Based on the play "Orpheus Descending" by Tennessee Williams directed by Sidney Lumet with an exceptional cast: Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton and Victor Jory. I saw it for the first time when I was still in my teens and I had an opaque, sticky memory of the film so when somebody suggested to see it on DVD I knew we were in for an opaque, sticky evening but, as it happens, I was dead wrong. "The Fugitive Kind" is riveting with an opening monologue by Brando that is astonishing. A 1960 Brando when he had still, I imagine. hopes to be the actor, the man he wanted to be. There is an animal innocence in his eyes in his moves. The magnificent Magnani, who learned her lines phonetically because she didn't know English presented Brando with a challenge as an actress and as a woman. I hear it wasn't pretty but the result is a feast for the eyes and the ears. The film may not be perfect but I don't think the original material was either so what we got here is a unique opportunity to see this enormous artists giving their whole. That alone makes it a collectors item.
54 Reviews
Southern Gothic tragedy with Brando, Magnani and Woodward
Wuchakk10 March 2017
Released in 1960 and directed by Sidney Lumet from Tennessee Williams' screenplay, "The Fugitive Kind" is a B&W southern Gothic drama starring Marlon Brando as loner minstrel Val "Snakeskin" from New Orleans in pursuit of a new life and the people with whom to live it. He stumbles upon a Mississippi town and gets a job at a mercantile store, which is run by a lonely passed-her-prime woman, Lady (Anna Magnani). While Snakeskin works the store downstairs, Lady's terminally ill husband is bedridden upstairs (Victor Jory). Joanne Woodward plays a histrionic beatnik while Maureen Stapleton is on hand as a housewife enamored by Snakeskin. R.G. Armstrong appears as the redneck sheriff.
The first time I watched this movie (in 2008) I didn't much like it, probably because I wasn't familiar with Williams' stagey, melodramatic style of writing. However, after just viewing Williams' "The Night of the Iguana" (1964) and really appreciating it, I had a taste for more and so gave "The Fugitive Kind" a second chance. I'm glad I did because, this time, I was able to discern its highlights and got a lot more out of it.
Marlon was in the midst of my favorite period of his career while filming this movie. Arguably his greatest films, "The Young Lions" (1958), "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961) and "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962), were all shot during this time. While "The Fugitive Kind" is easily the least of these it's worth checking out for a number of reasons, as long as you're in the mood for a talky adult melodrama. Like "The Night of the Iguana," this is a brooding rumination on the nature of existence. As such, there are numerous treasures to glean from the seemingly interminable dialogues. The movie's overlong and could've been tightened up, but the interspersed riches hidden within make it worth staying with, but you have to be a seasoned adult to appreciate it or, at least, mature for your years.
Woodward's beatnik character is interesting as she's basically a hippie before hippies existed. Although her character is histrionic and somewhat annoying, some of her reflections are poignant, like in the interesting cemetery scene with Snakeskin. Emory Richardson is almost fascinating as Carol's silent black friend in a racist community. Some of their platonic imagery together is unexpected and intriguing for a film shot in 1959.
Brando was 35 during filming and became the first actor to make $1 million for a single film (although Elizabeth Taylor earlier signed a $1 million contract for "Cleopatra," that movie wasn't released until 1963). Magnani was 51 and hot to sleep with the star, but Marlon didn't find her attractive which, needless to say, negatively affected the shoot. This is surprising because some of their scenes together are quite good. I incidentally had an Italian neighbor who passed away six weeks ago who was strikingly reminiscent of Magnani's character, both looks-wise and temperament-wise. So I know firsthand that people like her exist.
The film runs 119 minutes and was shot in Milton, New York.
GRADE: B
The first time I watched this movie (in 2008) I didn't much like it, probably because I wasn't familiar with Williams' stagey, melodramatic style of writing. However, after just viewing Williams' "The Night of the Iguana" (1964) and really appreciating it, I had a taste for more and so gave "The Fugitive Kind" a second chance. I'm glad I did because, this time, I was able to discern its highlights and got a lot more out of it.
Marlon was in the midst of my favorite period of his career while filming this movie. Arguably his greatest films, "The Young Lions" (1958), "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961) and "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962), were all shot during this time. While "The Fugitive Kind" is easily the least of these it's worth checking out for a number of reasons, as long as you're in the mood for a talky adult melodrama. Like "The Night of the Iguana," this is a brooding rumination on the nature of existence. As such, there are numerous treasures to glean from the seemingly interminable dialogues. The movie's overlong and could've been tightened up, but the interspersed riches hidden within make it worth staying with, but you have to be a seasoned adult to appreciate it or, at least, mature for your years.
Woodward's beatnik character is interesting as she's basically a hippie before hippies existed. Although her character is histrionic and somewhat annoying, some of her reflections are poignant, like in the interesting cemetery scene with Snakeskin. Emory Richardson is almost fascinating as Carol's silent black friend in a racist community. Some of their platonic imagery together is unexpected and intriguing for a film shot in 1959.
Brando was 35 during filming and became the first actor to make $1 million for a single film (although Elizabeth Taylor earlier signed a $1 million contract for "Cleopatra," that movie wasn't released until 1963). Magnani was 51 and hot to sleep with the star, but Marlon didn't find her attractive which, needless to say, negatively affected the shoot. This is surprising because some of their scenes together are quite good. I incidentally had an Italian neighbor who passed away six weeks ago who was strikingly reminiscent of Magnani's character, both looks-wise and temperament-wise. So I know firsthand that people like her exist.
The film runs 119 minutes and was shot in Milton, New York.
GRADE: B
not Williams, Lumet, or Brando's best, but it's still pretty damn good!
Quinoa198414 November 2007
The Fugitive Kind is a hot story of desire and loss and craving and heartbreak between a man and two women set in the deep south. Sounds like quintessential Tenessee Williams, and it is in spurts. Sometimes Williams leans towards being a little preachy, however true (little moments like when Brando and Stapleton have a quiet back and forth about racism via her painting kind of nails it on the head much), but it's his skills at doing melodrama that strike up the coolest beats. In fact, this is one of those super-cool movies of the late 50s that could have only starred someone like Brando, who looks at times disinterested in the scene but at the same time completely engaged, curious, smooth, harsh, and knowing of what life can bring with his trusty Ledbelly-signed guitar. It's not necessarily a towering work for the ages ala Williams collaboration 1 Streetcar Named Desire. But that doesn't mean it should be much under-looked either.
As an early effort for Lumet it's also a scorcher dramatically; he's so good with the actors that whatever little missteps the script might take in pouring on the poetic prose in how some of the characters talk (there's a scene between Brando and Anna Magnani's characters by some ruin of a spot where she says people used to make love that is actually quite boring) can be usually forgiven. Magnani especially is interesting because she should be a case of miscasting, which, apparently in later years, Lumet admitted to. She seems low-key at first, but her strengths bloom out tenfold when it comes time to act like the hard-knock-life kind of woman she is, who's in a crap marriage and had a horrible affair with a man who didn't do anything after the summer they spent together. Now she's put into a situation where she does and doesn't want this drifter, and vice versa, and she's sometimes just as cool (though also quite tough and demanding in that big Italian mama way) as her counterpart.
Meanwhile there's also Joanne Woodard, who has the kind of part many actresses love to chew on; feisty, outspoken, loud but also emotionally moody to the point that she admirably tries (and doesn't quite get to) the heights of Vivien Leigh with her classic Blanche Dubois. Overall, Lumet gets a good feel for the period- and shot in New York state no less- while working with good material and an even better cast. It won't ever be as revered as his other work, and at the same time it's much better than some would give it credit for, where the tragedy acts like another sweaty Southern caricature bemoaning existence and fitting on a bad pair of shoes.
As an early effort for Lumet it's also a scorcher dramatically; he's so good with the actors that whatever little missteps the script might take in pouring on the poetic prose in how some of the characters talk (there's a scene between Brando and Anna Magnani's characters by some ruin of a spot where she says people used to make love that is actually quite boring) can be usually forgiven. Magnani especially is interesting because she should be a case of miscasting, which, apparently in later years, Lumet admitted to. She seems low-key at first, but her strengths bloom out tenfold when it comes time to act like the hard-knock-life kind of woman she is, who's in a crap marriage and had a horrible affair with a man who didn't do anything after the summer they spent together. Now she's put into a situation where she does and doesn't want this drifter, and vice versa, and she's sometimes just as cool (though also quite tough and demanding in that big Italian mama way) as her counterpart.
Meanwhile there's also Joanne Woodard, who has the kind of part many actresses love to chew on; feisty, outspoken, loud but also emotionally moody to the point that she admirably tries (and doesn't quite get to) the heights of Vivien Leigh with her classic Blanche Dubois. Overall, Lumet gets a good feel for the period- and shot in New York state no less- while working with good material and an even better cast. It won't ever be as revered as his other work, and at the same time it's much better than some would give it credit for, where the tragedy acts like another sweaty Southern caricature bemoaning existence and fitting on a bad pair of shoes.
Slow Boiler...
Bolesroor3 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
"The Fugitive Kind" plays like Tennessee Williams' B-side, the second-half of a "Streetcar" double feature... Director Sidney Lumet does a fantastic job tapping into the loneliness, desire, and humanity that were the hallmarks of Williams' writing. And Brando is still smoking from his "Streetcar" heat...
Marlon was still in his golden era, and he's the reason to see this movie. His performance here is pure sexual magnetism, as he effortlessly plays a man whose every move oozes eroticism. How much so? At one point in the movie Anna Magnini watches him walk by with a cigarette in his hand and blushes, asking why he's so dirty. At another point, he confesses his gift/curse for being able to "wear women down." Let the levees break...
This is the Brando everyone talks about, and every tired cliché is absolutely true: you cannot take your eyes off him. Smoldering, strong, and yet embarrassingly vulnerable- both physically and emotionally. This is the stuff dreams are made of.
Joanne Woodward gives a brilliantly naked performance as a beatnik, and she reminded me strongly of Jessica Lange. Anna Magnani is suitably raw, and Victor Jory appropriately evil.
The show here is Marlon, and if you don't know why he's considered the best film actor of all time, just take a look at him here.
GRADE: B
Marlon was still in his golden era, and he's the reason to see this movie. His performance here is pure sexual magnetism, as he effortlessly plays a man whose every move oozes eroticism. How much so? At one point in the movie Anna Magnini watches him walk by with a cigarette in his hand and blushes, asking why he's so dirty. At another point, he confesses his gift/curse for being able to "wear women down." Let the levees break...
This is the Brando everyone talks about, and every tired cliché is absolutely true: you cannot take your eyes off him. Smoldering, strong, and yet embarrassingly vulnerable- both physically and emotionally. This is the stuff dreams are made of.
Joanne Woodward gives a brilliantly naked performance as a beatnik, and she reminded me strongly of Jessica Lange. Anna Magnani is suitably raw, and Victor Jory appropriately evil.
The show here is Marlon, and if you don't know why he's considered the best film actor of all time, just take a look at him here.
GRADE: B
The superb acting redeems it.
MOscarbradley26 November 2015
"Orpheus Descending" may be one of Tennessee Williams' lesser plays but this screen version, under the more commercial title "The Fugitive Kind", is a fairly juicy entertainment. thanks for the most part to the playing of Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani and Joanne Woodward. They are superb and lift the material, which is far from first-rate, to an altogether higher plain. The director was Sidney Lumet and while it may not be the best thing he's ever done, he certainly ensures we are never bored.
Williams himself adapted his play along with Meade Roberts and he signposts all the big moments well in advance. Once you hear Magnani's Lady Torrence tell of how vigilantes burned down her father's orchard with him in it, you know how things will turn out - badly! The superb cinematography, in widescreen and in black and white, is by the great Boris Kaufman and the nice, bluesy score is by Kenyon Hopkins.
Williams himself adapted his play along with Meade Roberts and he signposts all the big moments well in advance. Once you hear Magnani's Lady Torrence tell of how vigilantes burned down her father's orchard with him in it, you know how things will turn out - badly! The superb cinematography, in widescreen and in black and white, is by the great Boris Kaufman and the nice, bluesy score is by Kenyon Hopkins.
A wild emotional and dramatic ride, not quite believable, but a hyper small town world
secondtake16 June 2011
The Fugitive Kind (1960)
This is one of those great movies that slips its way into that big gap between the great Hollywood Golden Age to the great New Hollywood of the late 1960s. An awful lot of films from the period between (1955-65) are weak or even downright bad, big budgets and all. The Hollywood gems in that time are usually a little gut wrenching, and many are based on plays, or push political issues (I'm thinking of "The Apartment" and "The Manchurian Candidate"). The famous directors coming to their own during time include Elia Kazan and Robert Wise, and of course Sidney Lumet, who directed this one.
This is all working class, plainspeaking, emotive material. Right from the get-go with leading man Marlon Brando doing a long take as he stands before a judge, we are filled with heart-wrenching stuff, people who want to be something and don't know how, or people with big hearts that are broken or dirty. The cast, beyond Brando, is terrific: Joanne Woodward as a young floozy with a sharp sense of independence, Maureen Stapleton as a simple and faith filled wife of the sheriff, and Anna Magnani, intense and troubled but superior in her own out of place way.
There are powerful displays of white narrow-mindedness (call it bigotry, but it is largely aimed at just anyone they don't like) that don't quite fall into clichés, there is love that shouldn't be and that never is, there is old world morality and inbred local gossipy immorality. Things are bound for collision even by twenty minutes in, and there are innuendoes and hidden histories waiting to blossom.
Lumet has a knack for the serious, with his 1957 breakthrough film "12 Angry Men" a template for his career. As lively and even crazy as this movie is, it's also probing deeply into human woe and maladjustment (often deliberate). The core of the writing belongs to Tennessee Williams, who of course is all about inner troubles and outward misunderstood or mistaken actions. There is nothing superficial here, not in the acting, the filming, or the scenes (set in the South but filmed near Saratoga Springs, New York). And if the wet, dark nights scenes and interiors with people quarreling and fighting aren't enough to suck you in, the story, about wanting to live, nothing more, is beautiful and important. All four of the main characters are deeply good people, and all flawed in small but debilitating ways.
Which should sound familiar. As over the top as it sometimes seems, you'll identify with the position some of the people end up in. Brando is temperamental but patient and with a profound sense of justice. Woodward is a free spirit misunderstood (and punished) by the uptight and hypocritical society around her. The themes are frank for 1960, including an implication of a male so manly and irresistible the women want him (and get him) even when it's completely wrong. And when it's right. The sexuality, partly pumped up by the writing of the openly gay playwright (Williams), is all over Brando's face and in his scenes. And this is his movie.
High high drama, but from within. And explosive. Don't miss it.
This is one of those great movies that slips its way into that big gap between the great Hollywood Golden Age to the great New Hollywood of the late 1960s. An awful lot of films from the period between (1955-65) are weak or even downright bad, big budgets and all. The Hollywood gems in that time are usually a little gut wrenching, and many are based on plays, or push political issues (I'm thinking of "The Apartment" and "The Manchurian Candidate"). The famous directors coming to their own during time include Elia Kazan and Robert Wise, and of course Sidney Lumet, who directed this one.
This is all working class, plainspeaking, emotive material. Right from the get-go with leading man Marlon Brando doing a long take as he stands before a judge, we are filled with heart-wrenching stuff, people who want to be something and don't know how, or people with big hearts that are broken or dirty. The cast, beyond Brando, is terrific: Joanne Woodward as a young floozy with a sharp sense of independence, Maureen Stapleton as a simple and faith filled wife of the sheriff, and Anna Magnani, intense and troubled but superior in her own out of place way.
There are powerful displays of white narrow-mindedness (call it bigotry, but it is largely aimed at just anyone they don't like) that don't quite fall into clichés, there is love that shouldn't be and that never is, there is old world morality and inbred local gossipy immorality. Things are bound for collision even by twenty minutes in, and there are innuendoes and hidden histories waiting to blossom.
Lumet has a knack for the serious, with his 1957 breakthrough film "12 Angry Men" a template for his career. As lively and even crazy as this movie is, it's also probing deeply into human woe and maladjustment (often deliberate). The core of the writing belongs to Tennessee Williams, who of course is all about inner troubles and outward misunderstood or mistaken actions. There is nothing superficial here, not in the acting, the filming, or the scenes (set in the South but filmed near Saratoga Springs, New York). And if the wet, dark nights scenes and interiors with people quarreling and fighting aren't enough to suck you in, the story, about wanting to live, nothing more, is beautiful and important. All four of the main characters are deeply good people, and all flawed in small but debilitating ways.
Which should sound familiar. As over the top as it sometimes seems, you'll identify with the position some of the people end up in. Brando is temperamental but patient and with a profound sense of justice. Woodward is a free spirit misunderstood (and punished) by the uptight and hypocritical society around her. The themes are frank for 1960, including an implication of a male so manly and irresistible the women want him (and get him) even when it's completely wrong. And when it's right. The sexuality, partly pumped up by the writing of the openly gay playwright (Williams), is all over Brando's face and in his scenes. And this is his movie.
High high drama, but from within. And explosive. Don't miss it.
Wordy, good-looking soaper for grown-ups
moonspinner556 May 2002
Tennessee Williams and Meade Roberts co-adapted Williams' play "Orpheus Descending" about a reluctant stud drifting through backwater town, stirring up the passions of an Italian shopkeeper who's married to a cranky invalid. Eerie and fabulously atmospheric piece gives the women in particular (Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton) great roles to play. Marlon Brando, well-cast as the guitar-strumming gadabout with the bedroom eyes, doesn't seem as fully involved, and his focus tends to wander. Overall, an intriguing soap opera for mature audiences, beautifully photographed by Boris Kaufman and nimbly directed by Sidney Lumet. *** from ****
Extremely poignant and captivating!
Nazi_Fighter_David28 August 2000
Tennessee Williams was a stunning writer for the theater... The impact of his plays can overwhelm an audience with its superior force...
Written in 1957, "Orpheus Descending" is a reconstruction of Williams' 1940 "Battle of Angels," filmed under Sidney Lumet's direction as "The Fugitive Kind."
Williams subtracted elements of the ancient myth of Orpheus and Euridice to examine the sadistically patriarchal Southern Gothic town and to create a violent plot, involving ruined love, weakness, sex, betrayal, vengeance and lingering hatreds... "Orpheus Descending" shows how social prejudice threatens the lives of identified outsiders...
This classic play is not quite his masterpiece... "A Streetcar Named Desire" is... It lacks some of the regretful charm of "The Glass Menagerie" and the entire impact of "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof." Nevertheless it is a deeply moving work of art...
Williams was known for his compelling dialog and themes that - for their time - often seemed strange or shocking... He vividly suggested the sexual tensions and prevented violence of his tormented character, usually with compassion as well as irony...
The film focuses on a handsome drifter from New Orleans, named Val Xavier, wearing a snake skin jacket - Williams' trademark of a rebel, non-conformist - Val is a "fugitive kind" who comes in off the highway... He is a rural Orpheus who descends to rescue his love, not in Hades precisely, but among the intrigue, chatter, and violence of the hot-tempered town of Two Rivers, Mississippi... He is a wandering guitar player who embarks on an affair with a lonely frustrated unhappy storekeeper's wife Lady Torrance...
Anna Magnani is intelligently sensual and charming as Lady... Joanne Woodward is the hungry grotesque drunken Carol who tries to seduce Val in a cemetery... Both women are so intense, that they force you to become involved with them...
The genuine community provides also interesting watching: Victor Jory, positively magnetic as the brutal oppressive husband Jabe Torrence; the vindictive sheriff R. G. Armstrong; and the soft-hearted Vee (Maureen Stapleton).
Lady Torrence is a study of the immigrant woman who has acquired a patina of resilient toughness but who slowly admits her sensuality... She catches perfectly contradictory emotions of one who is wary of the stranger but who longs for his healing touch...
With handsome magnetism, Brando is no less compelling... He is quite convincing avoiding all the clichés of the drifting Don Juan... With some kind of lucid intensity, he mixes his character's predatory and uncivil arrogance with flashes of sweet tenderness...
The film (definitely worth seeing) is extremely poignant and captivating... The direction is excellent and the action moves very smoothly, never allowing you to relax...
Written in 1957, "Orpheus Descending" is a reconstruction of Williams' 1940 "Battle of Angels," filmed under Sidney Lumet's direction as "The Fugitive Kind."
Williams subtracted elements of the ancient myth of Orpheus and Euridice to examine the sadistically patriarchal Southern Gothic town and to create a violent plot, involving ruined love, weakness, sex, betrayal, vengeance and lingering hatreds... "Orpheus Descending" shows how social prejudice threatens the lives of identified outsiders...
This classic play is not quite his masterpiece... "A Streetcar Named Desire" is... It lacks some of the regretful charm of "The Glass Menagerie" and the entire impact of "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof." Nevertheless it is a deeply moving work of art...
Williams was known for his compelling dialog and themes that - for their time - often seemed strange or shocking... He vividly suggested the sexual tensions and prevented violence of his tormented character, usually with compassion as well as irony...
The film focuses on a handsome drifter from New Orleans, named Val Xavier, wearing a snake skin jacket - Williams' trademark of a rebel, non-conformist - Val is a "fugitive kind" who comes in off the highway... He is a rural Orpheus who descends to rescue his love, not in Hades precisely, but among the intrigue, chatter, and violence of the hot-tempered town of Two Rivers, Mississippi... He is a wandering guitar player who embarks on an affair with a lonely frustrated unhappy storekeeper's wife Lady Torrance...
Anna Magnani is intelligently sensual and charming as Lady... Joanne Woodward is the hungry grotesque drunken Carol who tries to seduce Val in a cemetery... Both women are so intense, that they force you to become involved with them...
The genuine community provides also interesting watching: Victor Jory, positively magnetic as the brutal oppressive husband Jabe Torrence; the vindictive sheriff R. G. Armstrong; and the soft-hearted Vee (Maureen Stapleton).
Lady Torrence is a study of the immigrant woman who has acquired a patina of resilient toughness but who slowly admits her sensuality... She catches perfectly contradictory emotions of one who is wary of the stranger but who longs for his healing touch...
With handsome magnetism, Brando is no less compelling... He is quite convincing avoiding all the clichés of the drifting Don Juan... With some kind of lucid intensity, he mixes his character's predatory and uncivil arrogance with flashes of sweet tenderness...
The film (definitely worth seeing) is extremely poignant and captivating... The direction is excellent and the action moves very smoothly, never allowing you to relax...
Top Notch Acting
MoreLord7 February 2005
This is not a well-written film, but the acting is phenomenal. Brando and Magnani have really great chemistry and that's what carries the film. It is the acting of these two that make me want to watch this film time and time again. I didn't necessarily like Joanne Woodward in her role, it just didn't seem to fit her. It seemed like she was trying too hard or something, so I just tuned her out. But I was always tuned into Brando--its just something about him that just pulls you in--wondering what he'll do next in the scene. Anyway, The cinematography is great and adds to the moodiness of the film. Overall, the movie isn't necessarily Brando's greatest film, but it's by no means one of his worst. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to work with as far as the script, so the acting had to carry the film.
two superb performances
tsbooks115 January 2005
While The Fugitive Kind suffers from inconsistent pacing and some over-blown dialog, it is worth watching for the peerless performances delivered by Anna Magnani and Victor Jory. Magnani's desperate vulnerability and passionate need for love and vindication are so powerfully and truthfully portrayed that even the great Brando seems pale and insubstantial beside her. Without Jory's vilely hateful depiction of the dying husband, however, even Magnani's powerhouse performance couldn't save the film. Seldom has such wanton cruelty been so effectively captured on screen. Brando is a bit mannered at times but the sheer animal magnetism he possessed at this point in his career transcend the script's pretensions. Woodward wrings more than could rightfully be expected from her over-written part. R.G. Armstrong as the corrupt sheriff and Maureen Stapleton as his kind-hearted wife shine in supporting roles, but it is Magnani and Jory who transform the film into a riveting cinematic experience.
The Fugitive Kind
MartinTeller30 December 2011
Not one of the best by Tennessee Williams, a lot of overwritten speeches and blatant metaphors. The core cast -- Brando, Magnani, and Woodward -- are all very good, and Stapleton is wonderful in her small role. The characters are the usual bunch of wild cards and frustrated souls, and the drama involves some pretty heady subject matter. Lumet's direction is strong too, with some wonderful camera-work and staging. Even the score is good. It's just the dialogue that stinks. It's not all bad, but boy there are a few big eye-rollers in there. Still, it's worth seeing for the performances and Brando fans shouldn't be disappointed.
A Bird With No Feet Can't Land Anywhere
bkoganbing26 May 2008
I suspect that Tennessee Williams probably agreed to change the title of his classically sounding play Orpheus Descending to The Fugitive Kind in order to insure box office. Possibly some of Marlon Brando's fans garnered from The Wild One might pay their admissions thinking they were seeing something like that. I can think of worst ways to be exposed to one of America's most respected playwrights.
This was Brando's second time doing Williams for the screen, the first time being A Streetcar Named Desire. Curiously enough this was Anna Magnani's second time doing Tennessee Williams for the screen as well, she won an Oscar in 1955 for The Rose Tattoo. So the combination of Brando and Magnani seemed a natural for the screen. I don't think The Fugitive Kind is as good as Streetcar or The Rose Tattoo, but the parts are meaty enough roles for both these honored players.
Characters seem to drift in to The Fugitive Kind from other Williams work. Brando's Val Xavier is quite like Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth, in fact in the review's title is the illusion Brando himself makes of his character. He's an early 30 something drifter with a talent for sex and music, the former probably more than the latter.
Unlike Chance, Xavier doesn't have a female keeper, but he'd like to find one. He passes up liaison with the town trollop played by a third Oscar winner in the cast, Joanne Woodward for the older and married Anna Magnani.
Magnani is trapped in a loveless marriage to a dying Victor Jory, a petty tyrant who runs the town general store. Like Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Jory is dying of cancer at a much more advanced stage of the disease than Burl Ives had. Picture Big Mama from that play hot to trot for Chance Wayne and you've got the essence of The Fugitive Kind.
Joanne Woodward has an interesting part. Part of her loose behavior is in rebellion against the time honored tradition of institutional racism that is the south that Tennessee Williams grew up in. I'm not an expert on Tennessee Williams, but of the works I've seen that are revived frequently, this is the only one where Williams directly brings up racism.
Orpheus Descending on Broadway only ran 68 performances in 1957. Two members from the Broadway cast made it to the screen, R.G. Armstrong as the sheriff repeating his role and Maureen Stapleton who had Joanne Woodward's part on stage, essays the part of the sheriff's wife who also is married to another middle aged tyrant. Considered a lesser work of Williams at first, Orpheus Descending is now revived frequently by stock theater companies everywhere. A critically acclaimed revival on Broadway in 1989 with Vanessa Redgrave and Tammy Grimes and Kevin Anderson helped bring Orpheus Descending into its proper place in the sun.
Maybe if a remake is ever done, it will even be done under its proper original title. Till then we can be well satisfied with this version.
This was Brando's second time doing Williams for the screen, the first time being A Streetcar Named Desire. Curiously enough this was Anna Magnani's second time doing Tennessee Williams for the screen as well, she won an Oscar in 1955 for The Rose Tattoo. So the combination of Brando and Magnani seemed a natural for the screen. I don't think The Fugitive Kind is as good as Streetcar or The Rose Tattoo, but the parts are meaty enough roles for both these honored players.
Characters seem to drift in to The Fugitive Kind from other Williams work. Brando's Val Xavier is quite like Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth, in fact in the review's title is the illusion Brando himself makes of his character. He's an early 30 something drifter with a talent for sex and music, the former probably more than the latter.
Unlike Chance, Xavier doesn't have a female keeper, but he'd like to find one. He passes up liaison with the town trollop played by a third Oscar winner in the cast, Joanne Woodward for the older and married Anna Magnani.
Magnani is trapped in a loveless marriage to a dying Victor Jory, a petty tyrant who runs the town general store. Like Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Jory is dying of cancer at a much more advanced stage of the disease than Burl Ives had. Picture Big Mama from that play hot to trot for Chance Wayne and you've got the essence of The Fugitive Kind.
Joanne Woodward has an interesting part. Part of her loose behavior is in rebellion against the time honored tradition of institutional racism that is the south that Tennessee Williams grew up in. I'm not an expert on Tennessee Williams, but of the works I've seen that are revived frequently, this is the only one where Williams directly brings up racism.
Orpheus Descending on Broadway only ran 68 performances in 1957. Two members from the Broadway cast made it to the screen, R.G. Armstrong as the sheriff repeating his role and Maureen Stapleton who had Joanne Woodward's part on stage, essays the part of the sheriff's wife who also is married to another middle aged tyrant. Considered a lesser work of Williams at first, Orpheus Descending is now revived frequently by stock theater companies everywhere. A critically acclaimed revival on Broadway in 1989 with Vanessa Redgrave and Tammy Grimes and Kevin Anderson helped bring Orpheus Descending into its proper place in the sun.
Maybe if a remake is ever done, it will even be done under its proper original title. Till then we can be well satisfied with this version.
Great acting, weak play
rivera66_9911 March 2004
Let's face it: Tennessee Williams was more a very clever and, at his time, fashionable author than a genius. "Descending Orpheus" shows both his cleverness (in creating, for instance, gripping and effective situations) and his inability to reach that "second simplicity" that marks most great pieces of art. Everything is so 'symbolic' here, so predictable even - we don't feel even grief when our 'experimental animals' (Val and the Lady) suddenly die. The badly used music at the end shows us the difference between Lumet's flat pathos and that of, let's say, of Visconti in "Rocco and his brothers", created the same year in Italy. But - and this saves the movie and makes its watching worthwhile despite the story line and presumptious dialogues - we have Magnani here, and we have Brando with very good moments, and we have the astonishing, underrated Joanne Woodward. Watching Magnani and Brando have their duo-scenes together, makes us BELIEVE in passion and torments, and at once, the paper becomes life.
Great Cast and Presentation Aren't Enough
cherold24 March 2013
I Love Tennessee Williams. Glass Menagerie, Streetcar Named Desire,Night of the Iguana; they are works of art full of poetic language and fascinating, complex characters.
I was expecting to love The Fugitive Kind as well. Marlon Brando is a brilliant actor, as is Joanne Woodward, and Sidney Lumet is a great director. The cinematography is excellent, and some of the best moments in the movie are from great visuals.
So if I don't care for this movie - and I don't - I'm inclined to think the problem is the script. Williams dialog is not especially poetic. His characters are not particularly sympathetic; Brando is intriguing even if he never entirely catches fire, Magnani also performs well but isn't likable or deep, and Woodward's caricaturish party girl is kind of annoying.
Williams is still, to my mind, a genius, but after seeing this I think of him as a more fallible one than I had.
I was expecting to love The Fugitive Kind as well. Marlon Brando is a brilliant actor, as is Joanne Woodward, and Sidney Lumet is a great director. The cinematography is excellent, and some of the best moments in the movie are from great visuals.
So if I don't care for this movie - and I don't - I'm inclined to think the problem is the script. Williams dialog is not especially poetic. His characters are not particularly sympathetic; Brando is intriguing even if he never entirely catches fire, Magnani also performs well but isn't likable or deep, and Woodward's caricaturish party girl is kind of annoying.
Williams is still, to my mind, a genius, but after seeing this I think of him as a more fallible one than I had.
Superb movie with great performances
nandomaron24 August 2001
This picture takes Tenneesse Williams play Orpheus Descending about Val Xavier(Marlon Brando),a drifter man who plays a guitar(He is the rebel type of character who have in all of the Williams plays). Anna Magnani is great too but Marlon steals the show.Recommended Brando's character is like The Wild One without a motorcycle and a kind of Stan Kowalski that don't beat girls, he starts an affair with an older lady(Magnani),an romance that can be end in a tragedy. This is based in a Williams less know play, not good as Streetcar or Suddenly Last Summer, but is a great piece of cinema.
i would give **** of *****
i would give **** of *****
Tennessee Williams in his grimiest southern town
steiner-sam22 June 2021
It's set in smalltown Mississippi in the 1950s and follows a down-and-out character who is trying to turn his life around and the doomed relationships into which he stumbles.
Valentine Xavier (Marlon Brando), also know as Snakeskin because of the snakeskin jacket he wears, gets out of jail in New Orleans and hits the road. His car breaks down in the middle of a rainstorm in a little Mississippi town, so he stops and gets a job in a little mercantile store run by Lady Torrance (Anna Magnani). She's lonely and has an older sick husband, Jabe (Victor Jory), who doesn't trust her or the good-looking clerk she just hired, especially when she fixes up a little bedroom for Xavier in the back of the store.
Lady Torrance gets some competition from a young rich woman, Carol (Joanne Woodward), who is often drunk and remembers Xavier from New Orleans. She's too over the top to be real competition for Lady Torrence, however.
After Lady Torrence learns her husband was among an earlier group of vigilantes that burned down her father's vineyards and home with her father inside, she is determined to open a "confectionary" attached to the mercantile store, that is designed like a vineyard. She wants Jabe to see before she allows him to die.
However, there is a conflagration at the end that unhappily resolves the plot.
This is Tennessee Williams with his grimiest southern town filled with malfunctioning human relationships. There are only dim flares of hope throughout, only to be extinguished by the end. Marlon Brando, as one reviewer put it, is "an astonishing physical specimen, a statuesque hunk with the intellectual ennui of a philosopher, who moves with a panther-like ease" and is "the misfit we all want to be." Anna Magnani is the earthy older woman who is finally trying to grasp some joy from life. They are a potent combination, though I sometimes find Tennessee Williams' words to be overwrought.
Valentine Xavier (Marlon Brando), also know as Snakeskin because of the snakeskin jacket he wears, gets out of jail in New Orleans and hits the road. His car breaks down in the middle of a rainstorm in a little Mississippi town, so he stops and gets a job in a little mercantile store run by Lady Torrance (Anna Magnani). She's lonely and has an older sick husband, Jabe (Victor Jory), who doesn't trust her or the good-looking clerk she just hired, especially when she fixes up a little bedroom for Xavier in the back of the store.
Lady Torrance gets some competition from a young rich woman, Carol (Joanne Woodward), who is often drunk and remembers Xavier from New Orleans. She's too over the top to be real competition for Lady Torrence, however.
After Lady Torrence learns her husband was among an earlier group of vigilantes that burned down her father's vineyards and home with her father inside, she is determined to open a "confectionary" attached to the mercantile store, that is designed like a vineyard. She wants Jabe to see before she allows him to die.
However, there is a conflagration at the end that unhappily resolves the plot.
This is Tennessee Williams with his grimiest southern town filled with malfunctioning human relationships. There are only dim flares of hope throughout, only to be extinguished by the end. Marlon Brando, as one reviewer put it, is "an astonishing physical specimen, a statuesque hunk with the intellectual ennui of a philosopher, who moves with a panther-like ease" and is "the misfit we all want to be." Anna Magnani is the earthy older woman who is finally trying to grasp some joy from life. They are a potent combination, though I sometimes find Tennessee Williams' words to be overwrought.
Outstanding
deickos2 March 2017
This film brings together my favorite actors of all time Marlon Brando and Anna Magnani in such outstanding performances. By the way, Joan Woodward cannot fall behind and too performs exceptionally. This film should be taught in every drama school. We should not forget the great original play "Orpheus descending" by Tennessee Williams and the decent directing of Sydney Lumet. So many geniuses bundled together in this great movie!
film misses play's impact
verbumctf7 April 2008
Years ago I saw Lumet's 'The Fugitive Kind' and more recently Peter Hall's 1990 film of the play (with its original title 'Orpheus Descending'). After seeing the Hall film, I went to Williams' text, then re-visited 'The Fugitive Kind', which I remembered as having brilliant moments but as finally somewhat confused.
Lumet's film differs significantly from the play: incidents mentioned in a line or less of dialogue, get acted out with (too) much variety of settings in the film; apart from the inevitable cuts, lines are transposed in different sequence in the film script and the play's pinpoint progression of human relations is blurred in the film.
The film credits are impressive: Williams helped prepare the screen adaptation. The two films that came after this one in Sidney Lumet's filmography were also adaptations of stage plays and both have terrific impact: 'Long Day's Journey into Night' and 'A View From the Bridge'. Brando and Magnini were great screen presences. I don't know what went on in behind the scenes, but to my mind more turns out to be less in this celluloid adaptation. Williams felt this play to be 'special' among his works. Some critics thought his perfecting it over very many years was an obsession that got him nowhere. The 1990 Peter Hall film can help us re-appraise William's work. The two main characters have a vulnerability (not in the Brando/Magnani version) which opens our receptiveness to the play. The bit of ballad Brando sings to no one is banal, for example, while Kevin Anderson/Valentine's songs send a haunting beauty to us the viewers and to characters in the drama: he is Orpheus descending--to the Hell of our world!
Lumet's film differs significantly from the play: incidents mentioned in a line or less of dialogue, get acted out with (too) much variety of settings in the film; apart from the inevitable cuts, lines are transposed in different sequence in the film script and the play's pinpoint progression of human relations is blurred in the film.
The film credits are impressive: Williams helped prepare the screen adaptation. The two films that came after this one in Sidney Lumet's filmography were also adaptations of stage plays and both have terrific impact: 'Long Day's Journey into Night' and 'A View From the Bridge'. Brando and Magnini were great screen presences. I don't know what went on in behind the scenes, but to my mind more turns out to be less in this celluloid adaptation. Williams felt this play to be 'special' among his works. Some critics thought his perfecting it over very many years was an obsession that got him nowhere. The 1990 Peter Hall film can help us re-appraise William's work. The two main characters have a vulnerability (not in the Brando/Magnani version) which opens our receptiveness to the play. The bit of ballad Brando sings to no one is banal, for example, while Kevin Anderson/Valentine's songs send a haunting beauty to us the viewers and to characters in the drama: he is Orpheus descending--to the Hell of our world!
Outrageous
JasparLamarCrabb28 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
If David Lynch were making movies in the early 1960s, it might look something like THE FUGITIVE KIND. Marlon Brando drifts into the life of storekeeper Anna Magnani and sparks ignite...a lot. They make a really combustible pair. Brando is electrifying (for the last time in quite a while) and Magnani is earthy as all get out. They don't exactly like one another and then again, they can't stay away from each other. Complicating things even further is the arrival of crackpot Joanne Woodward (in a truly outrageous performance). Director Sidney Lumet gets a lot out this cast! Maureen Stapleton appears as one of the few kind characters in the film and it's heartening to see her share the screen with Brando. A stunning and very off-kilter movie. Film flub enthusiasts will note the shadow of the boom mic in one scene!
Meandering tale
bob99821 March 2012
I am not the man to give a long analysis of Tennesee Williams's career, or assess his stature in the American theatre. All I can do is give an account of what I felt watching this movie. Time weighed heavily on me through most of the running time. I could not care very much about Val and Lady, their travails with the corrupt social system of the south. Jabe Torrance is a monster, that much I was able to understand, but he seems more a Victorian villain than a store owner of the 1950's. Brando's heartfelt musings, aided by Boris Kaufman's sensitive cinematography, left me feeling hungry for more satire and sleaze.
Fortunately (or I would have abandoned watching the DVD), satire and sleaze are amply supplied by Victor Jory as the rascally Torrance, R. G. Armstrong as the jovial and vicious sheriff, and the magnificent Joanne Woodward as Carol Cutrere, a "church-bitten reformer" who has been forbidden to drive her sports car in the county, and hankers after Val. Her unbridled sexuality and destructive whimsy make the movie take off; pity she has only a few scenes. The juking monologue is a classic. What's juking? "Well, that's when you get in a car, preferably open in any kind of weather. And then you drink a little and you drive a little..." For a moment I was thrust forward to the Warhol world of the Sixties, with the likes of Edie Sedgwick, Ultraviolet and Viva!
Fortunately (or I would have abandoned watching the DVD), satire and sleaze are amply supplied by Victor Jory as the rascally Torrance, R. G. Armstrong as the jovial and vicious sheriff, and the magnificent Joanne Woodward as Carol Cutrere, a "church-bitten reformer" who has been forbidden to drive her sports car in the county, and hankers after Val. Her unbridled sexuality and destructive whimsy make the movie take off; pity she has only a few scenes. The juking monologue is a classic. What's juking? "Well, that's when you get in a car, preferably open in any kind of weather. And then you drink a little and you drive a little..." For a moment I was thrust forward to the Warhol world of the Sixties, with the likes of Edie Sedgwick, Ultraviolet and Viva!
A Timeless Classic!!
Ambrotype16 September 2004
Indeed this movie is a bit wordy at times,particularly the scenes with Anna Maganani but the Quality of the Acting and the Photography/Lighting is at times second to none.In fact the lighting of the the graveyard scene inspired me years ago to become a Photographer.
The Marlon Brando/Joanne Woodword scenes are superb throughout,the scenes of the two of them ripping down the "Dixie" Highway in her beater Jaguar Convertible are priceless.Maureen Stapleton portrays an Artist with real emotion.You can feel/smell the presence of the the sweaty,racist invalid Jabe.'The Juke Joint' scenes are classic.Even the Soundtrack is good.
You must see this Outstanding movie.It will stay with you.
The Marlon Brando/Joanne Woodword scenes are superb throughout,the scenes of the two of them ripping down the "Dixie" Highway in her beater Jaguar Convertible are priceless.Maureen Stapleton portrays an Artist with real emotion.You can feel/smell the presence of the the sweaty,racist invalid Jabe.'The Juke Joint' scenes are classic.Even the Soundtrack is good.
You must see this Outstanding movie.It will stay with you.
Fire, fever and desire
TheLittleSongbird5 September 2019
There were quite a few reasons for wanting to see 'The Fugitive Kind'. Have much appreciation and even love for Tennessee Williams, one of the great playwrights of the twentieth century, and there are some good and more film adaptations of his work (do think it lends itself better to stage or made for television). The cast is full of talented performers, especially love Marlon Brando. And it was directed by Sidney Lumet, a great director.
Found 'The Fugitive Kind' to be an interesting film. Not great but was actually led to believe that it wasn't even good, but it was better than expected and has a good deal to admire, especially the performances. There are far better film adaptations of Williams' work, have said more than once about considering 'A Streetcar Named Desire' being the definitive version and like the Paul Newman version of 'The Glass Menagerie' and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' very much (although the latter is toned down from the play content-wise and thematically, the performances especially more than compensate for that). Consider it one of the lesser ones, 'Summer and Smoke' being a lesser one too, but a large part of the problem is the play, 'Orpheus Descending', itself which is very much lesser Williams.
Starting with what doesn't work, 'The Fugitive Kind' does have the same problems of the play, though it would in all fairness have been difficult to correct the problems. Although Williams is wordy, 'The Fugitive Kind' (and 'Orpheus Descending') is a case of it being particularly far too talky which bogs down the momentum quite a bit, so it does become a bit draining. Although there are moments thanks to the cast, the story doesn't always ignite, other Williams film adaptations and plays entertain, thought provoke and move much more and are bolder thematically.
Here, things do get over-heated and at times not always easy to follow, and the melodrama can get overdone. One example being the coda, that did have a tacked on feel to it as well. Joanne Woodward gives her absolute all and sears at her best, but her character is over-written and Woodward tries too hard in spots.
On the other hand, 'The Fugitive Kind' does look great, with one of the film's main attractions being that it is beautifully and atmospherically photographed without feeling like a filmed stage production. The bluesy score never intrudes in placement or mood and doesn't feel misplaced at all. Lumet is not at his best here, not like 'Network', '12 Angry Men' and 'Dog Day Afternoon' (nor is he at his worst, 'The Wiz' being among the biggest misfires for any great director), he does do nobly in opening up the play's drama and making the character interaction believable and he nails it on the visual front. There are some nice lines and some of the drama does have some fire while just about avoiding overdoing it.
Most of the above average rating goes to the cast, almost everybody giving immensely strong performances considering that the material is far from top Williams standard. Woodward is not always consistent but props have to go to her for making such a valiant effort in a problematic role. Anna Magnani is a big standout, with her touchingly vulnerable and also intensely fierce performance, while Victor Jory sends chills up the spine as Jabe. Brando is not at his best but he is always commanding and smolders in all the right places, and Maureen Stapleton brings a lot of heart to her character.
Summing up, not great but interesting. 6/10
Found 'The Fugitive Kind' to be an interesting film. Not great but was actually led to believe that it wasn't even good, but it was better than expected and has a good deal to admire, especially the performances. There are far better film adaptations of Williams' work, have said more than once about considering 'A Streetcar Named Desire' being the definitive version and like the Paul Newman version of 'The Glass Menagerie' and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' very much (although the latter is toned down from the play content-wise and thematically, the performances especially more than compensate for that). Consider it one of the lesser ones, 'Summer and Smoke' being a lesser one too, but a large part of the problem is the play, 'Orpheus Descending', itself which is very much lesser Williams.
Starting with what doesn't work, 'The Fugitive Kind' does have the same problems of the play, though it would in all fairness have been difficult to correct the problems. Although Williams is wordy, 'The Fugitive Kind' (and 'Orpheus Descending') is a case of it being particularly far too talky which bogs down the momentum quite a bit, so it does become a bit draining. Although there are moments thanks to the cast, the story doesn't always ignite, other Williams film adaptations and plays entertain, thought provoke and move much more and are bolder thematically.
Here, things do get over-heated and at times not always easy to follow, and the melodrama can get overdone. One example being the coda, that did have a tacked on feel to it as well. Joanne Woodward gives her absolute all and sears at her best, but her character is over-written and Woodward tries too hard in spots.
On the other hand, 'The Fugitive Kind' does look great, with one of the film's main attractions being that it is beautifully and atmospherically photographed without feeling like a filmed stage production. The bluesy score never intrudes in placement or mood and doesn't feel misplaced at all. Lumet is not at his best here, not like 'Network', '12 Angry Men' and 'Dog Day Afternoon' (nor is he at his worst, 'The Wiz' being among the biggest misfires for any great director), he does do nobly in opening up the play's drama and making the character interaction believable and he nails it on the visual front. There are some nice lines and some of the drama does have some fire while just about avoiding overdoing it.
Most of the above average rating goes to the cast, almost everybody giving immensely strong performances considering that the material is far from top Williams standard. Woodward is not always consistent but props have to go to her for making such a valiant effort in a problematic role. Anna Magnani is a big standout, with her touchingly vulnerable and also intensely fierce performance, while Victor Jory sends chills up the spine as Jabe. Brando is not at his best but he is always commanding and smolders in all the right places, and Maureen Stapleton brings a lot of heart to her character.
Summing up, not great but interesting. 6/10
the best movie ever made
red34birds22 May 2004
i cannot believe that i had never heard of this movie. the only possible explanation is that it was spun out of a play that bombed. that said, Sidney lumet does an amazing Job of lithely sprinkling the classical over northern Mississippi (without screaming 'look were being classical now') from a historical perspective the themes dealt with here are amazing both for their envelope pushing and their subtle overlay. the acting is the best I've seen. Brando is third best, Anna M. is next. both are outdone by Woodward. The character actors Jorie and Stapleton are better than all of them.
A problem with chemistry...
planktonrules7 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Marlon Brando plays a drifter that wanders into town in this Tennessee Williams film. As soon as he arrives, he receives some help but a nice but addle-brained lady (Maureen Stapleton), is repeatedly the object of a nympho's attentions (Joanne Woodward) and meets a sad and tired lady (Anna Magnani) whose husband is dying of cancer. Magnani's character is rather pitiful, as her husband (Victor Jory) is a cancerous man in personality, too. He is cruel, coarse and just plain nasty. And, after a while, Brando and Magnani begin an affair.
This might just be my least favorite Tennessee Williams film. I think most of it is because the chemistry between Magnani and Brando seems forced. It also is because the film is rather talky and slow--and with less fireworks than you'd expect from a Williams script. Yes, it's tawdry, but not nearly as tawdry as films like "Baby Doll", "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A Streetcar Named Desire".
I am about to say something that I am sure will ruffle a few feathers--and it's the biggest reason why this movie doesn't work for me. Although Anna Magnani was a huge star for a few years in the US (with this film and her Oscar-winning performance in "The Rose Tattoo"), I have never understood her appeal in these films. While she supposedly exuded sex appeal, I just never saw this at all nor did I understand comments about how great her acting was, as she could barely speak English. And so, the idea of her character having an affair with the much younger Marlon Brando just made no sense to me--and the chemistry wasn't very convincing. I know this sounds harsh--but I think this makes her films age poorly. If you want to see a better Magnani movie, try finding one of her earlier Italian ones--they can be quite good.
With a different cast, this would have worked a lot better. And, despite the odd casting and some overacting by Woodward, it's still a decent film. There's enough hypocrisy and sleaze to make Tennessee Williams fans happy and Brando gives one of his better performances. Plus, the ending is a corker.
This might just be my least favorite Tennessee Williams film. I think most of it is because the chemistry between Magnani and Brando seems forced. It also is because the film is rather talky and slow--and with less fireworks than you'd expect from a Williams script. Yes, it's tawdry, but not nearly as tawdry as films like "Baby Doll", "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A Streetcar Named Desire".
I am about to say something that I am sure will ruffle a few feathers--and it's the biggest reason why this movie doesn't work for me. Although Anna Magnani was a huge star for a few years in the US (with this film and her Oscar-winning performance in "The Rose Tattoo"), I have never understood her appeal in these films. While she supposedly exuded sex appeal, I just never saw this at all nor did I understand comments about how great her acting was, as she could barely speak English. And so, the idea of her character having an affair with the much younger Marlon Brando just made no sense to me--and the chemistry wasn't very convincing. I know this sounds harsh--but I think this makes her films age poorly. If you want to see a better Magnani movie, try finding one of her earlier Italian ones--they can be quite good.
With a different cast, this would have worked a lot better. And, despite the odd casting and some overacting by Woodward, it's still a decent film. There's enough hypocrisy and sleaze to make Tennessee Williams fans happy and Brando gives one of his better performances. Plus, the ending is a corker.
The actors were crippled by the material...
Tessa1115 September 2009
particularly JoAnn Woodward.
Magnani was way too old for the part...(just don't buy she was pregnant.) She may have been a fascinating actress to watch (say 15 years earlier)...but she just did not fit the parameters.
The script, purposefully gritty, was almost "grab and bash" in it's concepts. Ugliness was thrown in stark shadows and light, with little redeeming action. There needed to be a balance...and it was all dull. The best writing is done subtly (like "Street Car named Desire") rather than slamming with black and white film noir, to get certain points across.
Marlon could sense it wasn't working....he did his best but just could find no reason for it to have any meaning. When his character died, nothing was felt by the audience. It was just one more loss, of characters no one felt any apathy for.
They were all selfish, grubby, static, useless human beings that no one really cared a thing about at the finish.
Even Maureen Stapleton couldn't save it...her character (supposedly the heart of the piece) just didn't appeal, even on a pitiful level. It was a wasted effort....something Tennessee Williams threw together to make money on his earlier successes.
Magnani was way too old for the part...(just don't buy she was pregnant.) She may have been a fascinating actress to watch (say 15 years earlier)...but she just did not fit the parameters.
The script, purposefully gritty, was almost "grab and bash" in it's concepts. Ugliness was thrown in stark shadows and light, with little redeeming action. There needed to be a balance...and it was all dull. The best writing is done subtly (like "Street Car named Desire") rather than slamming with black and white film noir, to get certain points across.
Marlon could sense it wasn't working....he did his best but just could find no reason for it to have any meaning. When his character died, nothing was felt by the audience. It was just one more loss, of characters no one felt any apathy for.
They were all selfish, grubby, static, useless human beings that no one really cared a thing about at the finish.
Even Maureen Stapleton couldn't save it...her character (supposedly the heart of the piece) just didn't appeal, even on a pitiful level. It was a wasted effort....something Tennessee Williams threw together to make money on his earlier successes.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
