Die Wirkung von Gammastrahlen auf Ringelblumen

Paul Newman again surprises (along with "Rachel, Rachel") as Joanne Woodward is presented in the unglamorous role of Beatrice Hunsdorfer, a bitter widow living on the fringe in an anonymous Connecticut suburb.

Nell Potts and Roberta Wallach in diametrically opposed roles, Ruth, the epileptic popular daughter, and Mathilda, the science-project sensitive daughter who relates to her pet rabbit.

While some is a bit overdone it is no stretch to imagine a bored housewife trying to make ends meet; Woodward is sympathetic and annoying at the same time. A brilliant performance.

This film was made in 1972 and it would truly amazing to see real character portrayals in film again. Today we have to visit the theater for such affecting performances. Well worth more than one viewing. 9/10.

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (Wow! Long title...) is an interesting drama about an awful mother and her two teenage daughters. The mother, Beatrice (Joanne Woodward), is a widow who doesn't really work. She instead chain smokes, complains about everything, insults everyone, including her kids, and doesn't seem to know how to raise children. Her oldest daughter Ruth (Roberta Wallach) is a popular cheerleader, who occasionally has convulsions. Youngest daughter Matilda (Nell Potts, Woodward's real life daughter) is good at science, but is very shy and has no friends (despite being more attractive, in my opinion). They have an old woman as a border to earn some money. This movie is very sweet and deals realistically with family problems. Beatrice is obnoxious and self-centered and Ruth is the same. The only character one can sympathize with is shy Matilda. The film was directed by Paul Newman, husband of Woodward and father of Potts. It was based on a play by Paul Zindel, who wrote a book, "The Pigman", that I had to read for high school. I think the movie was once available on VHS, but it's probably out-of-print. I hope someday the Newman family will take some time off from making spaghetti sauce to collaborate with 20th Century Fox to give this movie the deluxe DVD treatment.

This film has the same wonderfully subtle direction as "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter," "Diary Of A Mad Housewife" and "Goodbye Columbus." The lost 60s/70s style for dialogue films with immediately profound social messages is probably best exampled in "EGROMMM" -- Newman's daughter (Nell Potts) plays the stoic, life-dampened child who refuses to let her drunken slob of a mother destroy her brilliance.. at least for now. We're just slightly distant observers in this style of filmmaking. You won't get under anyone's skin or into anyone's head. But you may have grown up in similar circumstances, god forbid. An excellent film about the subtleties of abuse without coming across preachy in the slightest. Deeply moving.

Number one on my list of favorites. An exceptional drama, based on the metaphor of society's role on human condition and the effect of radiation on life.

Joanne Woodward plays an unemployed eccentric divorcee Beatrice Hunsdorfer, who is raising two young daughters. For income, she takes in boarders (in this case, a neglected elderly women).

One daughter Ruth, a rebellious adolescence, and an epileptic, is heading into the same footsteps as her mother (a downward spiral into society's misfits). She mocks her mother after she overhears some teachers discussing her mother's past zany antics.

Matilda, the younger daughter is an introvert, smart and a loner. She seeks refuge in her school work, mainly her science projects. Matilda for the most part is the only character in the film who has any redeeming social graces.

I've looked for this video to purchase, but its out of print. If anyone happens to know when or where I can get one, please email me the details. I have a copy that I recorded many years ago when it played one night on a late movie show, so I have that to fall back on. But I would really like to get this movie on DVD.

I have only seen this film once, at the Tyneside Cinema, an early arts house independent cinema in the UK. I saw the film in the year of its release. I still treasure memories of Joanne Woodward's performance as the tragi-comic loudmouth of a mother, who is desperate to do things right, but also has little time for the opinions of others. I would dearly love to see it again, but on the few occasions that I have enquired, I have been greeted by bewildered expressions from folk who plainly think that I am having them on when I mention the title. Perhaps this is an apt result, given the way that the star of the film played such an alienated role that fans of the film should now find themselves being looked at in a somewhat dubious way! To those who have not seen it, grab this powerful performance with both hands. It truly is a gem, with a fine range of emotions, and a cast that works fully together. Thank you for giving me the chance to write this.