Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 07/10/2007
SubTitles: English/Espanol/French
Dubbed: English/Espanol
Sound: DD4.0/DD1
Run Time: 109 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, the real-life personality so brilliantly (albeit briefly) portrayed by
Elizabeth McGovern in
Ragtime (1981), is given the full
biopic treatment in
20th Century Fox's
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing. Since the real
Mrs. Thaw served as technical advisor for the film, it isn't surprising that the controversial
Evelyn comes across as being more sinned against that sinning.
Joan Collins stars as
Evelyn, the gorgeous chorine and original "Gibson Girl" who becomes the romantic bone of contention between ageing architect
Stanford White (
Ray Milland) and slightly unbalanced young millionaire
Harry K. Thaw. Setting up
Evelyn in a plush apartment, the lecherous
White insists that she "perform" for him on the red velvet swing of the title (allegedly,
Evelyn swung naked above the slavering
White, though she's fully clothed in the film). Eventually,
Thaw marries
Evelyn, but cannot prevent
White from continuing his romantic overtures. Things come to a head in 1906, on the roof of
Madison Square Garden. As
Evelyn sings and dances in a stage
musical, the insanely jealous
Thaw walks up to
White, pulls out a pistol, and, in full view of the audience, pumps several bullets into the older man. Though
Thaw manages to avoid the gallows by pleading insanity (he was eventually released),
Evelyn's reputation is permanently besmirched, leaving her little choice but to capitalize upon her notoriety on the vaudeville stage (actually,
Evelyn pursued a moderately successful film career before losing all her money to bad investments in the 1920s). By purifying the character of
Evelyn Nesbit and thoroughly vilifying
Stanford White,
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is hardly 100 percent accurate; still, the film is immensely entertaining, thanks to the enthusiastic performances of the three stars.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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