A suggested improvement


Here's one way the script could have been improved. (Don't read on if you haven't yet seen the movie since this will involve SPOILERS.) Ruth Roman recognizes Lana Turner as someone she'd once known under another name. Sure enough, Lana later reveals to her Mexican maid -- who'd wondered why Lana didn't give her husband children -- that Lana had once come from a wealthy family. She'd gotten pregnant at 17 and been rushed into an abortion that prevented her from having more children. To hide this shame, Lana had changed her name. This plot element seems needlessly contrived and is implausibly introduced. Ruth Roman just happens to be the first person to recognize the true background of such a prominent jet-setting socialite? Why not simplify things? Skip the name-change angle. Just have the Mexican maid urge Lana to give her husband children. Then Lana could tell the maid she couldn't do so because of a botched abortion she'd had at age 17. This information is then provided to the audience in a simple, direct manner.

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