Carla Gugino and Allison Elliot, two of my favorite underrated and sorely underutilized actresses in really meaty parts. It's a pity that their carrers never took off the way they should have after this.
Gugino might have a new career boost from her very....memorable (but oh-so-brief) appearance in Sin City, but I don't know what happened to Elliot. It's like she dropped off the face of the planet.
"You can't take the sky from me."
I read recently on her board that she is doing theater in LA.
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Her filmography tells what she has done, and Birth was her latest movie. I was hoping she would have a bigger role in it, so that was a bummer. Her performance in ER was very powerful.
shareThey are both such wonderful actresses and I agree completely that they are underused. I am still blown away by the force of Carla's performance in The Buccaneers and Alison's in Wings Of The Dove.
They're not just beautiful but incredibly talented. It really is Hollywood's loss that they aren't cast more often.
Carla Gugino (who appears to have lost a stone or two in weight since she made the Buccaneers) played the mother in all three Spy Kids movies, opposite Antonio Banderas. She did well, but it was a shallow role in three shallow films, not much scope for her talent.
I also saw her last fall in a short-lived science fiction TV series called Threshold, something about aliens landing on Earth. She played a government scientist. Not my cup of tea, but my husband watched it. Didn't stay on long.
Allison Elliot played Annie Sullivan in a made-for-TV remake of The Miracle Worker a few years back and acquitted herself very well.
I saw Threshold, I quite liked it. But I still say that the equally short-lived Karen Sisco featured her best TV work.
It seems that Elliot has had several movies out in the past few years. Unfortunately, aside from the piece of crap Birth, most are very hard to find or completely unavailable. I especially want to see Red Betsy.
"You're more than popular, You're pure lowest common denominator."
I love Allison Elliot in this, I'd forgotten she was in it. And she was incredible in The Wings of the Dove.
She also did a television version of Edith Wharton's The Song of the Lark, now I think of it. Masterpiece Theatre ran it a couple of years ago. It was another strong performance.
shareShe also did a television version of Edith Wharton's The Song of the Lark, now I think of it. Masterpiece Theatre ran it a couple of years ago. It was another strong performance.
Isn't The Song of the Lark a Willa Cather work?
Yes.
It's about a good, sturdy turn-of-the century girl from the prairies who dreams of being a concert pianist. She goes to Chicago to study music, but struggles. Eventually her music teacher hears her singing along with her own accompaniment and declares that her voice is her real talent, not the piano. She then begins serious voice lessons and struggles to succeed as a concert singer.
Thanks. I apparently missed that episode of Masterpeice Theatre. I hope my library has the dvd or video because it sounds really good! :-)
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