Yesterday I posted the excellent final scene of legendary stage star Jeanne Eagels’ only surviving film ‘The Letter’ (1929). Today lets watch a very good breakdown scene from the 1957 Kim Novak-starring biopic ‘Jeanne Eagels’. The movie is largely fictionalized which is a shame–Eagels real life was filled with so much drama it seems odd that more would need to be invented. She was a heroin addict and the movie bravely doesn’t skirt this–in this scene we see her dark ‘Feelgood’ dope-supplier Dr. Richards (played by an uncredited actor in an Oscar-bait performance) give her the dope she needs to go on stage. Agnes Moorhead chews things up a bit but I think Kim is better than good. She took a drubbing throughout her whole career for being a sub-par actress manufactured by the studio machine but time, I think, has served her well. Her very 50s noir sultriness (different from the 40s brand of the same thing) is lusty and sad at the same time. She always feels to me consumed with self-loathing, while managing to be madly desirable. Perhaps this was Eagels vibe as well. Look at the piece of film I posted yesterday and then watch Kim doing Jeanne…you’ll see what I mean.