Load of rubbish!!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Director Lewis Zarken (Peter Finch) was married to beautiful actress Lylah Clare (Kim Novak). Lylah died (in 1948) under mysterious circumstances and he vowed never to direct again. Twenty years later he meets Elsa Brinkman (Novak again) and becomes obsessed with remaking her as Lylah while directing a movie on her life.This has become infamous as one of the worst movies ever made. I don't think it's even close to being the worst but it certainly isn't good. The plot is silly and some of the dialogue is REALLY dumb but it's never dull and is a LOT of fun to watch! I THINK this is supposed to be a satire on Hollywood but it seems like they're taking it seriously! Most of the acting is over the top matching the script. Finch chews the scenery but is clearly enjoying it; Ernest Borgnine yells his whole role; Coral Browne shows up as an incredibly vicious columnist and a very young Michael Murphy walks around looking bewildered. Only Novak and Rossella Falk give restrained performances. Novak is very good in a dual role and Falk plays a lesbian--very daring for 1968.It's a really silly film but I enjoyed every stupid line and revelled in the performances. Good luck finding it--I don't think it was ever released on DVD (small wonder). TCM does show it every once in a while. Ignore the R rating this has (probably because of the mild lesbian content)--it would get a PG-13 today. And can ANYONE tell me what that dog commercial is about at the end? I give it an 8.

I just caught this yesterday, home with the flu. It certainly reminded me of Vertigo. Kim Novak takes someone's breath away because she reminds someone mysteriously of Lylah. Kim agrees to take the lead in a movie about Lylah. She is then made into Lylah's image -- recorded for all time in a painting. The difference from Vertigo: in Vertigo you eventually find out Kim is acting in a con; in this movie, the viewer is left to wonder if Lylah's ghost is taking over Kim. In Vertigo, the lead male suffers from vertigo; in this movie, Kim Novak suffers from Vertigo.When Kim's voice becomes Lylah, it's laughable. The whole movie is so bad, it's almost good.

THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE looks initially like some sort of camp classic. Don't expect a companion piece to VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, however. Kim Novak plays a mousy aspiring actress picked to portray Lylah Clare, a Marlene Dietrich/Greta Garbo-type screen goddess from Hollywood's golden era who died tragically 30 years before, in a screen version of her life. Under the tutelage of Peter Finch, Lylah's director and husband, Novak is transformed physically and psychologically into the screen star. Along the way, we're treated to three different versions of Lylah's death(kitschy flashbacks in watery black and white framed with lurid red borders, with Novak's close-up in the corner of the screen), a great bitch-out scene between Novak as Lylah and a crippled gossip-columnist hag based on Louella Parsons, a lesbian drama coach, and Novak spouting dubbed, throaty, German-accented dialogue. The make-up job on Novak to make her look like Lylah really doesn't reflect 1930s movie glamour; with her teased and bleached bob, frosted pink lips, and inch-thick eyeliner, she looks more like Dusty Springfield than Jean Harlow. Despite all this, the film isn't some out-of-control camp fest. Really. No scenery chomping, bad dubbed singing sequences, emotional breakdowns, down-and-dirty catfights, or the like. The only fault with a performance might be with Novak during her fits when she impersonates Lylah, throwing her head back to laugh maniacally in that throaty, faux-Garbo accent. Still, its the only real fault in an otherwise competent film. Aldrich is hardly subtle with his digs at the Hollywood system and corruption, but they come out during the course of his characters' conversations and aren't sensationalized. Too many good performances and sympathetic characters to keep it from being an all-out guilty pleasure, but still engaging

Another piece of yesterday from Robert Aldrich, filthied-up through his askew, slightly campy/slightly too-serious vision. We never know where we sit with an Aldrich movie; he enjoys setting up a comfortable scenario before wickedly pulling the rug out from under his audience. He exposes all the weaknesses of Kim Novak as an actress, brutally letting the puckered blonde look silly (at her expense) and without ever giving her a fair shot at a meaty scene. The opening moments are richly evocative, but they don't last long: Kim (in a mousy wig) hangs out in a dingy apartment in Hollywood, surrounded by old movie magazines. Turns out she resembles a long-deceased movie queen named Lylah Clare and is quickly tapped to star in a picture of the actress' doomed life--to be directed by Lylah's widower husband! Bits of satire, supernatural elements and symbolism muddy up this stew, though I admit to being engrossed by it all. Peter Finch, as always, is worth watching, and Novak's mere presence is tantalizing (even if her acting is not). Frank De Vol's background score is lush, and I loved some of the set-pieces and overwrought melodrama. As for the ending, I would have a tough time explaining it to anyone, except to say that it is Aldrich's stamp as a director to go over-the-top. Here, he goes a little bit over-the-edge as well. ** from ****