A Life of Her Own

Released Sep 1, 1950

1 hr. 48 min.

Drama

List

Reviews

65%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Lily James (Lana Turner) moves from her small hometown in Kansas to New York City, with dreams of becoming a successful model. Despite a close friend's suicide, Lily's determination leads to fame and fortune. But when she meets a rich mine owner named Steve Harleigh (Ray Milland), Lily realizes that money alone cannot buy happiness. She falls for Steve and the lovers begin a passionate affair, but Lily feels guilty when she learns about Steve's paraplegic wife (Margaret Phillips).

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jan 30

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent A Life of Her Own on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Gary K. N

The test of any great artist is making mediocre material effective. Lana Turner succeeds in doing that in this film. She is obliged to run through a range of emotions as she struggles to deal with an insoluble personal dilemma, and does it very well. The problem is that the story itself is a pedestrian love triangle that lacks the nuances of a real life adultery in which the trio maturely work out some accommodation. That is less dramatic, of course, than the "all of nothing" Hollywood treatment, which leads to histrionics and dead ends. But audiences wouldn't accept a tale of successful adultery in 1950, and the story doesn't hold up as well as the acting. The entire cast is superb and deserved better.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Lana Turner is brilliant as a successful, but lonely, woman having an affair with a married man. The adultery is further complicated by the health condition of the man's wife. Director George Cukor handles it all with smooth sensitivity.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

really good melodrama kinda weepie at least I did anyway.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Even Ray Milland can't save this movie lol. It seems to drag on a bit and George Cukor has done way better than this flick. Prob just made it to fill in a gap somewhere in his repertoire lol.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Lana Turner & Ray Milland make Adultery look Glamorous, but then realize the true costs

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

good stuff well acted

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

George Cukor

Director

Lana Turner

Lily Brannel James

Ray Milland

Steve Harleigh

Tom Ewell

Tom Caraway

Louis Calhern

Jim Leversoe

Ann Dvorak

Mary Ashlon

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Richard Brody

New Yorker

The movie feels amazingly inward and tamped down, as if the director and the actors are collectively holding their breath in anticipation of romantic disaster.

Oct 19, 2022

Full Review

Francois Truffaut

Cahiers du Cinéma

[Cukor] makes, out of every five films, one masterpiece, three other very good ones, and the fifth still interesting. We must place this admirable film beside Holiday, Philadelphia Story, and Little Women.

Apr 4, 2022

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Starring Lana Turner and Ray Milland, this melodrama about adultery is a minor film in George Cukor's impressive output.

Rated: C

Jul 5, 2010

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

This artificially dramatic fluff piece seems as if it was ripped out of the pages of a woman's confessional magazine ... .

Rated: C

Mar 26, 2010

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Lily James (Lana Turner) moves from her small hometown in Kansas to New York City, with dreams of becoming a successful model. Despite a close friend's suicide, Lily's determination leads to fame and fortune. But when she meets a rich mine owner named Steve Harleigh (Ray Milland), Lily realizes that money alone cannot buy happiness. She falls for Steve and the lovers begin a passionate affair, but Lily feels guilty when she learns about Steve's paraplegic wife (Margaret Phillips).

Director: George Cukor
Screenwriter: Isobel Lennart
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 1, 1950, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2016

Most Popular at Home Now