All Fall Down

Many of the earlier posts on this film mirror my overall impressions as well. I caught this on TCM a few weeks ago and I was compelled to keep watching despite some flaws and very awkward scenes. This film has that distinctive early 60's feel to it and also is lacking certain elements of specificity in its storytelling and character development. The Willart family is dysfunctional but we are not able to put our finger on the dynamics of exactly why. We know the father, Karl Malden, is an alcoholic, yet a noticeably genial and upbeat one. We know the mother, Angela Lansbury, seems perpetually stressed and perhaps emotionally isolated, but the dialogue between the two never gets to the heart of their unhappiness. The late Brandon de Wilde (who died in 1972 in an auto accident) is the younger of two brothers through whose perspective the story is told. He is an aspiring writer who spies and eavesdrops on his parents' conversations and records what he hears in a journal. I thought his overall performance was very effective and believable. A young Warren Beatty in one of his first major roles plays the older son, the wayward Berry-Berry. (His name is puzzling and one wonders why nobody thinks to call him Berry for short.) Eva Marie Saint plays a somewhat mysterious woman, Echo, who provides the basis of the storyline through her involvement with both brothers. I found it to be a flaw of the film, though a minor one, that we never know much about Echo....what her background is, how she came to be close friends with Mrs. Willart, what she does for a living, and why she is driving such an unusual car. An absorbing story once you get drawn into it, with several awkward scenes balanced out by several touching and poignant moments.

"All Fall Down" combines the best elements of "Come Back Little Sheba" and "Splendor in the Grass"; which should not be a total surprise given that all three come at least in part from the mind of William Inge. It is interesting that while "All Fall Town" is the most ambitious of the three, it is also the least known. Probably because Director John Frankenheimer made something that is more art film than box office blockbuster (or academy darling).

The storytelling technique is much like "Days of Heaven", both told from the point of view of the youngest member of their casts-in this case Clint (Brandon de Wilde-"come back Shane"). The film even goes so far as to cut in shots of Clint watching the other characters through windows and doorways, and then writing down what he has observed in a journal. This is very effective because the story has coming of age elements involving Clint and the viewer is meant to strongly identify with his character. Unfortunately Frankenheimer pulls his punch at the end and limits things to the traditional process of disillusionment found in this film genre. A much more satisfying ending was possible.

I've never shared the view that "All Fall Down" lacks sympathetic characters. Clint is certainly likable as is family friend Echo (Eva Marie Saint), and even father Ralph (Karl Malden) to a certain degree. Mother Annabell (Angela Lansbury) is not but her purpose is to provide some explanation for this dysfunctional family.

Older brother Berry-Berry (Warren Beatty) is not likable but is certainly interesting. Smothered by his mother he has a phobia about ending up like his parents. Which has sent him on the road where he lives by his wits and good looks. Beatty really doesn't seem to know how to play Berry-Berry and his performance is mostly a repeat of his "Splendor in the Grass" character. But the uncertainty in his performance ultimately works to his advantage, as Berry-Berry is a conflicted mess of mixed motivation. His behavior is compulsive and contradictory, a sociopath with a conscience. And he is concerned with the welfare of his little brother, who idolizes him (as do his parents).

Starting out in Key West, where Clint meets his brother's ex-girlfriend (played by Frankenheimer's real life wife Evans Evans) in a strip club. In a great scene she tries to get the underage Clint to buy her a drink-but her debilitated coughing spoils any superficial sex appeal.

The action soon shifts to an older middle class neighborhood in Cleveland. Beatty appears briefly in the beginning and is mostly unseen until after the midpoint of the film. De Wille has far more screen time and introduces us to the remaining three characters.

Saint's character is a spinsterish free spirit of 31 (another contradiction) who Clint falls in love with until his older brother claims her. Saint was always difficult to cast. Not earthy enough for the Julie Harris-Elizabeth Hartman type of roles and not sexy enough for the standard starlet stuff she was limited to icy librarians or dowdy girlfriend stuff until Hitchcock drew her out in "North by Northwest". She is physically perfect for the Echo O'Brien role, someone confident and playful, yet very fragile; pretty enough to make Berry-Berry's attraction credible.

This is a slick little film but only if you like productions that could easily transfer to the stage.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

The Early Sixties was an Awkward Period for Movies. The Hays Code was Flirted with in the Fifties, but No One Seriously Challenged the Watchdog Behemoth. But when the next Decade Flipped Over things seemed Different and the Movie Industry started to take some Real Chances.

The Result was at first Subtle Inclusions but also some Daring Attempts to be Bold. You can find some of that here in the John Frankenheimer Directed and William Inge Penned Melodrama about a Dysfunctional Family.

The Strong Cast of Angela Lansbury, Warren Beatty, Karl Malden, Brandon De Wilde, and Eva Marie Saint are Actors Actors and Frankenheim lets Them Act, and boy do They. The Director Plays around with the Setups and the Camera and Cinematically makes this a Movie when by all that is Witnessed in the Story, it is Essentially a Play.

Heavy on Dialog and Emoting, Dramatics, and Personality the Film Plays Out on the Surface as a Domineering Mother, a Socialist Father, and an Innocent Teen Brother, all Worship the "Lady Killer" in the Family, a Cad and Narcissistic Hunk named Berry-Berry (you know, like a disease), and He Infects Anyone in Close Proximity.

Not Top Frankenheimer, but Worth a Watch for the Cast and the sometimes Uncomfortable Look-See at the Realities of Real Middle-Class Life, where the People are Beaten Down, Scarred, and Myopic. It's not a Fun Thing to Watch, it's all Nervous Tension and Gut-Wrenching, and this Type was Not Available to Watch on TV Screens at the Time.

When you get a writer like William Inge, who is a playwright by nature, to write a screenplay you get a movie like "All Fall Down" that seems like it is an adaptation of a play. The black and white photography and confined spaces provide an air of claustrophobia which is appropriate for this close examination of the Willart family. The father, Ralph (Karl Malden), is an alcoholic real estate broker who is a rather simple but decent soul; Clinton (Brandon De Wilde), the younger son, is a sensitive teenager who likes to write; Berry-Berry (Warren Beatty), the older son, is a handsome wastrel who lives off his good looks; Annabell (Angla Landsbury), is the controlling mother who obsesses over Berry-Berry and has pretty much wrecked the family. Things get off to a rather slow and awkward start, but when you throw Echo (Eva Marie Saint) into the mix, things get rocking when both sons are taken with her.

De Wilde is called upon to carry a good part of this movie. Hardly anyone is better at playing the clean-cut innocent and good natured youth ("Shane, come back!") than De Wilde, and he puts that talent to use here. I was struck by how similar De Wilde's Clinton is to Lonnie, the kid he would play opposite Paul Newman the next year in "Hud." Just as in this movie, in "Hud" he would play a young man who idolizes a more experienced relative, and ultimately comes to be totally disillusioned with him. Overall, the casting for "All Fall Down" is near perfect and the acting excellent.

I was expecting more from the Alex North ("Spartacus", "Goodfellas") score, but it is pretty much early 60s generic. The Sibelius symphony that accompanies the only romantic scene (higly scaled down by modern standards) is a bit over the top.

This movie would appear to be Inge's "Long Day's Journey into Night," but it is not nearly as powerful as the O'Neill play that was made into a brilliant movie in the same year.

I assume there is some significance, lost on me, to the fruit theme and the hyphenated "Berry-Berry." In any case, that name quickly started to bug the hell out of me.

One forgets what a sensational actress Angela Lansbury was, is and always will be. Her success as Jessica Fletcher in TV's "Murder She Wrote" have distracted audience's attention from the real Lansbury. To see "All Fall Down" in 2009 is quite an experience. All the clues about Warren Beatty's complex character are discovered in Angela Lansbury's extraordinary cinematic face. We discover everything visually without any exposition. I don't want to spoil it for you so I'm not going to pinpoint the moments I mean because part of the pleasure is to discover them by ourselves. Brandon De Wilde is another shattering presence on the screen. He died at 30 years of age and I can't help wondering what he could have become. He was the young kid from "Shane" remember? But, let's got back to Lansbury, she plays Warren Beatty's mother, although in real life they are only a few years apart, she is fearless and enthralling as she was in another collaboration with John Frankenheimer: "The Manchurian Candidate" I keep thinking that Tilda Swinton won an Oscar for her performance in °Michael Clayton" and Angela Lansbury was not even nominated for this. I confess to you that I saw "All Fall Down" twice in a row. I was overwhelmed by Lansbury's performance and her strange and compelling chemistry with Karl Malden, her husband, Warren Beatty, her eldest son and Brandon De Wilde, her youngest son. I highly recommend it.