Now who doesn't love a Tennessee Williams play, replete with wacky Southern women and steamy sexual tension?! Here are a couple of great adaptations on film.
THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE stars mahvelous Blythe Danner as the town singer, daughter of an Episcopalian Priest and a crazy mother. Danner is stunning as the neurotic, flighty repressed gal, hopelessly in love with her neighbor, Frank Langella. Langella has great hair and is handsome as hell as the gentle doctor who admires Danner in spite of his mother's dislike for her. A truly beautiful Stage to Screen adaptation, this play was written before SUMMER AND SMOKE, with similar themes, but not as sudsy. As Hal Holbrooke says in the opening, this film is the premier production, as it was never produced on the West End or on Broadway. Well worth the watch for the eloquent writing and adept acting. 5 stars!
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER. Well, if you haven't seen this Katharine Hepburn, Mongomery Clift (post accident...his beauty diminished), Elizabeth Taylor vehicle, for shame. La Liz, locked in an insane asylum gives a pretty good performance as the neice of Hepburn, who, for whatever reason, wants all memories of her darling son Sebastian's death erased from Taylor's mind forever...by lobotomy! Hepburn is arch as ever, Clift is Clift, and supporting actress Mercedes McCambridge as Taylor's mother is pathetic. This one's a doozy, co-written screenplay by Gore Vidal and Williams himself.
On a different note: THE MARK OF ZORRO stars a delectable Tyrone Power as the fop/rogue hero. Oh, Power is so faboo to look at, and his skills with a sword are commendable. Linda Darnell co-stars, lovely as ever, and Basil Rathbone is perfect as the suave but slimy villian. Check out Power in those tights! Wow. The added bonus of a documentary on Power's short life is a delight.
Two Rock Hudson flix on one disc, one so unmemorable, I cannot remember the name, but it's early in his career. He's handsome and wooden as ever, and when you see his shambling frame trying to dance the charleston, well. It's just absurd. Piper Laurie co-stars as the ingenue, but this is really Charles (You DID say diamonds, I can tell) Coburn is really the star of this 1950's version of the roaring 20's. A musical to boot. Loads of twenty three skiddoo and gosh oh golly, but strangely the boobs are enormous, considering the '20s were a time of women strapping bazooms down. Also on this disc is some other thing with Hudson as a lothario and Leslie Caron as a BIG haired psychologist. The consistent rear screen projection of Paris put me off so much, I turned the thing off within the first twenty minutes. The only great thing? Watching Hudson travelling in First Class on TWA in a lounge that does not exist on planes today. Oh, for the days of non-pedestrian travel! Charles Boyer and his toupee co-star. Sorry I can't remember the names kids, but who cares? You shouldn't rent them anyway.
THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE stars mahvelous Blythe Danner as the town singer, daughter of an Episcopalian Priest and a crazy mother. Danner is stunning as the neurotic, flighty repressed gal, hopelessly in love with her neighbor, Frank Langella. Langella has great hair and is handsome as hell as the gentle doctor who admires Danner in spite of his mother's dislike for her. A truly beautiful Stage to Screen adaptation, this play was written before SUMMER AND SMOKE, with similar themes, but not as sudsy. As Hal Holbrooke says in the opening, this film is the premier production, as it was never produced on the West End or on Broadway. Well worth the watch for the eloquent writing and adept acting. 5 stars!
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER. Well, if you haven't seen this Katharine Hepburn, Mongomery Clift (post accident...his beauty diminished), Elizabeth Taylor vehicle, for shame. La Liz, locked in an insane asylum gives a pretty good performance as the neice of Hepburn, who, for whatever reason, wants all memories of her darling son Sebastian's death erased from Taylor's mind forever...by lobotomy! Hepburn is arch as ever, Clift is Clift, and supporting actress Mercedes McCambridge as Taylor's mother is pathetic. This one's a doozy, co-written screenplay by Gore Vidal and Williams himself.
On a different note: THE MARK OF ZORRO stars a delectable Tyrone Power as the fop/rogue hero. Oh, Power is so faboo to look at, and his skills with a sword are commendable. Linda Darnell co-stars, lovely as ever, and Basil Rathbone is perfect as the suave but slimy villian. Check out Power in those tights! Wow. The added bonus of a documentary on Power's short life is a delight.
Two Rock Hudson flix on one disc, one so unmemorable, I cannot remember the name, but it's early in his career. He's handsome and wooden as ever, and when you see his shambling frame trying to dance the charleston, well. It's just absurd. Piper Laurie co-stars as the ingenue, but this is really Charles (You DID say diamonds, I can tell) Coburn is really the star of this 1950's version of the roaring 20's. A musical to boot. Loads of twenty three skiddoo and gosh oh golly, but strangely the boobs are enormous, considering the '20s were a time of women strapping bazooms down. Also on this disc is some other thing with Hudson as a lothario and Leslie Caron as a BIG haired psychologist. The consistent rear screen projection of Paris put me off so much, I turned the thing off within the first twenty minutes. The only great thing? Watching Hudson travelling in First Class on TWA in a lounge that does not exist on planes today. Oh, for the days of non-pedestrian travel! Charles Boyer and his toupee co-star. Sorry I can't remember the names kids, but who cares? You shouldn't rent them anyway.
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