, over the years, to venerate the famous, no matter how good the work they turn out. Paddy Chayevsky wrote some great works, MARTY, of course, for one. THE GODDESS is not one of the them. In order to make a "well made play", Chayevsky leaves out a great deal of much needed character development. Things happen quickly; too quickly in fact, to either have a semblance of truth or make us feel anything for any of the characters. Instead of agonizing over the rise and fall of THE GODDESS, we spend the whole time trying to piece things together to see if the main character IS based on Marilyn Monroe after all. Look...instead of a baseball player, she marries a boxer! "Is that supposed to be Joe Mankiewicz talking about her in that scene? Is that Daryll Zanuck inviting her back to his home? Is the film she's talking about supposed to be GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES? ALL ABOUT EVE? What should be a heart wrenching drama, turns out to be instead, a far from subtle, far too short and badly over written Hollywood guessing game.The wonderful Virgil Thompson did the musical score, but here it is totally out of sync with the rest of the film. His jaunty melodies put us in mind of the WPA films he did with Pare Lorentz instead of the background to a human drama. (To see how good a score can be in illustrating the images on the screen, go to Leonard Bernstein's amazing work for ON THE WATERFRONT.) But the acting IS good. Thank goodness we see what a fine actress Kim Stanley was. Some of her moments, especially the quiet ones, are breathtaking. Sometimes, alas, she is allowed to go over the top. At her best in this film she gives one of the screen's greatest performances; at her worst, and there are moments, she is a caricature of every Tennessee William's female character with a little Eunice from MAMA'S FAMILY thrown in for good measure. Happily, the good moments far out number the bad, and one should see THE GODDESS to see why Stanley is so justly venerated. (Lloyd Bridges and Elizabeth Wilson are also good.) THE GODDESS should have been a masterpiece. Instead what we get is nothing more than a fairly good film. No matter how good its pedigree, THE GODDESS turns out to be no more than a mixed blessing.

Paddy Chayefsky's monologue-heavy lambasting of the Sex Symbol mythology, with Kim Stanley as a troubled young woman from Maryland who comes to Los Angeles in the 1940s to work as an actress and becomes a star. Queasy, peculiar melodrama seems to blame show-business for the girl's plight, but we can clearly see from the beginning she's an extremely insecure person, able to attract people but not capable of keeping them. Stanley does everything she can with this role, but she looks much more mature than the men she's paired up with, and Chayefsky does her a disservice by having everyone talk about what a talent she is but never letting us see for ourselves. It's a busy, chatty movie that tries on different themes and then drops them (just as it does most of the male characters). Patty Duke (pre-"The Miracle Worker") has a nice bit near the beginning (playing Stanley as a grade-schooler), the black-and-white cinematography is quite good and there are flashes of interest throughout. ** from ****

As a child growing up in Ellicott City, MD. I was fortunate enough to be in this movie as part of the elementary school class. I remember doing the classroom scene and the school dismissal scene, over and over. But as the years passed, I have searched for a VHS copy of "The Goddess". Now that I have found it, I can obtain it for my children and grandchildren. Lloyd Bridges was one of the great actors of our time, but more importantly, a Hollywood role model as a family man. I guess this was the start of my "showbiz bug". Since that time I have been blessed in the entertainment industry. If you watch the movie "Urban Cowboy" and check out the soundtrack credits at the end, you will see a song called "Hello Texas"(recorded by Jimmy Buffett) which I wrote. Thank you "Goddess" for starting in me at a very young age, the love of the audience and the performance.