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The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
A must-see for aficionados of bad films!, 22 marzo 2000

Author: Bryce David (brycedavidzon@excite.com)

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Words alone cannot express how wonderfully wretched THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE is. I'm surprised it hasn't attain cult status. It's a super strange combo of VERTIGO + THE EXORCIST + SUNSET BOULEVARD + REBECCA + and the film careers of either Garbo or Dietrich. Lylah Clare predates THE EXORCIST. It's also obvious Kim Novak was chosen because of her double role in VERTIGO. And like another Hitchcock classic, REBECCA, LOLC is about a girl living in the shadow of a deceased, more powerful and subsequently beloved/hated woman.

The film doesn't make one iota of sense. The story is about a washed-up director who wants to make a movie of the life of legendary Bavarian actress Lylah Clare, who died in sordid, mysterious circumstances on her wedding night. The director is inspired to do the "Lylah Clare: Film Star" motion picture after meeting a woman who looks exactly like her (they're both played by Kim Novak. How clever!). They've been looking for someone to play the legendary movie star for 20 years.

As I already mentioned, Kim Novak plays both Lylah Clare and Elsa Brinkmann/Campbell. A too young Peter Finch plays the director, Lewis. There's a woman, Rosalla (played by Rosalla Falk with a super heavy Italian accent. She's my favorite character in the film), who's a lesbian/heroin addict, and then there's Bart, the wanna-be producer who's dying of liver cancer! I call Lewis, Rosalla and Bart the "trio of terror" because they bitch nonstop! Every word is an insult or a sharp retort. From the moment Elsa walks in the gaudy mansion, the trio of terror abuse her incessantly. Most would have left in a New York minute but because the film's narrative is illogical, Elsa stays with the sordid bunch.

LOFC revolves around the idea that in recreating the Lylah Clare legend for a film, Elsa inadvertently becomes caught up by the aura and legend of the famous star, which includes her 'unfortunate' past. Elsa gradually loses her identity, being Elsa one second and Lylah the next. We see three flashbacks (or reveries?) throughout the movie showing what happened on that pivotal night when Lylah died. The three flashbacks contradict each other. They're almost impossible to describe and they have to be seen to be believed! I have to admit that the flashbacks are my favorite part of the movie, mainly because they're totally unique.

What's really amazing is when Elsa is possessed by the real spirit of the deceased movie star, a la EXORCIST. From time to time, Elsa/Lylah bursts into brazen, loutish rants, always at the right dramatic moments. In fact, even when Elsa enters the Lylah Clare mansion for the very first time, she's taken over momentarily by the ghost of Lylah. And to make things even more weird, whenever Elsa is possessed by Lylah's spirit, her voice changes. It takes on a terrible German accent and becomes very manly! In the flashback scenes, Lylah's voice is that of a man ("keep your filthy hands off me").

This idea of having Elsa possessed by the spirit of Lylah and dub Novak's voice was a last minute decision made during post-production. Kim Novak wasn't even aware of this decision, which apparently totally embarrassed her at the film's premiere. The reason why the director did this was because for Elsa to know so many personal and private things about Lylah didn't make any sense whatsoever. The director tried to correct this by having Elsa become possessed by Lylah during those crucial shouting scenes. But because the decision to dub her voice and make Elsa appear she was possessed was done AFTER the film was shot, the whole thing created even more problems than it was supposed to rectify. For example, the possession scenes were shot straight: just as Elsa spouting off the campy dialogue. The people or characters interacting with Elsa don't notice that she's possessed or there's a change in her voice because Elsa was Elsa, not Lylah. The possession scenes create such a surreal effect that's so subtle that if you don't pay any attention, you won't notice it. But it's there and it's very bizarre and, imho, gives this movie its unique surreal quality.

The dialogue is priceless! "We're moving like a deeply offended Tibetan yak!" Lewis says to Elsa as he inspects her walking down the mansion's ridiculously designed staircase on their first meeting.

"I've never seen a woman yet who hasn't got a whore locked-up inside of her somewhere!" Lewis notes to Elsa.

The dialogue is reason alone for watching LOLC. Combine all of this with the confusing film-within-a-film storyline with the artificial direction by Aldrich, the overacting all-star cast (only Coral Browne and Falk survive unscathed), the bad and often inappropriate music by DeVol, the cheap look of the film and Novak, ill-fitted in tacky clothes and looks terrible throughout (well, except when she's in her black bra and underwear), and you have one deliriously bad film. The film wants to be a parody of Hollywood but the very slow, dream-like pacing and the heavy-handedness of it destroy all those intentions. And because the parody doesn't work and because it certainly doesn't work as a standard drama, LYLAH CLARE is doubly awful. In other words, it's fantastic! It's my top best worst film ever. As a standard drama 1/10. As a it's-so-bad-it's-good flick, it's a perfect 10/10! What can you say about a movie that effectively killed Kim Novak's career? Maybe it's because she dies 5 times on screen?

And I haven't even mentioned anything about the brain-numbingly ridiculous multiple faux endings: at the circus set; finale of movie projected on big screen; movie premiere itself; Rossala with gun; and (phew) dog food ad. The plethora of inconsistencies and hard to swallow aspects (when Elsa dies, the director keeps filming. LMAO!). The opening credits actually mentioning the infamous dog food ad. Or the hilarious brush-your-hair-like-Lylah scene. A truly amazing film!

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A carousel of deluded souls, 10 agosto 2001

Author: moonspinner55 da redlands, ca

Another piece of yesterday from Robert Aldrich, filthied-up through his askewed, slightly campy/slightly too-serious vision. We never know where we sit with an Aldrich movie--he enjoys setting up a comfortable scenario, then wickedly pulls 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, with Kim (in a mousy wig) surrounded by movie magazines in a dingy Hollywood apartment, are richly evocative. Turns out Novak resembles a long-deceased movie queen and is tapped to star in a picture of the actress' life--to be directed by the woman's real-life husband! Bits of satire, supernatural elements, and symbolism muddy up this stew--but 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). DeVol'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 ****

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13 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
The awfulness becomes riveting - one of the great worst movies, 28 agosto 2005

Author: graham clarke (grahamclarke@earthling.net)

Robert Aldrich had a solid career which includes some extremely fine work such as "Kiss Me Deadly" and "The Big Knife" from his early period. He handled large action movies ("The Dirty Dozen") with the same craftsmanship as small .intimate pieces, ("The Killing of Sister George"). In both "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" and perhaps his most famous movie "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane", there is a definite camp touch which is carefully controlled in that it never derails the proceedings but only adds much to the general enjoyment of these films as a whole.

"The Legend of Lylah Clare" is a film that cannot be derailed, since from the very first frame it's clearly out of control. What proceeds is a very bumpy ride indeed. The question that remains is just how much of this was intentional. Can one consciously make actors perform so ludicrously, and if so, just what is the point ? It's seems totally unfeasible that a director with Aldrich's record should allow these poor actors to humiliate themselves in having to deliver the most preposterous dialog imaginable. Perhaps it's his hate letter to Hollywood. Aldrich who steered clear of the tyranny of Hollywood by establishing his own production company, paints a truly crass portrait of the movie industry. The point is that this is not an intelligent, witty or biting take on the industry, it's simply a grotesque movie which really has to be seen to be believed. Actors with vast experience such as Peter Finch and Ernest Borgnine are made to look like total amateurs in the business. And then there's Kim Novak. (One can only wonder what Tuesday Weld made of the role in the original television version.) Perhaps one should not be too surprised that this was her last American movie, and the signal of the beginning of the end of her somewhat shaky career.

Novak was apparently thrust into stardom far too fast. Her radiant screen presence may have been captivating but there was little real talent behind the looks. What she did exude was a vulnerability which seems to be founded on her justified lack of confidence as an actress. Columbia groomed her as a potential new Marilyn Monroe. But no matter what dark complexes were lurking beneath Monroe's screen presence, she always made us believe she was having a ball. That was her genius. Novak always seems uncomfortable and decidedly awkward. It's something that at times may have worked in her favor, but ultimately her lack of having what it really takes could not be disguised. Lylah Clare is a role that many a Hollywood actress of the time could really have sunk their teeth into. Novak simply does not have a clue what to do with it and director Aldrich leaves her stranded.

The awfulness of this movie becomes riveting in itself. You'll probably want to see it through to the end. One of the greatest worst movies of all time.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
too competent to be camp, 16 agosto 2001
Author: thomandybish da Weaverville, NC

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

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
true classic!, 28 aprile 2001

Author: kreeper (kreeper@mindspring.com) da atlanta, ga

words can not describe the sheer genius of this classic piece of bad cinema. it is no wonder that directors love to kill kim novak-in this case (as in vertigo) not once but twice!-she certainly murders the thespian art. it just goes to show that it takes a group of extremely talented people to make a truly cinematic camp masterpiece-it was a joy from start to finish. and what an ending!! surrealistic and sublime!! you must catch this and relish it-i promise you will love every minute of it :)

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
"Legend" won't die., 25 gennaio 2007

Author: Poseidon-3 da Cincinnati, OH

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Legendary for being "flamboyantly awful", as Leonard Malton put it, this outrageously rotten film entertains for all the wrong reasons. It's hard to believe that this psychedelic piece of dreck came from the same director who helmed the comparatively stark and tense "Flight of the Phoenix", among other fine films. Novak plays a mousy, rather backward and shy actress who is recruited by agent Selzer and introduced to reclusive director Finch to play the title figure, a phenomenally successful actress who died an untimely and mysterious death. Finch hasn't been able to direct again since the star married him and died soon after, but is intrigued enough by Novak (who plays both roles) to give the project a try. Soon, Novak is transformed completely and is paraded out before the press where she has an unfortunate run-in with bitter, crippled columnist Browne and suddenly takes on the persona (and guttural German voice!) of the deceased legend. Lylah is an amalgamation of Dietrich, Monroe, Harlow and any number of other famed screen goddesses. As work on the film progresses, Novak continues to fall under the dead woman's spell, eventually beginning to shrink behind a harsher, more bravura facade, to the point where her own life is at stake. Novak, though her face and figure are in stunning condition, is made to look quite awful at times during the film. She's given a blonde wig with a wall of low-riding bangs that obscure her eyebrows and some of her eyes. Oddly, since it was not flattering, it's a look that Novak would keep for virtually the remainder of her life! She also has nude lips throughout the film, something the 1930's dead actress would never have had and something that does Novak no favors in any case. Some of the costumes are attractive, but many of them are ghastly. Her performance is truly bad on its own, but is hampered even further by atrocious overdubbing whenever she is taken by the spirit of Lylah Clare. There was nowhere to go but up after this startling debacle, but, except for "The Great Train Robbery" and, much later, "The Mirror Crack'd" along with a few other projects, Novak never did much on the big screen again. Finch fares a little bit better, though he leans more towards over-the-top. He's appealingly fit and tan for his age and it's surprising to know that he'd be dead within a decade of this. Borgnine plays a blowhard studio chief and offers his customary bombastic, yet still interesting to watch, brand of acting. Falk plays a lesbian hanger-on and former dialogue coach of the dead actress. When she can be understood, her performance isn't bad. Cortese hams it up amusingly as a flashy costume designer. She's another of many foreign actors who dot the cast roster. She and Borgnine would be reunited years later in an even bigger turkey than this: "When Time Ran Out"! Sprinkled into the film are Borgnine and Finch's "Phoenix" co-stars Tinti (as a swarthy gardener) and Bravos (as the butler.) "The Waltons" fans may enjoy viewing Corby in modern dress as a script girl. Anyone who's ever wanted to see former Miss America Meriwether (briefly) playing a knife-wielding, cross-dressing, lesbian has finally found his Holy Grail. Walking away, so to speak, with the acting honors of the film is Browne who confidently and condescendingly plays an aging and handicapped gossip monger in the mold of Louella Parsons. The film could certainly have used more of her acid presence, but what there is is fascinating. It would be hard to find a more day-glo colored, bizarre MESS of a drama than this concoction, but, even though it is overlong, it's compulsively watchable. Check out Novak's stroll along the Hollywood Walk of Fame in which, during the span of less than a block, she traipses upon one tragic film star case after another (yet she still goes to Finch's house!) Then there's her garden scene in which she languidly walks through the grass wearing only long navy trousers, a bra, and a sweater around her neck! Keep an eye out also for the many instances of prodding. People are forever using fingers, canes, etc... to poke and prod or otherwise intrude upon one another. A series of flashbacks to Lylah and her death are infamously insane. Dreamy soft-focus photography shows her dress being torn off as the characters speak in a warped slow-motion while a little circle in the lower left corner displays Novak's present day face. The whole film is a matter of taste. Those who enjoy a good cackle at audacious badness should lap it up. Others beware.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Fascinating, 23 gennaio 2007

Author: beyondtheforest da United States

It's flawed, yes. It's too long, too slow, and some of the lines and situations are just incomprehensible. On the other hand, its daring in a way most films are not. It dares you to think, imagine, and just relish in the glory if this fictionally great old star. The character of Lylah Clare is based on what seems to be an amalgamation of 1930s icons, not the least of which may include Crawford, Bankhead, Dietrich, Garbo, and Harlow. Then again, she is her own creation. A great subplot concerns the battle of the studio for money-making films and the battle of the director for art. As Ernest Borgnine as the studio head says in one scene, "I don't want to make films. I want to make movies. What do you think we're making here, art?" Kim Novak is well cast and turns in a surprising star turn in a double role, as Lylah Clare and the actress who plays her in a biopic helmed by her late director and husband. The story behind Lylah's death is mysterious and the stuff of legend. Only the director, eager to make a comeback after a 20 year absence from films, seems to know the truth about what happened to Lylah, and he is silent. There are two other superb subplots to the film: one concerns the actress and her possession by the spirit of the late Lylah Clare, and the other subplot concerns the romance between the actress and the director.

The end is shocking. You might not see the eventual conclusion coming. There is terrific symbolism in the dog food advertisement at the end of the film, and the score by DeVol is appropriately lush and atmospheric.

Some of the performances are a bit stilted, as is some of the camera work. The costumes are not always historically correct, but are fetching just the same. The direction is hit-or-miss. The film is way too slow. What holds the film together is the fascinating story and Aldrich's ambition in telling it. He doesn't stop with Lylah's death, but goes on to make a broad and cynical statement about the whole movie industry as a whole. Notice how, when the Lylah's director finally has something deep and heartfelt to say to the reporter, he is cut off. And for what? A dog food commercial. Get it?

Aldrich excelled at dark Hollywood portraits, and this is one of the most intriguing and controversial. No wonder it's so hard to find.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
"WITHOUT a director you're just a vulgar little exhibitionist!", 17 agosto 2005

Author: brefane da United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"The Legend of Lylah Clare", directed by Robert Aldrich, demonstrates that even with a director it's possible to be a vulgar exhibitionist. Dispalys of over the top acting are present in many Aldrich films: "The Big Knife",Autumn Leaves","Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" and "The Grissom Gang". The acting in his best film,"Kiss Me,Deadly", is an exception.

Based on a 1963 teleplay, "The Legend of Lylah Clare" was released the same years as Aldrich's "The Killing of Sister George". Both films provide good roles for the remarkable Coral Browne. "The Legend of Lylah Clare", over 2 hours long, is somewhat laborious but,it's a camp classic executed by some talented people with apparent seriousness, making it all the more jaw dropping. The script is a gaudy,unresolved mixture of "Sunset Boulevard","The Barefoot Contessa", "Vertigo" and Aldrich's "Baby Jane". Aldrich knows how to use the wide-screen and provides some arresting compositions;DeVol's music is wonderfully inappropriate cha cha cha...and the bizarre ending is memorable; a comment perhaps on commercialism and the dog-eat-dog world of Hollywood.

As she did in "Vertigo", beautiful Kim Novak plays a dual role, and as Lylah plays a character who suffers from vertigo. Her performance is amusing and the dubbing is hilarious but,as Lylah she actually looks a little gross in some shots and I have to agree with the poster who noted her resemblance to Dusty Springfield. As the vicious columnist Molly Luther, Coral Browne walks away with the acting honors. The fight she and Novak have seems to have no consequences or follow through. As the Svegali director who doesn't learn from his past mistakes, Peter Finch seems dazed at times, and for decadence Hollywood style, Rosella Falk plays "Rosella":a druggie European lesbian. Falk's Italian-accented Englsh is not always comprehensible. Finch and Falk live in a mansion with a wide staircase that is in serious need of a banister, a handrail or perhaps a diving board. The "girl" who falls off the staircase is former Miss America Lee Meriwether who played "Catwoman" in the movie "Batman"(1966).

The flashbacks on that infamous staircase do not so much contradict one another, as another poster indicated but, each successive version is altered to reveal the truth of what really happened on Lylah's wedding night.

A film like this is difficult to rate on a 1-10 scale; it's of a badness that has to be experienced to be believed. Difficult to find. Let's hope someone releases it on DVD complete with the backstory and the trailer.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting Metafilm, 22 febbraio 2002

Author: Joel Burman da Stockholm, Sweden

This movie surprised me a whole lot. It is about a movie production about a former Superstar actress named Lylah Clare both the role as Lylah and the actress portraying her is played by the stunning Kim Novak.

The film has a complicated structure that is hard to follow sometimes. The ending is especially good and I will not give it away but it will probably surprise most of you. Kim Novak looks better than ever in some scenes and she shows that she can act. However, she is more or less portraying the same role that she played for the rest of her career. You may wonder how much she really acted? Sometimes it feels like she played herself in her movies.

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Kim Novak's Star Turn, 9 settembre 2007

Author: AndersonWhitbeck da United States

Kim Novak was a real Movie Star with hits such as "Picnic" "Pal Joey" "Bell Book and Candle" "Man With The Golden Arm" " Middle Of The Night", "Strangers When We Meet" and Alfred Hitchcok's iconic "Vertigo". After leaving Columbia, Kim Novak made a few films in a row such as "Boys Night Out" at MGM Billy Wilder's "Kiss Me Stupid" with Martin at UA, the very fine remake of "Of Human Bondage" at MGM and Terence Young's frisky "Moll Flanders" at Paramount and was filming "Day of the Arrow" with David Niven for MGM and Filmways and fell of a horse, was injured, and had to leave that picture. Kim Novak then off the screen for 3 years in the mid-60'ssearching for a great returnproject found one in a major MGM production "The Legend of Lylah Clare"directed by red hot Robert Aldrich who had just had a sensational hitin "The Dirty Dozen". The combination of Robert Adrich the gloss of an MGM super production, and the box office bonanza known as Kim Novak should have produced a major hit movie which sadly was a major failure.

Kim Novak headlines a great cast of solid professionals such as Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Coral Browne, George Kennedy, Valentina Cortese, etc. and thefirst part of the movie is fine, very fine. It falls apart at the endand in fact Aldrich dubbed Kim Novak in some of the latter scenes-against her knowledge- and and ends weirdly with a dog commercial tothis day mystifies me.

Kim Novak astoundingly beautiful and as one reviewer noted 'was as close to perfection in the looks department' and gowned by a great Hollywood costumer Renie in fabulous outfits gave it her all and is very fine in this film. Aldrich who knew the Hollywood scene and had a great hit in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" fails here It is said that Kim Novak and Robert Aldrich never spoke after the movie premiered. Who could blame Kim Novak?

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