The Maria Montez Thread

[ClassyCo]

She was a beautiful promising actress whose career is cut short.

I know I've skidded across Maria Montez while browsing through old movie catalogs, but I must've forgotten about her until yesterday.

Any thoughts?

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[Crimson]

I've never seen any film with Maria Montez and I've only read bits about her life and career. The most I can say is that she seemed very pretty, but had a dire reputation as an actress. One of the odder books in my collection is RATING THE MOVIE STARS from the early 80s. The book does exactly what the title suggests: rates actors' performances (not the films themselves) and then averages them. The stars are then ranked "best" to "worst". Maria Montez came in dead last out of more than 400 actors, rated only a fraction better than Annette Funicello. The book has this to say about her:

"Maria Montez was Universal Studios symbol of the exotic. No matter how flimsy the sets, or how ludicrously inappropriate the dialogue, Montez's presence in and of itself guaranteed that the story took place in Tahiti, or Africa, or even Atlantis ... As an actress she was pathetically bad, but she trudged through her playacting with such mindless conviction that it didn't seem to matter ... The fact that she starred in SIREN OF ATLANTIS, one of the more delirious exercises in conscious camp ever assembled, hints that Montez was perhaps well aware of the peculiarity of her appeal."

 

[ClassyCo]

I've never seen any film with Maria Montez and I've only read bits about her life and career. The most I can say is that she seemed very pretty, but had a dire reputation as an actress. One of the odder books in my collection is RATING THE MOVIE STARS from the early 80s. The book does exactly what the title suggests: rates actors' performances (not the films themselves) and then averages them. The stars are then ranked "best" to "worst". Maria Montez came in dead last out of more than 400 actors, rated only a fraction better than Annette Funicello. The book has this to say about her:

"Maria Montez was Universal Studios symbol of the exotic. No matter how flimsy the sets, or how ludicrously inappropriate the dialogue, Montez's presence in and of itself guaranteed that the story took place in Tahiti, or Africa, or even Atlantis ... As an actress she was pathetically bad, but she trudged through her playacting with such mindless conviction that it didn't seem to matter ... The fact that she starred in SIREN OF ATLANTIS, one of the more delirious exercises in conscious camp ever assembled, hints that Montez was perhaps well aware of the peculiarity of her appeal."


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She was quite popular, or at least that's how it appears. She was attractive, but I've never seen any of her movies. I've been reading up on her and I just might buy a movie or two IF I can get some of them cheap.​

 

[Crimson]

I think my tolerance for this kind of hokum would be very thin. I do, however, appreciate that the chimp got equal billing.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of her movies either. She was quite beautiful imo but Cobra Woman doesn’t look like something I’d enjoy.

 

[ClassyCo]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of her movies either. She was quite beautiful imo but Cobra Woman doesn’t look like something I’d enjoy.

If her movies were cheaper on Amazon, I'd probably be inclined to buy them simply out of curiosity.