The life of the dark and dangerous Gloria Grahame.Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool relives the final days of Hollywood femme fatale Gloria Grahame. Directed by Scottish film director Paul McGuigan, the 106-minute feature film is an adaptation of Peter Turner’s 1986 memoir by the same title. Featuring Annette Bening as Gloria Grahame and Jamie Bell as Peter Turner, the film is an unlikely fantasy tale—a grandiose, abbreviated affair of a fading sex icon and a working class twenty-something-year-old.
Gloria had a turbulent career and an even more turbulent personal life. Most notoriously, she was ostracized from Hollywood after having been caught in bed with her 13-year-old stepson, Tony Ray, whom she later married. But this film isn’t about her scandalous years at all: by the time Gloria and Peter meet in Liverpool, she had had four failed marriages and an equal number of children. She had gone from living in a Hollywood mansion to renting out a room at the Turner family’s house, chasing after small stage roles.
The film begins a few years after the end of their affair—when feeble Gloria, diagnosed with breast cancer, returns to Liverpool and telephones her ex-inamorato Peter. She asks to stay with his family till she gets better, and the oh-so-hospitable family gladly takes her in. Her conditions get visibly worse as she continues to reject medical attention, and Peter finds himself boyishly in love.
The narrative weaves in and out of the past and present: contrasting Gloria and Peter’s romanticized glory days, to her gradual deterioration as Peter and his family attempt to nurse her back to health. The actress’ flaws and infamous temper are exposed as they hop from Liverpool to Los Angeles to New York, in a dream-like flurry. But like all dreams, theirs too come to an end.
The film is an attempt to illuminate the scandalous and troubled figure in a more empathetic light—whether the fallen idol is worthy of such empathy, is up to the audience’s discretion. However, the film seems to lean too heavily on its pathos. ‘Maudlin’ is a good term to characterize this overly sweet film.
