Autumn Leaves (1956)

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers (WGA):

Jean Rouverol (written by) (front Jack Jevne) &
Hugo Butler (written by) (front Jack Jevne) ...

Release Date:

1 August 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In the dark, when I feel his heart pounding against mine - is it love? or frenzy? or terror?

Plot:

Millicent Wetherby is a middle-aged woman whose life is devoid of love and affection. Millicent's solitary...

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Unmarried Woman | Loneliness | Trauma | Ex Wife

Awards:

1 win

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Nov. 18

2:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Millicent Wetherby
Vera Miles	...	Virginia Hanson
Lorne Greene	...	Mr. Hanson
Ruth Donnelly	...	Liz Eckhart
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Dr. Malcolm Couzzens
Selmer Jackson	...	Mr. Wetherby
Maxine Cooper	...	Nurse Evans
Marjorie Bennett	...	Waitress
Frank Gerstle	...	Mr. Ramsey
Leonard Mudie	...	Colonel Hillyer
Maurice Manson	...	Dr. Masterson
Cliff Robertson	...	Burt Hanson

Also Known As:

The Way We Are (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #17762) | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

William Goetz Productions

Quotes:

Virginia: Sure, he should be committed!
Milly: Of course, you'd want me to commit him, get him out of your life, put him away permanently someplace where he can never again remind either one of you of your horrible guilt; how you and you had committed the ugliest of all possible sins, so ugly that it drove him into the state he's in now!
Mr. Hanson: What kind of a woman are you to be satisfied with only half a man? There must be so...
Milly: Even when he doesn't know what he's doing, he's a saner man than you are! He's decent and proud. Can you say the same for yourselves? Where's your decency? In what garbage dump, Mr. Hanson? And where's yours, you tramp?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Outrageous! (1977)

Soundtrack:

Autumn Leaves

Delirious and intoxicating...

Once director Robert Aldrich got around to shaping her latter-day career, Joan Crawford did some very good films, this being one of them. Absorbing nonsense is gusty and often ridiculous...still, I wouldn't have it any other way. Crawford is quite strong here playing a single woman making her living as a stay-at-home typist; she marries much-younger Cliff Robertson, a pathological liar, and quickly discovers the many secrets he has in his murky past. Florid melodrama is filled with fruity dialogue and overheated set-ups (like the infamous thrown typewriter), fluttering hands and fluttering eyelashes. A trashy delight, and sure to please soap buffs. *** from ****