Robert Aldrich's film The Legend of Lylah Clare is occasionally funny, but never intentionally so, and often quite dumb, even though meant to be arty. It is a mess. Messy enough to be worth two hours of your life to chuckle at? No.
Some old Hollywood types that once ruled the business have been in exile ever since their meal ticket, actress Lylah Clare, fell to her death 20 years earlier. The group discovers a woman that is the spitting image of Lylah. They decide to cast her in a movie about the actress' life. Both are played by Kim Novak. In her effort to become Lylah in the movie, the new girl morphs into Lylah in real life, leading to a repeat of history and a race to discover how Lylah really died.
The movie is melodramatic in the extreme, but there’s no genuine drama. Kim Novak can’t pull off the charismatic performance needed to sell the character – problematic given that every other character is supposedly enraptured by her. Novak looks more confused than anything. There are some funny moments – unintentionally. The flashbacks I think were intended to be boldly artistic but are actually quite silly. I really suspect Aldrich thought he was making Vertigo meets Sunset Boulevard. Nope. The camp value is only intermittent. The rest of it a bad stage play you can’t wait to end. With some friends this might be worth some chortles and sarcastic commentary, but not much here otherwise.
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