The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1991)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Simon Callow

Writers:

Edward Albee (play)
Michael Hirst (writer)

Release Date:

June 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A tangled triangle. In the rural South of the early 20th century, Miss Amelia is the town eccentric...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave	...	Miss Amelia
Keith Carradine	...	Marvin Macy
Cork Hubbert	...	Cousin Lymon
Rod Steiger	...	Rev. Willin
Austin Pendleton	...	Lawyer Taylor
Beth Dixon	...	Mary Hale
Lanny Flaherty	...	Merlie Ryan
Mert Hatfield	...	Stumpy McPhail
Earl Hindman	...	Henry Macy
Anne Pitoniak	...	Mrs. McPhail
Frederick Johnson	...	Jeff
Lauri Raymond	...	Sadie Ricketts
Joe Stevens	...	Henry Ford Crimp (as Joe Stephens)
Keith Wommack	...	Tom Rainey
Kevin Wommack	...	George Rainey

Runtime:

Germany:100 min | USA:101 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Australia:M | Germany:12 (bw) | USA:PG-13 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" by Edward Albee opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York on October 30, 1963, ran for 123 performances, won the 1964 Tony Award for the Best Play and was the basis for the screenplay for this filmed production.

Goofs:

Continuity: Several times earlier in the film, we are shown how the only way to arrive at Miss Amelia's secret still is by wading - neck-deep - through a muddy swamp. Yet late in the film when Marvin Macy and Cousin Lymon are shown at Miss Amelia's still, their clothes are clean and dry.

Quotes:

Mary Hale: Marvin changed himself. That time he loved Miss Amelia. Well, it seemed like he changed completely -- he was -- he was good to me, and to Henry... You remember that, doncha'?
Rev. Willin: I remember that.
Mary Hale: Why'd she throw him out? Why'd she marry him and then throw him out? Why?
Rev. Willin: I don't know. All I know is... that it takes two people to be in love. It takes the... lover... and the beloved. But these two, they come from... diff'rent countries. And sometimes, the... the belove is the cause for all the, all the stored-up love that's lain in the heart of the lover for such... a looong time, and every lover knows that... deep... deep in his soul, he knows that his love is a lonely and solitary thing --
[...]

Movie Connections:

Features New York Nights (1929)

By far the best movie version of McCullers' work

This film adaptation of Carson McCullers' novella is the best of all the screen versions of her works. Cinematography is excellent. Vanessa Redgrave turns in a great performance as the stoic Miss Amelia, unlucky in love but yearning to fulfill her thwarted desire to love and be loved. With the arrival of a dwarf claiming to be a relation, Miss Amelia finds herself able to live and love again. But with the arrival of Marvin Macy, her absentee husband, things take a change for the worse.

The other performances are good, and the scenery and costumes accurately reflect a Depression-era southern backwater. A near-literal transcription from book to screen, without annoying time changes, character elimination, or overacting to distract from it. Good.