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Second Serve
- Director: Anthony Page
- Writer: John Ames; Gavin Lambert
- Producer: Linda Yellen
CGiii Comment
The acting is utterly appalling – and that goes for Redgrave too... every actor has a bad day!
The costumes are a farce, the writing shambolic.
Let this be lost to the archives. Quickly.
A huge embarrassment.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Fact-based story about tennis pro Renee Richards, whose player status was challenged in 1976 when it was revealed that she was a transsexual. Flashback to 1964 and meet Richard Radley, a successful New York doctor with a great lifestyle, a flashy girl friend, and a secret life. Seems like the good doctor likes to dress up in women's clothes and visit Manhattan. His psychiatrist mother refuses to deal with him and sends him to a colleague who diagnoses with a psychotic gender confusion, which he says can be unlearned. After a failed marriage and fatherhood, he gives in to the transsexual operation and becomes Renee for good with a new life in California.
Cast & Characters
Vanessa Redgrave as Richard Radley / Renee Richards;
Martin Balsam as Dr. Beck;
William Russ as Josh;
Alice Krige as Gwen;
Kerrie Keane as Meriam;
Richard Venture as Dr. David Radley;
Reni Santoni as Dr. Roberto Granato;
Louise Fletcher as Dr. Sadie M. Bishop;
Jeff Corey as Dr. Harry Benjamin;
Alan Feinstein as Bill;
Nina Van Pallandt as Danielle;
Michael Cavanaugh as Gene Scott;
Kenneth Tigar as Ross;
Alison La Placa as Nightclub singer;
Ray Girardin as Grigsby