What a shame that the great Mary Astor was reduced to playing a floozy in this movie.
shareMary Astor, according to her autobiography, was thrilled with this role. She worked with director Zinnemann on the costuming and creating of the character. It was a thrill for her to have something with guts after the "mother" roles.
"Ain't it funny how coffee never tastes as good as it smells?"
This was hardly the first time that Mary Astor played a "floozy." And, according to her reputation, she was not exactly a saint off screen herself.
We provide ... Leverage.
Astor went into rehab for alcohol several times in her life, including 1949, just after this film was released.
Incidentally, she HATED doing "Little Women" shortly after this, and made no attempts to hide her disdain of both her co-stars and the material.