Jeanne Eagels

Good production values and interesting performances from Chandler and Novak give this unusual film biography more value than the hackneyed script originally provided. The story, reportedly based on the life of ill-fated Broadway actress Jeanne Eagels, opens with a contradictory statement: "All events in this photoplay are based on fact and fiction." For the rest of the film, the producers couldn't seem to make up their minds which way to take the script. And Novak, as Eagels, seems to go both ways, too, sometimes confused by her split-personality character. She begins the film as a sensuous cooch dancer, shimmying and shaking for carnival owner Chandler, who is per...