Over-produced and watered-down version of Tennessee Williams' stage play features atrocious acting and patently cardboard characters and drama. Alexandra DeLago was the center of the play but, Richard Brooks, the scenarist and director, has allowed the stock supporting characters,political shenanigans, and crowds to take center stage;perhaps to justify the use of CinemaScope.
It's fun to watch Page tear into her role with such brio but, even she becomes somewhat irrelevant because she has so little to play against. Newman is wooden and unconvincing, and was much better a year later in HUD. Ed Begley's Oscar-winning caricature of wicked,impotent "boss" Finley is effective but, holds no surprises, and too much time is wasted on Shirley Knight(Heavenly) and Mildred Dunnock(Aunt Nonnie),who are dreary and largely expendable. The flashbacks feel superfluous, and the film feels longer than its 2 hour running time.
There is one memorable scene:Madeleine Sherwood's yowl when Begley shuts the jewelery case on her fingers. If you don't think this film is silly, then compare it with Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard(50)where the relationship between a faded star and the younger man she keeps is imbued with social, psychological, and human interest. Page's flamboyance, and what remains of Williams' dialog are the only justification for seeing this film.
It's fun to watch Page tear into her role with such brio but, even she becomes somewhat irrelevant because she has so little to play against. Newman is wooden and unconvincing, and was much better a year later in HUD. Ed Begley's Oscar-winning caricature of wicked,impotent "boss" Finley is effective but, holds no surprises, and too much time is wasted on Shirley Knight(Heavenly) and Mildred Dunnock(Aunt Nonnie),who are dreary and largely expendable. The flashbacks feel superfluous, and the film feels longer than its 2 hour running time.
There is one memorable scene:Madeleine Sherwood's yowl when Begley shuts the jewelery case on her fingers. If you don't think this film is silly, then compare it with Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard(50)where the relationship between a faded star and the younger man she keeps is imbued with social, psychological, and human interest. Page's flamboyance, and what remains of Williams' dialog are the only justification for seeing this film.