A Life of Her Own (1950) on Netflix
Lily Brannel James leaves Kansas for New York City, where a modeling agency hires her. Mary Ashlon, a former top model, mentors her and gives her a ceramic shoe for luck.
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- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.3/101,569 votes
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Trailer
Plot summary
A modeling agency in New York City hires Lily Brannel James after she leaves her small hometown in Kansas. Mary Ashlon, a former top model, becomes her mentor and gives her a ceramic shoe as a good-luck charm. Lily becomes a successful model, though the void in her life remains. As a favor to Jim Leversoe, her attorney friend, she spends time with Steve Harleigh, who owns a copper mine in Montana and is in town on business. The two grow close, though both see that nothing lasting can come of it.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Life of Her Own (1950)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Howard Keel, Cary Grant, George Murphy and James Mason were considered for Steve Harleigh before the role went to Wendell Corey, who worked through mid-February 1950; he allegedly asked to be released, though other sources said Lana Turner and George Cukor had him dismissed after an argument, and Ray Milland replaced him.
- Production Code administrator Joseph Breen rejected the original script as "shocking and highly offensive" for its portrayal of adultery and commercialized prostitution; a revised version was found to have "insufficient compensating moral values," and screenwriter Isobel Lennart was required to show that the adulterous situation was wrong and that sinners were punished.
- The original ending had Lily leaping to her death, but the studio insisted on a happier finale; director George Cukor disapproved of the interference and was unhappy with the film as it was released.
- Lana Turner initially refused to star in A Life of Her Own, but MGM executives Louis B. Mayer and Dore Schary demanded that she honor her contract with the studio.
- The main theme of A Life of Her Own was later reused by its composer, Bronisław Kaper, in the 1952 MGM film Invitation.
