The Green Girl

2014 "Susan Oliver: To millions of Star Trek fans, she was The Green Girl. For the first generation ever raised on television, she was so much more..."
7.8| 1h34m| en| More Info
Released: 24 July 2014 Released
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Synopsis

A feature-length documentary about Star Trek's iconic original Green Girl, Susan Oliver: Prolific actress of the '50s - '80s, original member of the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women, record-setting female aviator; Tragically taken by cancer in 1990. With over 120 major acting credits in film and television, Susan Oliver was literally a household name in the 1960's. She set a number of world records as a pilot and was one of the only women directing major TV shows in the 1980's. And yet many people don't even remember her name today. It's time to remember Susan Oliver...

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dondevries11 I had no idea who or what The Green Girl is or was. Now I find myself having seen it three times, each more interesting and fulfilling than the last. Unexpectedly, one of the most interesting things was learning more fully about an entire industry through one person. About movies, television, about it's people, actors, directors, related persons, history, literal behind the scenes interactions, meaning generally and specifically, than I ever conceive imaginable. At the same time much broader and much narrower than I could have ever thought possible. Then comes the surprising shocker of all as a documentary. It hit me with what I expect from real entertaining invigorating movies. It has drama about drama about drama. It elicits feelings and emotion about the very people and things that are themselves initiated and formulated to elicit feelings and emotions in the first place! first about the subject person, secondly about the people intimately acquainted with the subject person. And also, not the least, about the person, people, background, processes, contacts, research methods of who made this movie / documentary; and how this movie / documentary came to be born in the first place, and how things unfolded as it was made. It has that ineffable something that keeps bringing me back to see it again. I might not be done yet. I might see it A forth time. I already know I'm going to see Few Options a second time. Touching, insightful, educational, and interesting. Yes, both of them, that's interesting, and perhaps even strange. - Thank you again, George
samlmt A true revelation in celebrity documentaries, told with love, respect, earnestness and compassion. The amazing part is that this film could be as emotionally compelling as it is, given that the subject - actress Susan Oliver - was so hard to pin down as an individual. Part mystery, part enigma, and gifted beyond compare, her legacy is thoughtfully preserved in The Green Girl. You don't have to be a fan of Susan to enjoy this film. You don't even have to know who she was. You'll be drawn in, and find yourself wanting to discover her works. Great job by the director and editor. An obvious labor of love for all involved, meticulously researched and presented.
catattack77-74-618204 This is a feature-length documentary about actress Susan Oliver. The title comes from a rather famous – I daresay "Iconic" – role of hers from the first Star Trek pilot made in 1963. She played "Veena," who turned into the Green Orion Slave girl, and fodder for so many fan boys' fantasies. However, Susan Oliver was much more than one role in a sci-fi TV show. If you watched episodic television in the fifties, sixties, seventies and even the eighties, you will have seen her, as she guest-starred in literally hundreds of shows, from Wagon Train to Route 66 to The Twilight Zone to Peyton Place. And she was such a good actress, she would appear in multiple roles on any one show; for instance, she appeared four times on Wagon Train, each a different role.She was also an aviatrix, what they used to call a female pilot. She piloted her own twin- engine plane solo across the Atlantic. She came in first in the Powder Puff Derby, a race featuring only female pilots. In Hollywood she was in the first wave of women directors, sponsored by the AFI. Yet even after directing an episode of M.A.S.H. and Trapper John, she wasn't able to break that glass ceiling to get more directing jobs.The documentary is a fascinating account of a beautiful woman who could act and was smart, who had many other skills, but who couldn't break down societal barriers to achieve her goals.
Eric D. Martin A good documentary with the most clips of Susan Oliver's career that will ever be assembled. As such it is also a valuable overview of the early days of television. However, several problems come up that call into question the resources and abilities of the filmmakers. The chief one is a lack of interviews or reflections from significant television and film industry peers. Ms. Oliver worked with scores of top-level actors, many of whom are still with us, yet none deigned to be in this documentary, despite almost certainly being asked. Especially curious is the absence of Jerry Lewis, with whom she made several movies and was clearly a friend who offered to pay her hospital bills at the end. We are left with heavy screen time given to lesser-known performers, some of whom didn't even know she was a pilot, undermining their own credentials as intimates. The one notable exception was David Hedison, although even he is hardly a household name. The film also heavily relies on lesser-known Hollywood writers, production people, and friends, many of whom are posed with their books (and sometimes artwork), offering plenty of praise but little real insight into Ms. Oliver's life and work. While famous people don't necessarily a good documentary make, their complete absence from this film undermines both the claims of Susan Oliver's importance to the industry and the professional credentials of the filmmakers...to say nothing of seriously hurting the film's chances of garnering mainstream interest. The documentary also makes no attempt to put any of Ms. Oliver's work or life into perspective, by use of a narrator or any analytical framework. The film is an endless series of TV and movie clips and talking head testimonials...there is no over-arching voice to bring it all together and offer up any kind of summation on who Susan Oliver was and why she might be important and worth remembering. Details about her personal life, especially her puzzling romantic liaisons and the obviously complicated relationship with her famous astrologer mother, are given a quick once-over. We are only given hints as to whom she may have had relationships with, and while privacy is always sacrosanct, a documentary that doesn't at least attempt to delineate the home life of its subject becomes more a curriculum vitae than a true story of a person. One can't help but feel the filmmakers kept things light in an effort to do honor to Ms. Oliver. That they did, but the documentary finally leaves one with the same feeling one has about Susan Oliver's career: it was oddly incomplete, and less than it should have been.