Suzy Parker Movies
An elegant, red-haired beauty, high-priced cover-girl-turned-actress Suzy Parker is generally considered the forerunner to modern-day supermodels. Exuding an alluring sense of class that lent her high visibility the 1950s, it's no surprise that Parker was one of the highest-paid models of her generation. Born Cecilia Ann Renee Parker in Long Island, NY, Parker's sister Dorian Leigh (also a popular fashion model) attempted to help her break into the industry by introducing her to renowned modeling agent Eileen Ford, who immediately dismissed the 14-year-old as too tall. Undaunted, Parker next approached Diana Vreeland, who quickly signed her to a contract. It wasn't long before Parker redefined the fashion industry as the face of Coco Chanel, and the rising starlet was subsequently photographed by some of the best in the business. Married to high-school sweetheart Charles Staton early on, the union dissolved as Parker's career ascended, and she would subsequently share a brief marriage with Pierre de la Salle. Audrey Hepburn's character in Stanley Donen's musical comedy Funny Face was based on Parker, and it was in that very film that the model herself would make her feature debut. Ironically spoofing the high-power fashion industry elite, Parker turned heads in the film's "Think Pink" dance number. Later playing opposite Cary Grant (Kiss Them for Me [1957]) and Gary Cooper (Ten North Frederick [1958]), Parker also appeared in a popular episode of the Tarzan television series and an episode of Twilight Zone entitled "Number 12 Looks Just Like You." It was while working as an actress that Parker would meet her third and final husband, actor Bradford Dillman. Though Parker would appear in films well into the 1960s, the happily married couple would move to Montecito in 1968 in a bid to escape the bright lights of Hollywood. On May 3, 2003, Suzy Parker died in Montecito, CA. She was 69. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
This dull House of Wax variant involves a claw-handed escaped maniac (Patrick O'Neal), who rampages through late 19th-century Baltimore on a mission of vengeance. Hot on his trail are the proprietors of a "House of Horrors" wax museum and their Mexican dwarf sidekick Tun-Tun. Initially conceived as a TV movie, this tepid horror-thriller was instead spiced up with additional gore and violence for theatrical release. Apparently this was still not enough, as the producers then decided to add a few William Castle-type gimmicks -- the "Fear Flasher" and "Horror Horn" -- to prepare audiences for upcoming bouts of onscreen bloodletting. Unfortunately, no such device was employed to warn viewers of imminent boredom. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cesare Danova, Wilfrid Hyde-White, (more)
- 1964
This Twilight Zone episode was purportedly adapted by Charles Beaumont from his own short story "The Beautiful People," though it was actually scripted by an uncredited John Tomerlin. The story takes place in a futuristic society where conformity is not only encouraged, it is enforced. Plain-looking but fiercely individualistic Marilyn Cuberle (Collin Wilcox) balks at living in a world where everyone looks and thinks alike, but she may not have any choice in the matter. The episode's principal attraction rests in the multiple characterizations essayed by Suzy Parker, Richard Long, and Pam Austin. "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" first aired January 24, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzy Parker
- 1964
Featuring an all-star cast and on-location shooting in Japan, where the story is set, three US Air Force rescue pilots must overcome their personal problems and differences to embark upon a dangerous mission to save raft-bound Japanese survivors from a murderous storm-tossed sea. As they head for their location, the film flashes back to chronicle the pasts of each pilot to make clear their mixed feelings about their upcoming assignment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark, (more)
- 1962
Using a technique that involves the kind of ensemble acting seen in later long-running, large-cast television programs, director David Swift has tried to tie together the stories of five young interns in this routine drama. One of the interns is a woman who is at odds with the chief surgeon (Telly Savalas), another is involved in an ill-advised abortion simply because he has fallen in love with the patient, a glamorous model (also in real life, played by Suzy Parker). Other stories involve romances that turn out well or ill, depending on the case. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Callan, Cliff Robertson, (more)
- 1961
A British officer is slated to parachute into Normandy. What he doesn't know is that he is being set up by British Intelligence to be captured by the enemy and reveal erroneous information to the Nazis. Officer Raine (Bradford Dillman) is the unknowing soldier who has intentionally been given false information. His superiors justify the expenditure of one man verses the thousands of lives that will be saved by his mission. The unlucky officer faces capture, brutal torture and debilitating guilt leading to alcoholism over his perceived "failure" to keep the information secret. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzy Parker, Bradford Dillman, (more)
A star-studded cast enlivens this glossy '50s soap opera, based on a novel by Rona Jaffe. The action unfolds at the Gotham-based Fabian Publishing, where numerous women work as typists under the aegis of power-wielding, shark-like editor Amanda Farrow (Joan Crawford). Farrow has achieved wealth and success, but is far from idolized by her underlings, who understand clearly that their boss has chalked up all of her accomplishments at the expense of a satisfying personal life. Caroline Bender (Hope Lange) is a recent graduate of a prestigious women's college whose sole desire in life is to marry her college sweetheart Eddie (Brett Halsey; she admits openly that she cares little for power, ambition or career advancement. She gets a job in the secretarial pool of Fabian Publishing and soon takes an apartment with some female co-workers. Caroline quickly realizes that she has a catbird seat to witness the romantic entanglements and office politics of Fabian's many female employees. Farrow is having an affair with a mysterious married man, and Caroline's roommates have tales of their own to tell: April (Diane Baker) has become pregnant by the unscrupulous Dexter (Robert Evans), who suggests she have an abortion; and Gregg (Suzy Parker) has become involved with smooth-talking Broadway director David Wilder Savage (Louis Jourdan), not the most faithful man in the world. Robert Evans's career as an actor came to an end after this film, and he later enjoyed success as a studio head at Paramount Pictures in the 1970s, supervising The Godfather, and serving as producer of such films as Chinatown and Marathon Man. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, (more)
- 1958
Ten North Frederick is a generally satisfying adaptation of one of John O'Hara's weaker novels. Gary Cooper plays wealthy businessman Joe Chapin, whose politically ambitious wife Edith (Geraldine Fitzgerald) hopes to ramrod into the White House. To this end, Edith donates tons of money to the party of her choice and forces Joe into a maelstrom of power meetings and high-profile social engagements. Threatening to upset Edith's plans is her daughter Ann (Diane Varsi), who insists upon conducting a romance with an "undesirable" musician. Joe buys off Ann's boyfriend, thereby alienating his daughter. Soon Joe's chickens come home to roost when a rival politician makes public Ann's indiscretions. Adding insult to injury, Edith lets her husband know about her many extramarital affairs. In hoping to win back his daughter's affections, Joe falls in love with Ann's roomate Kate Drummond (Suzy Parker). Finding true happiness and contentment for the first time in his life, Joe is denied even this balm when he becomes mortally ill. Gary Cooper makes a valiant effort at playing a more complex individual than he was accustomed to, succeeding about 75 percent of the time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Diane Varsi, (more)
Luther Davis' racy wartime comedy Kiss Them for Me was expurgated a bit for the 1957 film version. Cary Grant, Ray Walston and Larry Blyden portray three navy war heroes who've been booked on a morale-building "vacation" in San Francisco. Eluding their ulcerated public relations officer (Werner Klemperer), the trio arranges a wild party with plenty of pretty girls. Cary Grant is paired with knockout Suzy Parker, an icy socialite who eventually thaws under his charms. Also on hand is Jayne Mansfield, playing a "good time girl" whose profession was a bit more explicit in the original play; the role was originated by Judy Holliday, who brought a wistfulness to the character that Ms. Mansfield couldn't quite manage. TV sitcom fans will get a kick out of the supporting cast of Kiss Them For Me: Ray Walston, later star of My Favorite Martian plays a libertine navy officer; Werner Klemperer, shorn of the accent he'd use as Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes, is hilarious as the flustered p.r. man; and Richard Deacon (Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show) pops up unbilled as a dour businessman who can't understand the war-hero mystique. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Suzy Parker, (more)
This filmed version of the 1927 George Gershwin Broadway musical Funny Face utilizes the play's original star, Fred Astaire, and several of the original tunes, then goes merrily off on its own. Astaire is cast as as fashion photographer Dick Avery (a character based on Richard Avedon, the film's "visual consultant"), who is sent out by his female boss Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) to find a "new face". It doesn't take Dick long to discover Jo (Audrey Hepburn, who does her own singing), an owlish Greenwich Village bookstore clerk. Acting as Pygmalion to Jo's Galatea, Dick whisks the wide-eyed girl off to Paris and transforms her into the fashion world's hottest model. Along the way, he falls in love with Jo, and works overtime to wean her away from such phony-baloney intellectuals as Professor Emile Flostre (Michel Auclair). The Gershwin tunes include the title song, "S'wonderful", "How Long Has This Been Going On" and "He Loves and She Loves"; among the newer numbers is Kay Thompson's energetic opener "Think Pink". For years available only in washed-out, flat prints, Funny Face was eventually restored to its full Technicolor and VistaVision glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, (more)
