The Glass Menagerie

Early in the story, a loquacious Amanda (Katharine Hepburn) and her two twenty-something children, Tom (Sam Waterston) and Laura (Joanna Miles), are eating dinner in their dining room. In her long-winded, nervous chatter, Amanda abruptly notices that son Tom is eating too fast. "You must chew your food; animals have secretions … But human beings must chew their food; a well-cooked meal has many delicate flavors, so chew, chew, chew." To which an angry Tom shoots back: "Mother, I have not enjoyed one bite of this dinner because of your constant directions on how to eat it. It's you that makes me rush through meals with your hawk-like attention to every bite I take".

Later, Tom is sitting at a table writing. Amanda comes over and scolds him for his poor posture: "Now why can't you sit up straight … I know what that position does to your internal organs. Now you sit up straight; here I'll show you. Your stomach pressed against your lungs, your lungs pressed against your heart, and that poor little heart gets discouraged 'cause it hasn't got any room left to go on beatin' for you".

But that's Amanda: an overbearing busybody who means well, but dominates those around her. She is so sure of herself and her moral values. Tom feels trapped, not only by his mother but also because of his mundane job at a warehouse. Daughter Laura is crippled and has a dreadful inferiority complex, which makes her shy. She identifies with her tiny glass animals, as fragile as she is.

Set almost entirely indoors in a drab little apartment in St. Louis, "The Glass Menagerie" is a play that conveys a lot of human feelings: anger, guilt, regret, dependency, and emotional damage. There's also a bit of humor. The story takes place during the WWII era of the 1940s. Eventually, Amanda imposes her wishes on Laura as well, as the mother badgers Tom to bring home a "gentleman caller" for Laura, in an effort to prevent Laura from being an old maid. What follows is both inspiring and heartrending.

The claustrophobic script is talky as one would expect for a play. The drab costumes are appropriate given the family's financial straits and the time period. Camera is largely static and functions mainly as a fly on the wall. Casting is very good. Acting is terrific. Hepburn does a wonderful job, except that she talks too fast for a Southern woman. The ending leaves viewers hanging.

With minor exceptions, the script and the performances are marvelous. Yet I'm not sure I would want to watch the film again; it is so depressing, especially toward the end.

"A Glass Menagerie" is a play by Tennessee Williams that has been adapted into various movies, namely a made for television edition starring Katherine Hepburn. The play conveys a captivating story that can only be described as Hepburn's thick southern accent. It just about made the movie for me. The play focuses on a fatherless, poor family featuring a daughter who is incredibly shy, a mother whose sole goal in life is to find a man for her shy daughter, and a son whose hobbies consist of getting drunk and going to see movies. Naturally, this creates some friction within in the family which is highlighted by the arguments between the mother and son, played by the wonderful Sam Waterston. No sarcasm, the chemistry between Waterston and Hepburn make this movie worth watching (and so do the accents). As with many other plays, "A Glass Menagerie" lacks in its climax, which directly precedes the curtain, though the play is by far not the worst offender in this respect. "A Glass Menagerie" blows away any expectations that I had for it, mostly because of the fantastic acting from Hepburn and Waterston, but I also had very little expectations going into the film. If you're a fan of theater I highly recommend this movie, if for nothing except the star power.

This is the only version I've seen but I enjoyed it immensely. The entire cast is superb especially the legendary Hepburn. You can't help but think that as you grow older you become bitter as you wonder what you've done with your life and how your opportunities to escape your station ultimately evaporate. A very sobering drama, 8/10.

While, as has been said more than once, 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' is my favourite Tennessee Williams play (also my first), 'The Glass Menagerie' is another one of his best and perhaps the most poignant. It is very much vintage Williams, with a compelling story that has a lot of emotion and bold themes, complex characters and realistic dialogue that hits hard (even if very talky) and a fair share of powerful scenes (he sure knew how to write hard-hitting endings.

Prior to watching this 1973 version with Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, Michael Moriarty and Joanna Miles, there were two versions seen first. One was the 1987 version, which was my first filmed production of 'The Glass Menagerie'. The other was the Gertrude Lawrence and Jane Wyman film. Although the latter was a very respectable attempt despite the disappointing ending, the 1987 version is much better and of these three versions it's my favourite. This is a very worthy and really quite good production though where the detail and spirit is intact, with nothing toned down, nothing really tacked on and there isn't any re-ordering or re-working that affects any coherence (the case with the 80s TV film of 'Sweet Bird of Youth').

This production of 'The Glass Menagerie' is not perfect by all means. It is too dimly lit and makes the production a bit drab at times. Did feel that it could have opened up the drama more, the potential problem with television film adaptations of plays is being too much of a filmed play and being stagy, found that to be the case here.

In 'The Glass Menagerie', the dialogue is classic Williams. Just wished in this production that we had more time to hear it and take it all in and that the dialogue delivery wasn't as fast as it could be in places, especially with Katharine Hepburn.

However, lighting aside it is well and authentically designed and the photography isn't too intimate or distant. The audio adds to the atmosphere and doesn't jar with it. Despite the rushed line delivery at times, the dialogue may be talky but there is no denying its emotion. The staging also isn't perfect, but it's cohesive and just about avoids being over-heated and doesn't get dull. The ending like that of the play stays with you emotionally.

All four leads are hugely compelling with many moments of brilliance. Hepburn does indeed dominate but quite a lot of it is down to the character herself, she plays the heck out of the character and it's quite a towering portrayal overall regardless of some of the dialogue delivery and try-too-hard accent. Miles is very moving as Laura and pre-'Law and Order' Waterston is the embodiment of intensity. Moriarty is a different and interesting Jim and it was great to see a more likeable side.

Summing up, quite well done. 7/10

The Glass Menagerie April 24, 2014 Actors/Actresses: Amanda Wingfield: Katharine Hepburn Tom Wingfield: Sam Waterson Laura Wingfield: Joanna Miles Jim O'Conner: Michael Moriarty

1973's "The Glass Menagerie" directed by Anthony Harvey and written by Stewart Stern, was a televised movie. Based on the play by Tennessee Williams, the movie's runtime is 100 minutes. Rated PG.

"The Glass Menagerie" is a drama set in an apartment in St. Louis, and most of the story takes place during the night. The story takes a dark turn towards the end and seems to phase into a tragedy that adds a sense of sadness. The movie definitely has its changes from the play, but then again, no movie follows the book perfectly. The movie has is still very intriguing to watch because of the life the actors put into their work, specifically Katherine Hepburn. Katherine Hepburn portrays an awesome 1940's mother who hasn't let go of the past. She consistently refers to her younger days when she had many "gentleman callers" and seems to envy her daughters young age, yet she is upset that she is wasting it. Laura's glass menagerie, which is what the movie is titled after, plays a significant role in the plot. Laura's menagerie symbolizes her own fragileness and foreshadows future events in the story. The screenplay by Stewart Stern forms a clear image of the main points of the original story written by Tennessee Williams. The movie may not depict the story line perfectly, but no movie ever compares to the book.