The Madwoman of Chaillot

A wonderful fable I happened to stumble across. The inimitable Katharine Hepburn as the title character conspires with other eccentrics to save Paris. Warm, funny, delightfully non-sequitur and deeply poignant, this film has messages about love, greed, happiness, fear, hope, dreams. . .life. Excellent performances by all, including some wonderful dramatic acting by Danny Kaye. I highly recommend this movie.

You have to see this movie twice. The first time I saw it, I was disappointed. With such a fabulous cast you would expect something more than talk-politics-symbolism, but the second time I watched it I discovered I really loved it. Its theme is timeless and the film is of course, full of great performances.

The wonderful Katharine Hepburn carries the burden of this entire fiasco, and under any other actress's supervision, this would simply not have survived. It is not at all an easy thing to make this whole wacky plot stick together, and somehow she does it. If she has trouble at sometimes, it is certainly not her fault. The part is incredibly challenging, even for one of Hollywood's most brilliant actresses. (I'd like to see Meryl Streep try to tackle this one!) Brynnor, Gavin, Kaye and the rest all do good jobs, but the spectator can't help but ask, what are they doing in this movie? Richard Chamberlain is delightful and he and Katharine Hepburn really are the driving forces.

Yes, the themes are overdone, the film is talky, a little confusing, and even boring at times - but it still works and is well worth watching.

A fable of human and societal archetypes spanning the generations. But what wonderful surprises from Danny Kaye as the Ragpicker. His soliloquies during the trial demolish all the stereotypes of what he was capable of as an actor. Those moments, alone, are worth the fare. Kathryn Hepburn puts in a typically professional performance in a role she enjoyed. Donald Pleasance is marvelously malevolent as the Prospector. Yul Brynner is terrific in an atypical role - probably his best since "Invitation to a Gunfighter". If the story suffers from anything, it is overreach - too many characters of outlooks that are too similar wasted on name actors. John Gavin puts in a strange performance that could have been better filled by dozens of other actors.

Lots of good comment already made except for some confusion over interpreting and understanding allegory. This is one of the best examples. Much has been said about the waste of talent by big name actors in this film. This play gives point to the old adage that there are no secondary parts in a play. This play demanded and used TALENT, hence the outstanding cast of true professionals. I was disappointed that there was no credit or reference made of the musical score. It is excellent. I'd buy a copy if I could find it. This music is haunting and will live with you for a long time. This is one of those movies that makes one wonder why it is not more prominently marketed. Maybe too cerebral?

The first hour of this film amazed me, it's a visual treat, especially the cafe scenes with Brynner, Pleasance et al talking weird, and Chamberlain and the whacky bomb-plot; towards the end it does tend to get a little bogged down in meaningfulness, the trial scene loses some impact from being overindulgent, but overall the Madwoman is a fascinating look at sixties idealism with eye opening performances from some top stars and enough zany weirdness in the script to keep a David Lynch fan happy. Well worth a look, in my book.