Lo zoo di vetro

One of Tennessee Williams' best plays becomes a good but not great film despite a stellar cast. It's hard to pin exactly why this film doesn't soar but it's a solid screen version. Maybe it's just that the subject matter works better in a stage environment and that the camera is just too intimate.

Familiar story of restless son, his crippled sister, and their manic mother, who seems to live in the golden past is great material for the stage. And this sad story of the mother's attempts to goad the son into bringing home a young man to meet the sister seems rather cruel. But even the forgotten and lost can lead lives of desperation as they cling to dreams and make wishes on silver moons.

Arthur Kennedy stars as Tom, the son who tries to please his mother but longs to escape his dull job in St. Louis and see the world. Jane Wyman is the crippled sister who has shrunk from the world and collects tiny glass animals. Gertrude Lawrence is the mother who was abandoned by her husband and has been reduced to living in a dumpy apartment and selling magazine subscriptions. And Kirk Douglas is the "gentleman caller." All 4 actors are quite good, although none received Oscar nominations, despite the hype. Many great actresses have been associated with the role of Amanda Wingfield since this play made its Broadway debut in the 1940s: Laurette Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapletobm Jessica Tandy, Julie Harris, and Jessica Lange have all played the role on stage, film, or TV. And I swear I remember Shirley Booth doing this on TV also.

Ultimetaely the story is as fragile as the glass figures. If any one character dominates the story the whole play collapses. This film version works very well in balancing the roles. And while Wyman seems a tad old for the part, Lawrence was an even odder choice. I've also read that Bette Davis and Tallulah Bankhead were considered. But how they decided on Lawrence--a great musical comedy star in London and New York--is anyone's guess. She really is quite good but the film might have need the extra star power of Bette Davis.

Anyway, this classic American play is worth watching.

One of the few chances to see the great Gertrude Lawrence on screen. her amanda is so complex,manic,gentele,harsh. a truly great performance that was totally ignored by the academy.arthur kennedy too is compelling as tom. a shame he did not do more William's on screen he was one of the major stage interpreters of the man. only jane wyman seems miscast,a bit too character-actressy for the subtlty of the role to shine through.too bad,because without a good laura half the play is lost. a good effort that could have been great if they had not used wyman.

It's hard for a production of a classic stage play not to be stagy. In the Windfield house we have the mother possessed with her children. She launches into diatribes relating to their shortcomings. Laura is crippled and shy and really has no social life. Her brother has a life of his own (event though he still lives in the family home), but is at the beck and call of the mother. She finally pushes him until he invites a friend to dinner. The object is to find a potential mate for Laura. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the potential pitfalls. This man is sensitive and understanding of the situation. That's as far as it goes, however. This is one of Tennessee Williams' finest plays, fraught with symbolism, submerged in despair. The fragility of glass is what this is all about. People are indeed breakable.

As a result of the numerous re-makes of this haunting classic this original film version is often overlooked. Irving Rapper's delicate direction and economical style are the perfect compliments to Tennessee Williams' haunting prose. While Paul Newman's more recent filming of The Glass Menagerie with wife Joanne Woodward is more faithful to the play's text, his use of colour and a much weaker supporting cast makes the 1950 version more compelling viewing. The talented Karen Allen is not nearly as heartbreaking as Academy Award winner Jane Wyman in the crucial role of Laura. Arthur Kennedy and Kirk Douglas also out perform their more contemporary counterparts. Having now seen a number of actresses fail to live up to the considerable challenges of playing Amanda Wingfield it is easier to appreciate the virtues of the rather miscast Gertrude Lawrence(the film producers had wanted Tallulah Bankhead but felt her unfit to complete filming, they also wanted Bette Davis but her falling out with Jack Warner left her out of the running).According to Elia Kazan a nervous Charles Feldman re-cut the film thus somewhat compromising its integrity. However even with its flaws it is the only filmed version which fully captures the tragic atmosphere of Williams' brilliant play.

Having never been a lover of Williams' writing have to admit this is the only title I regard with any true affection (maybe this has more to do with the adaption). Jayne Wyman is perfection as the shy club-footed daughter of suffocatingly controlling mother Amanda Wingfield (Gertrude Lawrence) - with Arthur Kennedy doing some of his best work as her brother Tom (with a rough likeness to Williams) Kirk Douglas scores well in an early role, as the 'gentleman caller', coming for dinner at the request of the brother (with much input from mother!) It's a tender and thoughtful musing on how, with the right words and actions, a brief meeting can bring new meaning to a sheltered life.

It's a pity Williams' life took such a destructive course as more stories like this would have been welcome. This version may not please everyone but with sensitive direction by Irvine Rapper and sterling visual work by prolific cinematographer Robert Burks --they extract a broad spectrum of human emotions from the limited settings --making this another of those neglected masterpieces from some of Hollywood's most effective years.

It's odd that it appears to be a Warner Bros production but came to us through 20th Century Fox; - It's more than ready for a remastered DVD release... from whoever it actually belongs to.