Lana Turner was actually dating a guy who allegedly belonged to the Mothers And Fathers of Italian Ancestry, aka the Mafia. Hw supposedly attacked Lana's daughter, Cheryl, who responed by plunging a knife into him. The courtroom scene where Lana's character is testifying was ripped from the headlines, as the actress herself put on quite a show while on the witness stand. Naturally, Cheryl beat the rap, thanks to Mom's acting skills(?).
shareWrong Movie You are thinking about "Where Love Has Gone' :its about A Society sculptress in San Francisco marries a war veteran who turns to the bottle once he fails to carve out his niche outside of his domineering mother-in-law's realm; sometime later, the daughter they share apparently kills mom's lover in a jealous rage. Harold Robbins' best-selling roman à clef lifts its sub-plot from the real-life Lana Turner/Johnny Stompanato case, and those bits and pieces are rather interesting; however, much of the movie is spent with bickering marrieds Susan Hayward and inert Michael Connors trading barbs, and the promising idea loses its impetus and becomes a stillborn soaper. Connors, heavily made-up and with lacquered black hair that never changes during the story's many years, twitches and twists his mouth into a grimace throughout the entire movie, only coming to life while tipsy in a brief dinner scene. Hayward fares better, but her slurpy, silly lines are pure camp ("You're a kept-man, not a war hero! And a drunk! A drunk! A DRUNK!"). Bette Davis is pretty much wasted as Hayward's mother (who would've thought a film co-starring these two high-powered ladies could be so dull?) and Joey Heatherton scowls continuously as the teenager in trouble (I loved her retort though about how she lost her virginity: "It happened horseback riding!").*
shareI'm gonna guess you didn't even watch this movie because its plot is not at all similar to the Stompanato stabbing.
Oh, I take that back. There is a man who dies and Turner is around so yeah, totally ripped from the headlines.