The Day of the Locust

REVIEW
A powerful, beautifully filmed screen version of Nathaniel West's novel of aspirations and forgotten dreams in 1930s Hollywood. Black gives one of her best performances as an opportunistic, aspiring actress involved with both young studio set director Atherton and lonely, slightly slow-witted Sutherland (in a mesmerizing portrayal). Meredith received a well-deserved Oscar nomination as Black's boozing, sickly ex-vaudevillian father. An unforgettable though demanding film experience; the Hollywood premiere at the finale remains one of the most chilling sequences ever put to film.