Four Girls in Town 1957

In New Orleans, when the leading lady drops out of a new film, studio head James Manning Ainslie Pryor seeks a fresh star and taps aspiring director Mike Snowden George Nader to run the screen tests with four diverse hopefuls. The four candidates come from different walks of life and carry their own hopes and pressures into the process:

• Kathy Conway [Julie Adams] is a Minnesota girl who agrees to try acting to please her mother.

• Ina Schiller [Marianne Koch] is from Vienna, recently widowed and searching for a new start.

• Vicki Dauray [Gia Scala] is from Paris, trying to rebuild her life after leaving behind a husband and child.

• Maria Antonelli [Elsa Martinelli] is a beauty from Italy, whose talent is said to lie mainly in captivating men.

As the screen tests unfold, personal feelings entangle the business. Kathy takes a sincere interest in Mike Snowden, but she is disappointed when he leaves a party with Ina Schiller. Tom Grant [John Gavin], a handsome actor, shows interest in Vicki, while publicist Ted Larabee [Herbert Anderson] promotes her, neither of them aware that she is married. Ina is introduced to Mike’s moody composer friend Johnny Pryor [Sydney Chaplin], adding a musical and emotional edge to the testing process. Maria is swept off by Spencer Farrington Jr. [Grant Williams], a playboy hotelier whose charm tests her resolve.

Kathy’s mother turns up, expecting instant recognition for her daughter. The pressure of ambition collides with personal boundaries as Kathy fails her screen test, yet she discovers that Mike might be pursuing a personal relationship with her. The studio makes a dramatic move: the original actress changes her mind and takes back the film role, but Ina and Maria are offered movie contracts, along with marriage contracts tied to their new suitors. Meanwhile, Vicki faces a different kind of decision, realizing that her family comes first.

Ultimately, the project reshapes its stars not just through contracts but through the evolving dynamics of trust, ambition, and the price of fame, leaving each candidate at a crossroads between professional opportunity and personal commitments.