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Anna Lucasta

6.8

/10

792 rated

1959•1 h 37 m•United States

A young woman struggling with a sordid past finds that her biggest enemy had larger demons than she did.

Drama

Cast (15)

Frederick O'Neal

Rosetta LeNoire

Alvin Childress

Wallace Earl Laven

Sammy Davis Jr.

Recommended

Reviews

نادر الرويعي

29/05/2023 21:20

source: Anna Lucasta

Tik Toker

28/04/2023 05:19

At the core of Anna Lucasta is a creaky plot that isn't seen often today -- the decent man who falls in love with the irresistible prostitute (see also The World of Susie Wong, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Owl and the Pussycat, etc.). However, instead of focusing on the man's dilemma, Anna Lucasta focuses on the prostitute's family and friends. The screenplay is by a distinguished playwright and screenwriter, Philip Yordan, who based it on his own Broadway play, so it does have its moments -- an occasional good line, striking monologue, or clever exchange of dialogue. But it remains stagy, and the director's infrequent attempts to "open up" the play with cinematic devices don't work well. However, the movie is valuable because it preserves performances by prominent black stage actors who for the most part rarely appeared on screen, certainly not in major, non-stereotypical roles. Nearly every actor and actress in the film is given a moment to shine, and they all acquit themselves well, with the possible exception of the great actor Rex Ingram, who sometimes chews the scenery as Anna's drunken and vengeful father. The beautiful Isabel Cooley, in a small role as Anna's sister, is a revelation here. Eartha Kitt always plays Eartha, but her Anna more than adequately shows many facets -- on the edge of hard-bitten, but still yearning to be accepted as innocent and sweet, attracted to the fast life, but hurt and wounded and feeling unloved. And Sammy Davis' performance is much better than the reviews he received when the movie was released or on IMDb. He plays Anna's other suitor, who loves her in his own fashion, but who wants her as a companion for good times and partying, not as a wife. He's shallow, but he has a core of decency and concern for Anna, and Davis portrays both sides well. (Think of Sammy as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess, whom he would portray in the same year, but with depth.)

yeabsira

28/04/2023 05:19

Eartha Kitt sizzles in this film about a tough young woman who we first meet in a San Diego bar, fending off unwanted advances by sticking a cigarette into a guy's neck. She's just scraping by, having been thrown out of her house by her father. We gradually get the idea she sells herself to sailors, one of whom is the fast-talking Sammy Davis Jr., who appears here in his first acting role. She's taken back home by her father for ulterior reasons, and meets an intelligent young college graduate (Henry Scott). Can she 'make good' with the young man, despite the shame of her past? Kitt is fantastic, and plays scenes of defiance, anger, out of control partying, tenderness, vulnerability, and grief all very well. She's a delight to watch, as well as to listen to, with that fabulous, silky voice. Sammy Davis Jr. more than keeps up with her with snappy, hip dialog and a short dance scene that shows just how light on his feet he was. The script has plenty of innuendo, and Kitt's look when Scott asks her what she did down in San Diego is priceless. "I didn't go to college," she purrs. But my favorite line is when Davis Jr. says in an impassioned tone, "You and me, we're real people, Anna. We're the real stuff. Many's the time we set the Earth on fire. You stick with me and we'll burn it up!" It's a great scene with a lot of emotion, and he is marvelous in it. The supporting actors in the cast are reasonably good as well. Rex Ingram plays her alcoholic father who would probably win the "worst father ever" award if it existed, and Frederick O'Neal is her opinionated brother-in-law who is also pretty hard to like, though both do fine jobs. Georgia Burke is the sweet mother who never loses faith in her daughter, and it's nice to hear her singing around the house. Aside from her singing and the nightclub music, however, the background music in the soundtrack is pretty mediocre. The film does have a low-budget feel to it, and the quality of print that I saw was unfortunately much worse than others from this time period. For the most part it's pretty ordinary filmmaking, but I did notice some subtle things in the background of a couple of shots that were interesting. In one, as Anna wrestles with her sad past, assuming it won't be good enough for her new suitor, she stands in front of a photography store window which has pictures of smiling people, including a large one of a happy baby. In another, as she's with her father, trying to reconcile with him (which is a surprise given his past treatment), a stitchery hangs in the background saying "God is Love." It was very refreshing to find that the film had no stereotypes. While it's a dysfunctional family straight out of Tennessee Williams and therefore a bit extreme, the script could have been performed by an all-white cast without a single change. I loved seeing Eartha Kitt and Sammy Davis Jr., especially Kitt, and it's no wonder Orson Welles called her "the most exciting woman in the world." She is as gorgeous as she is talented. There are a couple of moments in the plot that stretch credibility, and it gets a little melodramatic for sure, but it's also highly entertaining and deserves a higher average rating for the star power.

Queen G

28/04/2023 05:19

Having just watched Eartha Kitt in St. Louis Blues, I went back to Netflix Streaming and then saw her other 1958 release of Anna Lucasta. The title character she plays is a street walker (to use the euphemism of what is often referred to as the "world's oldest profession") in San Diego who likes it whenever sailor Danny Johnson (Sammy Davis Jr.) stops in at Noah's (Alvin Childress) bar. But since Danny's not interested in making her an honest woman, she leaves when her estranged father Joe (Rex Ingram) picks her up to take her home even though the two left on bitter terms years previous. I'll stop there and just say that it took a while to get used to the mostly speedy delivery of lines as directed by Arnold Laven. In fact, I didn't realize that Joe's son-in-law Frank (Frederick O'Neal) was a pretty greedy fellow. Since this was made during the production code era, the word "prostitute" is not used and we don't get the full picture of how abusive Joe was to his daughter though to judge by his drunken scenes, he certainly could've recognized how desirable she became as she grew. Though she has a nice revelation scene with potential suitor Rudolph Slocum (Henry Scott), Ms. Kitt really sparkles whenever she's with Sammy Davis Jr. especially when she's looking at him and she sees him dancing as director Laven cuts to him doing just that as well as playing drums. In fact, the second part was more entertaining than the first hour. So on that note, I recommend Anna Lucasta. P.S. Arnold Laven was a native of my birthtown of Chicago, Ill. Rosetta LeNoire who was Stella would later go on to fame as the grandmother on "Family Matters". And, yes, Alvin Childress was previously Amos Jones on "The Amos 'n' Andy Show".

Mul

28/04/2023 05:19

I can see why Eartha Kitt has always been a gay icon and why her legion of gay fans - black and white - kept her working during the twilight years of her extremely long career in show business. She's campy, witty, sexy, and vulnerable...and a very funny funny girl with a very sharp tongue especially when she delivers her trademark rapid-fire one-liners in the opening barroom scene. Her grand entrance is over-the-top and her timing perfect. In a perfect world Kitt would have been right up there with Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth...BUT she was BLACK...and Hollywood has had few decent leading roles for black actresses like Kitt, Dandridge, Horne...or even Halle. The black family in this movie is captured with humor and dignity by a sterling cast of black actors hungry for work other than playing maids, butlers, African natives, and southern slaves. "Anna Lucasta" is a Black Classic.

King Bobollas

28/04/2023 05:19

Really never watched much from Eartha Kitt(however I know she was one of the world's most exciting and entertaining women of her day) well finally checked out this family drama from 1958 Anna Lucasta. This is a film of love, choice, and free will as it involves Eartha as Anna a young go against the grain gal with a loving family however having problems with her father she takes to the streets of nightlife and bars. A sharp and wise sailor named Danny(Sammy Davis Jr.) takes her under his wing only things get messy and complex when Anna finds love the past and future all come to a head. Overall this film is an okay watch if you enjoy family like dramas from the black and white era.

BOOJII 🇲🇦🎶

28/04/2023 05:19

*Possible Spoilers* ABOUT THE MOVIE / CHARACTERS: I enjoyed this movie. It is a movie about redemption. Anna Luasta's family in many ways is classic example of a dysfunctional family. The brother in law is a total bully with no redeeming qualities. Anna's sister is a great match for her bully of a husband, whose monologues, which are intended to impress, reveal his ignorance and lack of education. Anna's brother is a hen pecked husband, by his brother-in-law and wife. The only likable members of Anna's family is the mother, who seems clueless about the undercurrents in her own home. Joe, Anna's father is the most conflicted. An alcoholic, he appears to be guiltily repulsed by Anna. His anger seems almost displaced; why does he hate her so? Or, does he really hate himself? Why does he seem to take sadistic pleasure in hurting her? There was a time that Joe doted on Anna. What happened? The conflicting nature of their relationship is apparent to the end of the movie (which I have not revealed obviously). I was a bit surprised at the ending and I think you will be too.

Karthik Solaiappan

28/04/2023 05:19

It amazes me that none of the reviews get what this picture is about. This is obviously a play and the movie maintains the quality of the play. Whether or not that's a good choice is a matter of opinion - I personally enjoyed the approach. The play examines the inner life and relationship of an extended family sharing a house in California. Anna, the title character, was thrown out of the house the day she graduated High School with nothing -no money, skills, or support - earning her living as best she could while keeping her independence, even turning down a pimp's protection - her closest relationship is with a bartender while she waits for a sailor who can at least give her a good time - the heart of the story is why her father threw her out - Played by Rex Ingram in an all out performance is a man full of fury because of his less than pure attachment to his daughter - his hatred for his own feelings drives him to destroy everyone around him - the rest of this dysfunctional family just carries on each in their own dream of success - a brighter future can only be achieved with the father's death - The pacing is uneven but this movie is certainly worth a viewing

Elvina Dasly Ongoko

28/04/2023 05:19

'Anna Lucasta' was originally a stage play with a white cast, filmed in 1949. A few years on from its debut, the play's original author (Philip Yordan) re-staged it with all the roles played by African-Americans. This was considered something of a gimmick at the time, but the gimmick was still fresh a bit later when Pearl Bailey played the Jewish matchmaker Dolly Levi in an all-black Broadway production of 'Hello, Dolly!' And before 'Anna Lucasta', there was Bizet's opera reworked with African-American characters as 'Carmen Jones'. I'm hugely a fan of Sammy Davis Jnr, who plays the male lead in this all-black remake, so I was curious to know why his ghost-written autobiography 'Yes I Can' made almost no mention of 'Anna Lucasta'. Now I know. The film is not very good. As young sailor Danny Johnson, on leave and looking for some lovin', Davis is physically well-cast but gives a poor performance. He would later prove himself a dramatic actor of considerable subtlety, but at this point in his career Davis was primarily a musical performer, and in 'Anna Lucasta' he seems desperate for an excuse to burst into song or dance. With no music cues to fall back on, Davis overacts shamelessly here. The title role is played by Eartha Kitt, whom I've always found painful to watch. She really overdoes the feline routine. It was acceptable when she played Catwoman (literally a comic-book character) or in 'Shinbone Alley', in which Kitt actually played an alley cat, but 'Anna Lucasta' is a serious drama requiring some subtlety, and the words 'Eartha Kitt' and 'subtle' don't fit into the same sentence. I got a big laugh a few years ago, when Eartha Kitt was exposed as a pretentious know-nothing. In 1998, she made a public statement that she was a lifelong devotee of astrology: she had scrupulously followed her horoscope, and it had guided her through her successful career. Shortly after she made this statement, someone located Eartha Kitt's birth certificate ... and it turned out that, all these years, she'd been following the horoscope for the wrong birth date! Anna Lucasta is a small-town girl whose father Joe is outraged at her moral lapses, so he orders her out of his house. Then he hypocritically tries to reconcile with her for selfish reasons, hoping to marry her off to Rudolph. In the important role of pious Rudolph, actor Henry Scott is too stolid and stodgy. If he had been a bit more energetic, and Sammy Davis had been a bit *less* energetic, this would have been a better film. The primary blame for this film's flaws should go to author Philip Yordan, who adapted his own script for the screen. 'Anna Lucasta' comes off like a poor imitation of several Eugene O'Neill plays, specifically 'Anna Christie' ... which even has a similar name. Changing the characters into Negroes (to use the 1959 terminology) gave roles to some black actors but was not otherwise a good idea. 'Anna Lucasta' takes place in a sleazy semi-noir universe, in which a sexually attractive woman can only be a * or an outright *. By populating that universe with African-Americans, and excluding any positive role models -- there's not one genuinely sympathetic character in this entire piece -- Yordan has (perhaps unintentionally) implied that humanity's negative traits are typified by black people. I'll rate this movie 3 out of 10. Much as I dislike Eartha Kitt, she has done better work elsewhere. So has Sammy Davis Jnr.

Adunni Ade

28/04/2023 05:19

Meowwwww... Eartha Kitt, ten years before she was Catwoman on "Batman"! This film not only co-stars Sammy Davis Jr, but that's also him singing the "Anna" theme. Things are pretty rough for Anna as the film opens. She's been tossed out by her family, even to the point of not have a place to sleep. But... just as things might be turning around for her, she runs into her old sailor friend, Danny, (Sammy Davis) and his pal Lester. Anna isn't sure if she likes either one of her options... her old sailor buddy that doesn't want to get married, or the "friend of the family" that is staying in town looking for work. Rudolph is played by Henry Scott, and it looks like this film is the only thing he ever did. and just when things are finally looking up for Anna, more people are running interference against her. Based on a play by Philip Yordan. He had just won the oscar for Broken Lance. "Anna" was first done by a white cast (1949), then later done by a black cast (1958). This is quite good, and i'm glad that Turner Classics is showing it. and now that I've seen THIS version, of course i want to see the 1949 Paulette Goddard version too. Highly recommended, if you can catch it.