The Actress

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The Actress
Image:TheActress.JPG Original poster
Directed by	George Cukor
Written by	Ruth Gordon (play and screenplay)
Starring	Spencer Tracy Jean Simmons
Release date(s)	Image:Flag of the United States.svg September 25 1953
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Actress is a 1953 drama film based on Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play Years Ago. Gordon herself wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by George Cukor. The cast included Jean Simmons, Spencer Tracy, Teresa Wright, and Anthony Perkins.

The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Black-and-White Costume Design. Tracy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Drama and was nominated for a BAFTA as Best Foreign Actor. Simmons was named Best Actress by the National Board of Review, and Gordon's screenplay was nominated Best Written American Comedy by the Writers Guild of America, despite being far more dramatic than comedic.

[edit] Plot summary

Teenage student Ruth Gordon Jones (Jean Simmons) dreams of a theatrical career after becoming mesmerized by a performance of The Pink Lady in a Boston theater. Encouraged to pursue her dream by leading lady Hazel Dawn in response to a fan letter she sent her, Ruth schemes to drop out of school and move to New York City, much to the dismay of her father, Clinton Jones (Spencer Tracy), a former seaman now working at a menial factory job, who urges her to continue her education and become a physical education instructor instead. When Ruth's audition with a leading producer proves disastrous and the girl's enthusiasm is crushed, her father offers to support her during her first few months in New York if she will at least get her high school diploma.

The film basically is a series of vignettes involving Ruth, her parents, her best friends, and the college boy romantically pursuing her. Although Gordon did in fact become an accomplished Academy Award-winning actress and a successful writer, the film ends before the audience knows if the girl will achieve her goals.