Actors And Sin (1952)

Two short films combined under the title of ACTORS AND SIN written by Ben Hecht (THE FRONT PAGE) who co-directs along with the cinematographer Lee Garmes (LAND OF THE PHARAOHS), both dealing with the world of film and theater. The first, ACTOR'S BLOOD, is a melodrama about a self centered actress (Marsha Hunt) and her rise to the top and her fall. After she is murdered, her father (Edward G. Robinson) invites all the suspects to a dinner party where he intends to unmask her killer. The script isn't too bad but the acting is so awful that this portion of the film turns into a comedy in spite of itself. Robinson as a bad, hammy actor is one thing but he turns in a bad, hammy performance even when he's not "acting". Much better is the second story, a satire on Hollywood called WOMAN OF SIN about an agent (Eddie Albert) who sells an unsolicited lurid script called WOMAN OF SIN to a major studio which plans to make it an epic on the scale of GONE WITH THE WIND. It's only after the sale, that he finds out the writer is a precocious 9 year old brat (Jenny Hecht, the director's daughter). A veteran like Hecht knows where all the bodies are buried and his creations are wickedly drawn. With Dan O'Herlihy, Alan Reed and Tracey Roberts.