The Actress

The Actress
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George Cukor
Screenplay by	Ruth Gordon
Based on	Years Ago 1946 play by Ruth Gordon
Produced by	Lawrence Weingarten
Starring	Spencer Tracy Jean Simmons Teresa Wright
Cinematography	Harold Rosson
Edited by	George Boemler
Music by	Bronisław Kaper
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's Inc.[1]
Release date	September 25, 1953 (1953-09-25)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,424,000[2]
Box office	$914,000[2]

The Actress is a 1953 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor based on Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play Years Ago. Gordon also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, and Teresa Wright, and features Anthony Perkins in his film debut.

The film is basically a series of vignettes involving Ruth, her parents, her best friends, and the college boy romantically pursuing her. Although Gordon did become an accomplished Academy Award-winning actress and a successful writer, the film ends without the audience seeing Gordon achieve her goals.

The Actress was nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White. Tracy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Drama, and he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Foreign Actor. Simmons was named Best Actress by the National Board of Review, and Gordon's screenplay was nominated Best Written American Comedy by the Writers Guild of America despite being far more dramatic than comedic.^[3]

In Wollaston, Massachusetts in 1913, teenage student Ruth Gordon Jones dreams of a theatrical career after becoming mesmerized by a performance of The Pink Lady in a Boston theater. She writes a fan letter to leading lady Hazel Dawn, who then encourages Ruth to pursue her dreams.

Ruth schemes to drop out of school and move to New York City, unknown to her father, Clinton Jones, a former seaman now working at a menial factory job, who wants her to continue her education and become a physical education instructor. As a young man, Clinton's bad experiences at home forced him to leave school and run away to sea, so he is dismayed that his daughter rejects the educational opportunities he would have liked for himself. In addition to overcoming her father's objections, Ruth must deal with her feelings for Fred Whitmarsh, a handsome student at Harvard University who falls in love with her and eventually proposes marriage.

When Ruth gets the chance to audition for a leading producer, she disobeys her father and puts off Fred's serious romantic overtures to keep the appointment. However, her audition proves disastrous and crushes her confidence and enthusiasm. She confesses to her father what she has done, and after getting over his initial anger, he offers to support her during her first few months in New York if she will at least get her high school diploma. Despite his promise, Clinton is not sure where he will get the support money for Ruth, and is anxious about his job security. He counts on his annual bonus to provide the necessary funds, but his employer is slow in paying it.

Her enthusiasm restored, Ruth makes the arrangements to go to New York after graduation. On the day she is scheduled to depart, Clinton suddenly loses his job after confronting his boss about his bonus, leaving him with no money to give to Ruth. When Clinton sees that Ruth is determined to go to New York without his monetary support, he gives her his most prized possession, his treasured spyglass from his seafaring days, to sell in New York, where his old acquaintance will buy it from her for a larger sum than the amount Clinton originally promised Ruth. The family heads happily to the railroad station to see Ruth off.

• Spencer Tracy as Clinton Jones
• Jean Simmons as Ruth Gordon Jones
• Teresa Wright as Annie Jones
• Anthony Perkins as Fred Whitmarsh (film debut)
• Ian Wolfe as Mr. Bagley
• Kay Williams as Hazel Dawn
• Mary Wickes as Emma Glavey
• Norma Jean Nilsson as Anna Williams
• Dawn Bender as Katherine Follets
• Jackie Coogan as Inopportune (uncredited)

Director George Cukor wanted Debbie Reynolds for the lead; she was greatly disappointed when MGM executive Dore Schary decided not to cast her in the role.^[4]

According to MGM records, the film made $594,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $320,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss to the studio of $965,000.^[2][5]

It recorded admissions in France of 15,493.^[6]

The Actress holds a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews.^[7]

• The Actress at IMDb
• The Actress at the TCM Movie Database
• The Actress at AllMovie
• The Actress at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• ​Years Ago​ at the Internet Broadway Database, play on which film is based