La conquistatrice

Hard to see anyone but the forceful Susan Hayward in the role of the lovely, but willful Harriet Boyd. Usually, it's men who get the blind ambition part. Not here. Instead, it's a woman dress designer in pursuit of riches and fame. Trouble is she's willing to sacrifice her two partners (Dailey and Jaffe) in the process. It's they, however, who help get her started by partnering-up in a little dress-making company. She's doubtless got talent as a designer, but they all work hard to get things off the ground. Now, however, she's willing to dump them and their business so she can join up with the king of the industry, the super-slick JF Noble (Sanders), and the big- time. Poor Teddy, he fell for her during their time together and thought it was mutual. Now, however, she's ready to transfer her affections as well as her talent. So how will all this turn out.

It's a sometimes gritty screenplay from the blacklisted Abe Polonsky, Force of Evil (1948). I suspect he was thinking expose of big business and did the best he could for the time (1951). And catch that Hollywood ending which I suspect he and director Gordon finessed as best they could. Anyway, Hayward's fine in a basically unsympathetic role. Ditto Dailey as the sympathetic Ted, while movie vet Jaffee gets to be the reliable voice of reason, along with Marvin Kaplan as comedy relief. The film really benefits from the behind-the-scenes look at what some call the rag business. I especially like Ted's brief glad-handing sales tour of the South where he works up a smiling sweat.

All in all, the 90-minutes is an entertaining character study and look inside a major industry, one that I suspect is still relevant.