19 Great Performances by Women Playing Love Interests
By Amy Woolsey
Elaine Stewart in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), screenshot courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
17. Elaine Stewart (The Bad and the Beautiful)
The role: Lila, a small-time actress, has an affair with Kirk Douglas’s egotistical film producer, Jonathan Shields.
Why she’s great: In the tradition of melodrama, The Bad and the Beautiful contains a pair of women who represent divergent models of femininity. Lana Turner’s Georgia Lorrison is the “good” girl – blond, gullible, alcoholic (thus in need of saving), the kind of person who has to be instructed on how to “make love while you’re lighting the cigarette” – whereas the dark-haired Lila is brusque and cynical, scoffing at the notion of love and scheming to advance her career by any means. Despite only appearing in two scenes, Stewart leaves an indelible impression. She, not Turner or Douglas, captures the film’s dark, acidic soul. She also gets its best line: “There are no great men, buster. There’s only men.”
Standout moment: Eager to celebrate her movie premiere, Georgia dashes to Jonathan’s house, only to discover that he’s cheating on her with Lila. Stewart embraces her role as the villain, leaning casually on the banister in a voluptuous black dress, the smirk on her face infiltrating her voice. When Jonathan yells at Lila to “shut up”, she doesn’t flinch. Yet, there’s an air of sadness about her as she strides up the staircase; unlike Georgia, Lila knows she’s disposable to Jonathan and Hollywood, doomed to fade into obscurity.