Andrew Stevens paid tribute to his late mother, acclaimed actress Stella Stevens, in a recent documentary screened at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, but Not a biographical homage. The film convincingly proves its subject, who is known for her performance in the photo below The Adventures of Poseidon and Crazy Professorboth as an actor and a social activist, are severely underestimated. Stella Stevens: The Last Little Star It aimed to correct this perception, and it was a huge success thanks to extensive footage of her work and enthusiastic reviews from the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Vivica Fox.
The filmmaker admits (often) that his early relationship with his mother was rocky, to say the least. Born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Stevens married when she was 16 and gave birth to her first and only child, Andrew, six months later. The marriage soon fell apart, and when she moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, she brought Andrew to California illegally. His father and grandfather later showed up and spirited him away, leading to an ugly custody battle and Andrew didn’t develop a real relationship with his mother until he was 16.
Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet
bottom line
A well-deserved and long overdue cinematic portrait.
Place: Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (American Independent Film Festival)
Director and screenwriter: Andrew Stevens
1 hour 39 minutes
Stevens soon signed with 20th Century Fox, where she was groomed to become stars like Marilyn Monroe and Mamie Van Doren. Her sexy image was further confirmed when she appeared in a Playboy centerfold, despite her desperate attempts to buy the nude photos back from Hugh Hefner, who refused.
Her career quickly took off thanks to films such as Lil Abnerin which she performed the wonderfully titled “Appasionata Von Climax,” as well as the musical say something for me Working with Bing Crosby, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.
“Some of the funniest characters I’ve ever played were nymphomaniacs,” Stevens amusingly noted in one of the interviews. Some of it is shown through archival footage from various talk shows, while others are recreated with a lookalike actress (Lindsie Kongsore). While the device is a little jarring at first, there’s no denying that it breathes life into Stevens’ words. But the filmmaker sometimes gets too carried away, such as when he unnecessarily uses an actor to play a film critic reading an excerpt from a review.
There are many amusing anecdotes and revelations in the documentary, one of the most priceless being Stevens’ description of co-star Bobby Darin’s visibly erection while filming a kissing scene. She also revealed that she didn’t want to appear with Elvis Presley on Girls! Girls! Girls! She only agreed to do this after she was promised to star opposite Montgomery Clift in the next film. Clift’s plan never came to fruition, and she could never bring herself to watch Presley’s.
We learn about her many relationships, including one with notorious and married Hollywood agent Sidney Korshak and her long-term relationship with actor Skip Ward, The latter took advantage of her financially and was often unfaithful.
The documentary is a powerful testament to Stevens’ talents, especially her formidable comedic talents, as shown in the many clips from her work, including Bonanza For this she won praise. She opposite Jerry Lewis in “Jerry Lewis” Crazy Professor Sparkling in old-fashioned comedy How to save your marriage and ruin your life Starring opposite Dean Martin, with whom she previously starred in Matt Helm’s spy spoof silencer. She received critical acclaim for her performance in Sam Peckinpah’s 1970 The Ballad of Cable Hoggeven though the movie flopped. When she appeared in popular films such as the popular disaster movie The Adventures of Poseidonwhich didn’t bring much traction to her career.
She later became an iconic figure to black audiences thanks to her groundbreaking interracial love scene with Jim Brown in the blaxploitation hit slaughter and her campy villainous transformation. cleopatra joness and gold casino. But as they say, what she really wanted to do was be direct. In 1989, she finally got the chance to film a movie called ” pasturestarring her son Andrew (who later returned the favor, directing her B-movie in 1991) Inner Terror II), and a documentary on feminism, this american heroinenever released.
In addition to extensive footage of her character and television appearances, the documentary includes riveting home movies, personal photos and a variety of personalities including film historians Leonard Maltin and Courtney Joyner ‘s insightful comments. But there’s no doubt that Tarantino proves the point, gushing over Stevens’ performance with the clarity and passion of a devoted fan. (introduce the last little star At the festival, Andrew admitted that he basically gave Tarantino the ball and let him run with it.
Although Stevens’ big screen career ultimately failed, she never stopped working, appearing in dozens of direct-to-video films and TV series until her final appearance in the film titled Jukunda 2010. She works a lot,” Tarantino noted.
Her final days were sad as she slowly succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease until her death in 2023 at the age of 84. In Memoriam” segment, he has never received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The latter is a rejection that should be corrected – especially if Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet Get the exposure you deserve.
