One of the worst things I've ever seen. Drains the life out of you. Stupid drudgery. It's dumb, no one in it is likable, the music drags you down. Utter manure.

KIM NOVAK's screen career came to an abrupt halt after this disaster and it's easy to see why. Despite direction from Robert Aldrich (who was experienced at camp classics), this one is so incredibly off the mark as believable entertainment that it's no wonder it has the reputation that puts it in the same class with horrors like VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Bad dialog and a dull script are a fatal combination.PETER FINCH is the has-been director who fashions a model (Novak) into the image of his dead wife in order to do a screen bio of the woman. (Shades of VERTIGO with Stewart doing the same to Novak). But execution of this plot is so staggeringly inept, with performances either over-the-top (Finch and ERNEST BORGNINE) or extremely underplayed by Novak who seems to be sleepwalking through most of the film.The dialog is priceless. After someone breaks a window in Peter Finch's living room he calmly says: "I take it you're trying to capture my attention." And even then, it takes the man endless pages of dialog to get to the point. VALENTINA CORTESE is lucky in that most of her dialog is buried beneath a thick accent--and she's supposed to have been Lylah's dialog coach.Too much exposition destroys whatever pace the film might have had. Endless talk about Lylah and her background, as well as aspiring actress Novak, before she even appears. And when she does appear, the plot becomes even more absurd with Novak suddenly assuming a German accent when Lylah's personality overtakes her. Ridiculous.Another example of a behind-the-scenes lowdown on Hollywood that has no credibility whatsoever--a mess of a film from beginning to end, though the story idea itself had potential. Even deVol's music does nothing to establish mood or atmosphere. Ironically, the film within a film that director Finch has been shooting, is every bit as bad as the main story and yet when the film is released, it's supposed to be the director's masterpiece. Too bad life couldn't imitate art, in the case of Aldrich's film.Summing up: Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Robert Aldrich had a solid career which includes some extremely fine work such as "Kiss Me Deadly" and "The Big Knife" from his early period. He handled large action movies ("The Dirty Dozen") with the same craftsmanship as small .intimate pieces, ("The Killing of Sister George"). In both "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" and perhaps his most famous movie "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane", there is a definite camp touch which is carefully controlled in that it never derails the proceedings but only adds much to the general enjoyment of these films as a whole."The Legend of Lylah Clare" is a film that cannot be derailed, since from the very first frame it's clearly out of control. What proceeds is a very bumpy ride indeed. The question that remains is just how much of this was intentional. Can one consciously make actors perform so ludicrously, and if so, just what is the point ? It's seems totally unfeasible that a director with Aldrich's record should allow these poor actors to humiliate themselves in having to deliver the most preposterous dialog imaginable. Perhaps it's his hate letter to Hollywood. Aldrich who steered clear of the tyranny of Hollywood by establishing his own production company, paints a truly crass portrait of the movie industry. The point is that this is not an intelligent, witty or biting take on the industry, it's simply a grotesque movie which really has to be seen to be believed. Actors with vast experience such as Peter Finch and Ernest Borgnine are made to look like total amateurs in the business. And then there's Kim Novak. (One can only wonder what Tuesday Weld made of the role in the original television version.) Perhaps one should not be too surprised that this was her last American movie, and the signal of the beginning of the end of her somewhat shaky career.Novak was apparently thrust into stardom far too fast. Her radiant screen presence may have been captivating but there was little real talent behind the looks. What she did exude was a vulnerability which seems to be founded on her justified lack of confidence as an actress. Columbia groomed her as a potential new Marilyn Monroe. But no matter what dark complexes were lurking beneath Monroe's screen presence, she always made us believe she was having a ball. That was her genius. Novak always seems uncomfortable and decidedly awkward. It's something that at times may have worked in her favor, but ultimately her lack of having what it really takes could not be disguised. Lylah Clare is a role that many a Hollywood actress of the time could really have sunk their teeth into. Novak simply does not have a clue what to do with it and director Aldrich leaves her stranded.The awfulness of this movie becomes riveting in itself. You'll probably want to see it through to the end. One of the greatest worst movies of all time.

THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE looks initially like some sort of camp classic. Don't expect a companion piece to VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, however. Kim Novak plays a mousy aspiring actress picked to portray Lylah Clare, a Marlene Dietrich/Greta Garbo-type screen goddess from Hollywood's golden era who died tragically 30 years before, in a screen version of her life. Under the tutelage of Peter Finch, Lylah's director and husband, Novak is transformed physically and psychologically into the screen star. Along the way, we're treated to three different versions of Lylah's death(kitschy flashbacks in watery black and white framed with lurid red borders, with Novak's close-up in the corner of the screen), a great bitch-out scene between Novak as Lylah and a crippled gossip-columnist hag based on Louella Parsons, a lesbian drama coach, and Novak spouting dubbed, throaty, German-accented dialogue. The make-up job on Novak to make her look like Lylah really doesn't reflect 1930s movie glamour; with her teased and bleached bob, frosted pink lips, and inch-thick eyeliner, she looks more like Dusty Springfield than Jean Harlow. Despite all this, the film isn't some out-of-control camp fest. Really. No scenery chomping, bad dubbed singing sequences, emotional breakdowns, down-and-dirty catfights, or the like. The only fault with a performance might be with Novak during her fits when she impersonates Lylah, throwing her head back to laugh maniacally in that throaty, faux-Garbo accent. Still, its the only real fault in an otherwise competent film. Aldrich is hardly subtle with his digs at the Hollywood system and corruption, but they come out during the course of his characters' conversations and aren't sensationalized. Too many good performances and sympathetic characters to keep it from being an all-out guilty pleasure, but still engaging