Login
The dialog and prose may veer into purplish territory a few times too often, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s just that it’s not as smoothly written and great as it could be, but it’s never dull or less than entertaining. Besides, it’s a chance to see an all-black cast sink their dramatic chops into some worthy characters and material, imperfections be damned.
The story is pure melodrama – Anna was kicked out as a teenager for being too fast and loose, she now lives in San Diego as a prostitute near the naval bases. Her family gets word that a wealthy family friend’s son is coming to visit, they want him to find a wife and ask the family to help out, they decide that Anna would be a great catch for him and before you know it she’s pulled off the streets and getting a makeover to be more presentable. Long simmering familial secrets and dramas come to a head, especially the unspoken abuse that Rex Ingram’s father probably committed towards Anna. Along the way she falls in love, runs away with her sailor lover, but returns in the end knowing that constantly finding salvation and good-times in drink and random men is no way to live.
The real reason to watch the film is the cast. Ingram is always a large presence on the screen – he enters not with a small reaction but a loud BANG. He’s a drunken violent menace of a man, a brute and Ingram is frankly terrifying and mesmerizing in the role. Sammy Davis Jr. brings conviction to the role of a playboy sailor who thinks of Anna as only a good time and not much more. He doesn’t entirely sell the role, perhaps because he is physically too slim and it requires someone with a more intimidating presence, but he makes up for it in emotionally nailing the part.
Anna Lucasta belongs to Eartha Kitt through and through though. It’s a star-making role and performance, yet it didn’t launch her into films. It doesn’t seem fair, as her work here is totally committed and awards worthy. Her Anna is a tigress, capable of being a purely sexual and purring creature one moment and turns one a dime into a ready to pounce predator. If for no other reason, watch it for Eartha Kitt’s glorious central performance.
