A chance encounter brings together a society photographer fallen upon hard times and a hard-bitten young woman with a dubious past. Developing a genuine affection for his protégée, the old society photographer teaches her the trade. After a while the pupil, now enriched with a posh new name, embarks on an enterprising career of her own...
"Over-Exposed" tells the tale of an ambitious female photographer trying to make a name for herself, sometimes through unethical or even criminal means. Buried inside the movie there is another, better movie - say a razor-sharp satire about worldly vanities or a riveting noir about the dangers of blackmail. In its current form, "Over-Exposed" wastes a lot of time on soppy melodrama. There's a lack of drive, of narrative rhythm and of emotional focus.
The movie is also a barrel of contradictions. Our heroine (or perhaps anti-heroine, I'm not difficult) does not like to be propositioned and pawed. She's a person, not a sex object, dammit ! People should respect her, both as an individual and as a professional photographer ! On the other hand she is not above showing a pair of prettily freckled shoulders when this gains her an advantage. Meanwhile the superb hour-glass physique of the actress playing the part - a most beautiful Cleo Moore - gets highlighted with an almost obsessive attention, while the general thrust of the story seems to be "A sassy blonde can get into all sorts of trouble these days".
Still, the working environment shown - mainly a succession of more or less louche nightclubs - is interesting. There are also flashes of wit to savor, such as the sweet little impromptu television interview organized with Napoleonic discipline.
"Over-Exposed" tells the tale of an ambitious female photographer trying to make a name for herself, sometimes through unethical or even criminal means. Buried inside the movie there is another, better movie - say a razor-sharp satire about worldly vanities or a riveting noir about the dangers of blackmail. In its current form, "Over-Exposed" wastes a lot of time on soppy melodrama. There's a lack of drive, of narrative rhythm and of emotional focus.
The movie is also a barrel of contradictions. Our heroine (or perhaps anti-heroine, I'm not difficult) does not like to be propositioned and pawed. She's a person, not a sex object, dammit ! People should respect her, both as an individual and as a professional photographer ! On the other hand she is not above showing a pair of prettily freckled shoulders when this gains her an advantage. Meanwhile the superb hour-glass physique of the actress playing the part - a most beautiful Cleo Moore - gets highlighted with an almost obsessive attention, while the general thrust of the story seems to be "A sassy blonde can get into all sorts of trouble these days".
Still, the working environment shown - mainly a succession of more or less louche nightclubs - is interesting. There are also flashes of wit to savor, such as the sweet little impromptu television interview organized with Napoleonic discipline.