Today's director for our Female Filmmakers is blonde beauty Sondra Locke who went from being an actress to a director and was the topic of this week's podcast You Must Remember This during Karina Longworth's series on 90s erotic films. Sondra directed a film that became the topic of this week's episode, so let's get into it.
Sondra came to Hollywood as a waifish, classically beautiful blonde with big eyes. She was a small-town girl from Tennessee who had big dreams of making it big. Her looks and her talent made sure that she did just that. She made a big name for herself with her very first film. She starred as Mick in 1968's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and she was even nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in this movie. With only one movie, Sondra Locke became Hollywood's It Girl.
Her It Girl status was short-lived because Sondra's story is a difficult one. She had an affair with Clint Eastwood for a full decade. Sondra was married to a childhood best friend who was secretly gay, so she had an arrangement where she could openly date Eastwood. Eastwood, however, was married and kept Sondra on the down-low...for ten years. That's a long time!
Throughout their affair, they starred in several films together. For years the pair were inseparable! However, Eastwood didn't love to use protection. Sondra got pregnant twice and terminated those pregnancies based on Eastwood's urgings. He then even suggested that she get her tubes tied. Eastwood bought her a house and Sondra decided to make that house her baby. That's why Eastwood coming for the house during their breakup was SO devastating for her.
Sondra and Eastwood had a messy breakup that garnered media attention. All she wanted was her house back and for her name not to be slandered all over town. When the writing seemed on the wall that the public (and a jury) were on Sondra's side, Eastwood made a deal with her that she could direct movies for his studio. It seemed like a dream come true...but she should not have trusted that deal!
From 1986 to 1997, Sondra Locke directed four feature films and she did them in spite of the nearly inescapable odds that were stacked against her. What I mean by that is that unfortunately, Eastwood got vindictive. He made under-the-table deals with Warner Brothers that they would not actually produce her films. Not only that, but her films - despite being critically acclaimed - did not enjoy long runs in the theaters.
The most notable of those films is Impulse which starred Theresa Russell. The film was heralded by major critics at the time and the podcast You Must Remember This just released an entire episode exploring this film and the story behind it, as well as Russell's notable performance as a powerful seductress.
One of my favorite scenes that Sondra Locke directed is from the film Trading Favors in which the gorgeous Rosanna Arquette was sitting in the bathtub naked. The bubbles were foaming up on her breasts in this hot scene. Do yourself a favor and check it out here:
She went back to acting after taking a few years off from directing. She only dabbled in a few projects between 2000-2017. Sadly, Sondra passed away in 2018.
