Stardom
On her own insistence Peters was given the title role in 1951s Anne of the Indies, which the press declared was the film that finally brought her stardom. Before its release, she had been cast in Viva Zapata! (1952) opposite Marlon Brando in a role which once belonged to Julie Harris, and she was set to play the title role in the drama film Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie (1952). It was the first time since the beginning of her career that Peters received this much publicity. While shooting the film in Hutchinson, Kansas, Peters was honored with the title 'Miss Wheatheart of America'.
In 1953 director Samuel Fuller chose Peters over Marilyn Monroe for the part of Candy in Pickup on South Street, stating he thought Peters had the right blend of sex appeal and the tough-talking, streetwise quality he was seeking. Monroe, he said, was too innocent looking for the role. Shelley Winters and Betty Grable had previously been considered for the role, but both had turned it down. Because of the sex symbol status of her character, Peters was not thrilled with taking on the role. She preferred playing more down to earth, unglamorous parts as she had done with Anne of the Indies (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952) and Lure of the Wilderness (1952).
For Pickup on South Street, Peters was advised to bleach her hair for the role, but she refused to do so, as she wished to avoid comparisons with Winters and Grable. She did, however, agree to adopt a "sexy shuffle" for the role. To further understand the role of a siren, she was helped by Marilyn Monroe. Peters later confessed she liked making the film, but announced in an interview she was not willing to take on other siren roles. She was quoted saying: " was fine for my career, but that doesn't mean I'm going to put on a tight sweater and skirt and slither around. I'm just not the type. On Marilyn Monroe it looks good. On me it would look silly." In another interview, Peters explained that playing down-to-earth and sometimes unwashed women have the most to offer in the way of drama. She said:
| “ | A clothes horse seldom has lines or situations that pierce the outer layer and get into the core of life. After all, a woman in the latest Paris creation might feel and think like a plain, simple soul but the clothes she wears would prevent her from revealing exactly what she feels and thinks. One look in the mirror and she must live up to what she sees there. The same is true on screen. If the character is chic and soignee and lines are either 'bright' or 'smart aleck' I do not think of myself as a person suited to reading such lines. Sophistication in an actress usually comes from many years of training. I came to the screen from classroom and I'm learning as I go along. I like to play roles I understand. As I am a farm girl, born and raised near Canton, Ohio, I like the frank, honest approach. Innuendo, intrigue the devious slant, are foreign to me and to the sort of character I best understand. I often think our glamorization of Hollywood stars — the perpetual photographing us in ermine and bouffant tulle, in French bathing suits or slee satin — throws the public off. They don't recognize us as human beings subject to the same discomforts of climate and working conditions as they are. They expect to see that goddess leading couple of wolfhounds come striding onto the set. Because I like to get away from all that and down to the heart of things I choose such characters as Josefa, or Anne, or Louise, the girl in Lure of the Wilderness. | ” |
Peters and Marilyn Monroe starred together in another 1953 film noir, Niagara. It was not their first collaboration. In 1951, they both had secondary roles in As Young as You Feel. In Niagara, Peters replaced Anne Baxter, with whom she co-starred in the anthology film O. Henry's Full House (1952). Shooting of Niagara took place in the summer of 1952. Peters' character was initially the leading role, but the film eventually became a vehicle for Monroe, who was by the time more successful. Her third film in 1953, A Blueprint for Murder, reunited her with Joseph Cotten, with whom she previously starred in Niagara. She was assigned to the film in December 1952 and told the press she liked playing in the film because it allowed her to sing. Shortly after its premiere in July 1953, Peters' contract was renewed for another two years.
Another 1953 film starring Peters was the film noir Vicki. The story of the film, which is a remake of I Wake Up Screaming, was bought by writer Leo Townsend especially for Peters. Townsend told that he gave the role to Peters in December 1952, because she was "one of the greatest sirens he's ever seen." Next, Peters was assigned to replace Crain in the film Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), which was shot on location in late 1953 in Italy. Peters was unsatisfied with her role and said in a September 1953 interview: "When I heard Dorothy McGuire, Clifton Webb and Maggie McNamara were going to be in the picture, I thought I would finally have the kind of role that suited me. They sounded like smart, sophisticated company. But when I got to Italy and read the script, I discovered I was going to be an earthy kind of girl again. The script had me nearly being killed in a runaway truck."
Nevertheless, the film became a great success and brought Peters again into the limelight. Other 1954 films co-starring Peters were the westerns Apache and Broken Lance. Although Broken Lance did not deliver her much attention, she was critically acclaimed for her performance in Apache, with one critic praising her for "giving an excellent account for herself", declaring she was "on her way to becoming one of the finest young actresses around Hollywood today."
Following her marriage to Howard Hughes, Peters retired from acting, her final film being A Man Called Peter (1955). After the release of A Man Called Peter she refused several roles, an act for which she was placed on suspension. Deciding she had had enough, she left Fox to focus on her private life. Producer Jerry Wald tried to persuade her not to leave Hollywood in early 1957, but had no luck. She was supposedly discouraged to be an actress by Hughes, and instead reported in late 1957 that she was planning on becoming a producer. In March 1959, it was announced that Peters was set to return to the screen for a supporting role in The Best of Everything. Ultimately Peters did not appear in The Best of Everything, nor did she fulfill her desire to produce a film.
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