''Sylvia'' is a 1965 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Gordon Douglas, written by

Sydney Boehm Sydney Boehm (April 4, 1908 – June 25, 1990) was an American screenwriter and producer. Boehm began his writing career as a newswriter for wire services and newspapers before moving on to screenwriting. His films include '' High Wall'' (1947) ...

, and starring

George Maharis George Maharis (born September 1, 1928) is an American actor who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series ''Route 66''. Maharis also recorded numerous pop music albums at the height of his fame, and later starred in t ...

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

, and

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...

. The film is based on the novel of the same name by E. V. Cunningham in 1960. Released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, it was filmed in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Plot

Sylvia West seems just about perfect in the eyes of middle aged California millionaire Frederic Summers, who proposes marriage to her. She is beautiful, brilliant, financially independent, writes poetry, and seems to personify exactly what he wants in a woman. But as a precaution, Summers brings in a private investigator, the young Alan Macklin, to do a background check. Macklin travels to Sylvia's hometown of Pittsburgh, where to his surprise he learns that Sylvia has a history of selling sexual favors to middle-aged men. Librarian Irma tells Macklin that Sylvia always liked to read and helped her select literature from the library. She reads books in between clients to numb out her feelings. Raped by her stepfather, Jonas, she is an incest survivor who has a hard time setting boundaries. After her rape she turns to a fanatic priest who takes her to Mexico; he is later killed. She pays Oscar Stewart through sexual services to get her back to the United States on a road trip. Back in the US, Sylvia becomes friends with Jane, a sex worker, and helps her out after a life-threatening accident. To pay her medical bills, Sylvia sells sexual services through a transvestite madam. Sylvia is raped and assaulted by one of the clients, Bruce Stamford III, who buys her off to keep quiet about it. She invests the payoff, using advice from Jane's husband; these investments help Sylvia become financially independent and she publishes her poetry. Macklin meets Sylvia and says he is interested in her poetry; the two of them fall in love. He confesses that he has been investigating her for her husband, and she is upset. He refuses to give his report to Summers, Sylvia eventually forgives Macklin, and they get together in the end.

Cast

as Sylvia West aka Sylvia Karoki *

as Frederic Summers *

as Alan Macklin *

Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...

as Jane Phillips *

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the d ...

as Irma Olanski *

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

as Oscar Stewart * Nancy Kovack as Big Shirley *

Ann Sothern Ann Sothern (born Harriette Arlene Lake; January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television, in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Sothern began her career in the late 1920 ...

as Grace Argona * Jay Novello as Father Gonzales *

Aldo Ray Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Studios before achieving stardom through his roles in ''The Marrying Kind ...

as Jonas Karoki *

Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films ''Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detective'' (1968), '' The ...

as Bruce Stamford III *

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which h ...

as Lola Diamond * Anthony Caruso as Muscles * Paul Wexler at Peter Memel *

Majel Barrett Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (; born Majel Leigh Hudec;
, ''

Uncredited In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgment of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense. Credit in the arts In the creative arts, credits are an acknowledg ...

)

Production

The film was based on a novel by E. V. Cunningham, a pen name for Howard Fast. The novel was published by Doubleday in 1960, and was popular enough for Fast to write other suspense-mystery novels under the pseudonym of E. V. Cunningham, with titles that were women's names. (Others included ''

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...

''.) Film rights were bought by producer

Martin Poll Martin Poll (November 24, 1922 – April 14, 2012) was an American film and television producer. Poll produced eleven feature films during his career, including ''The Lion in Winter'', for which he received a 1968 Academy Award nomination for A ...

in April 1961. Poll called the film "a suspense love story". He originally set the film up at Paramount as a coproduction with

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

and

Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include '' The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...

's company – Newman was going to star and Ritt direct. Fast was hired to write a script and filming was scheduled to start December 1961. This did not happen. The project was reactivated in 1964 with

writing the script and

Robert Reed Robert Reed (born John Robert Rietz Jr.; October 19, 1932 – May 12, 1992) was an American actor. He played Kenneth Preston on the legal drama '' The Defenders'' from 1961 to 1965 alongside E. G. Marshall, and is best known for his role as the ...

as a possible star. Carrol Baker, who had just made ''The Carpetbaggers'' and ''

Mister Moses ''Mister Moses'' is a 1965 American adventure film about a con man blackmailed into persuading an entire African village into relocating for their own safety. It was directed by Ronald Neame and stars Robert Mitchum and Carroll Baker. The film was ...

'', was hired to play the lead. David Miller was signed to direct. The male lead role eventually went to

, who recently had left the cast of the hit CBS dramatic series ''Route 66'' after recovering from a bout with hepatitis that he had contracted while performing stunt work in a body of water during filming of that series. During filming of ''Sylvia'', Miller was replaced as director by Gordon Douglas.

Reception

Critical response

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it a "travesty of a film... it is hard to tell whether Carroll Baker... is worse than the script. Both are incredibly awful. Miss Baker is as lifeless as a stick, and the script... is a collection of all the clichés of bordello literature" and said that Gordon Douglas and Martin Poll "should both have their mouths washed out, their wrists slapped and their credentials as filmmakers taken away." The staff at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote in their review: "Carroll Baker is joined in stellar spot by George Maharis as the private eye who ultimately falls in love with the woman he is tracing. Actually, although hers is the motivating character, top honours go to Maharis for a consistently restrained performance which builds, while actress suffers somewhat from the spotty nature of her haphazard part."

References

External links

*
''Sylvia''
at TCM {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvia (1965 Film) 1965 films Films set in Pittsburgh Films directed by Gordon Douglas Films scored by David Raksin 1965 drama films American drama films 1960s English-language films Films based on American novels 1960s American films