As other reviewers have noted, the first 15 or 20 minutes of this film are quite watchable -- energetic, lots going on, well photographed. But when Ann Dvorak starts getting plastered, the speechifying starts, and there isn't one honest note that follows. It all becomes very overwrought, with ridiculous, exposition-filled dialog...and some pretentious speech making at the end. When Ray Milland enters the story, it basically becomes a poor remake of "The Divorcée" with the last act pretty much identical -- possible spoiler here -- with his wife revealed as a cripple in a wheelchair. There is zero chemistry between Turner and Milland. Milland is totally miscast, which doesn't help. Don't be fooled by the fact that George Cukor directed this because it's a pretty awful film, made worse by the fact the expectations you have given all of this A-list talent.

A Life Of Her Own casts Lana Turner as a small town girl who with her beauty goes to New York for a career as a model. She's got the looks, but has she the character for the profession? She reports some six months after the agency that Tom Ewell runs called for her. It was a simple matter of economics, Lana just didn't have the train fare from Kansas. But very much like Lana Turner in real life, discovered in Schwab's Drugstore in Hollywood because of her beauty and made a film star, Turner becomes a success in the modeling profession.Anything's better than life in Kansas and Turner's after more than a career. She meets Ray Milland who is a mine owner from Montana back east to raise some money with the help of lawyer Louis Calhern. Of course the inevitable happens as it usually does in these films, but the problem is Milland is slightly married to Margaret Phillips.Here's where the film gets real sudsy. Phillips is a paraplegic as a result of an automobile accident. The subject is rather delicately handled with the Code still in place, but the clear inference is that Milland is not enjoying any kind of sex life any more. So he's more than willing to get involved with Turner.The Code parameters both limit how the subject is handled and the inevitable outcome of the film which I won't reveal. George Cukor directed A Life Of Her Own and the film is definitely missing his usual flair for 'women's' pictures. And the film is clearly Lana's with the rest of the cast in support.Some younger players at MGM like Jean Hagen and Phyllis Kirk play other models, but Ann Dvorak in one of her last films has a couple of scenes as an older woman trying to make a comeback in a profession that lives and dies on youth. She only has a couple of scenes, but they've got some real bite to them. I wish we had a lot more of her in the film.A Life Of Her Own is not one of the better films for Cukor, Turner, or Milland, but it's entertaining enough given the Code parameters it was made under.

Lana Turner goes into the modeling world hoping to get discovered. Along the way, she meets Ray Milland, who's a married man, and of course they start having feelings for each other. Ann Dvorak (from Paul Muni's "Scarface") is great in a supporting role. In fact, some would say she steals the show, because the viewer thinks of her even when she's not on the screen, due to circumstances I'm not going into. Barry Sullivan, who was frequent costar of Lana's, is on hand with his shoulder for Lana to cry on.For such an unknown movie of Lana's, one would think is just a hum-drum black-and-white movie. But, "A Life of Her Own" is a very well-written and insightful film which provides a mature approach to a woman's life at an older age, who is trying to find herself and what she really wants out of life, and what she doesn't want.An added plus which most reviewers have already alluded to, is the great music score to this film. It makes Ray and Lana's scenes feel very intimate. But when reality hits and she meets the wheelchair-bound wife. it does get rather depressing and downbeat. But the ending is very soothing, as she "is herself" with Barry and visits the view one more time of Ann Dvorak's old apartment building and where she doesn't want to wind up. It's a shame to think only Lana fans would be attracted to this film. It's one for all those who want something intelligent and for people, who though older and not quite settled, are still yearning for "a life of their own."

Wow, my summary sounds like comments made about an off-brand paper towel! Lana Turner is a nice girl from Kansas who comes to the big city to become a model. Because of her grit, determination, moxie AND, most importantly, fantastic looks, she makes it big. But instead of being on top of the world, she is depressed because she falls for a married man.Overall, is a thoroughly adequate film with decent acting but a story that just never engaged me very well--partly because the relationships seemed rather silly and superficial and also because it was hard to feel sorry for Lana in the film. Despite her complaining about how "life isn't fair", it's really hard for the average person to feel sorry for this woman, as she's a very successful super-model who is sad she can't have a particular married man (Ray Milland). Since she lives in New York, I assume there must be at least a few nice single guys! Also, because Milland wants to sleep with Lana while he's married to a very nice lady, he comes off as a bit of a jerk as well.On the positive side, though the film seems to initially make their romance seem like a good thing, it later shows that there is a wife and she truly loves her hubby. This is NOT a victimless crime. It's not a bad morality tale, but had I cared more about Lana and Ray, it would have been a lot better.