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Glass Menagerie, The (1950)

*** (out of 4)

Excellent performances make up for a slow pace in this adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play. An aging Southern Belle (Gertrude Lawrence) makes life horrible for her ambitious son (Arthur Kennedy) and crippled daughter (Jane Wyman) because of her dreams of what life should be. She hopes to get her daughter married off, unable to see her faults and she thinks she has a shot when her son bring home a man (Kirk Douglas) he works with. I really wasn't sure what to expect from this film after reading a few negative reviews but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was worth watching due in large part to the terrific performances by the entire cast. I was really shocked to see how well the entire cast handled the dialogue and how easy it came off for everyone. Lawrence really stands out as the overbearing mother who you just want to hate yet she's so annoying that she becomes charming after a while. I thought Lawrence did a terrific job at playing both sides of the coin because you do hate her for the way she treats her children but when the stranger shows up, she changes to someone completely different. Just check her performance when this stranger tells her something she didn't know. Wyman is also excellent as the shy and cripple daughter. She too got into the role quite well and made us believe everything about the character. Both Kennedy and Douglas also turn in fine performance and most importantly is how well all four act together. I think director Rapper could have pushed the film a little faster as the pace gets very slow after a while but this is just a small complaint. As with many of Williams' stories, this one here had quite a bit cut out to get pass the censors but in the end this is still worth viewing thanks to the cast.

Gloomy and ponderous are the first words that come to mind when viewing this Warner film directed by Irving Rapper and starring stage star Getrude Lawrence as Amanda Wingfield. While this casting choice gives the film a novel touch, her performance--sometimes strong, sometimes subtle--is not enough to bring the story to vivid life.

Instead, it seems oddly stagebound despite Rapper's attempt to open it up occasionally. JANE WYMAN seems too old to convincingly portray the girl who is crippled socially and physically, as quiet and sensitive as she is. ARTHUR KENNEDY does well with the role of her restless brother (the sort of character he so often played) and KIRK DOUGLAS seems a rather odd choice to play the girl's suitor.

Somehow, none of it really jells.

The viewer is left with the impression that this must have seemed wonderful on the stage (since it was such a well-known hit by Tennessee Williams), but whatever ingredients made it sparkle as a play are sorely missing from the film. In the end, it seems nothing more than an artificial piece and the dialog is never laced with the gossamer effect of poetry that is usually associated with Williams' best works.

The pace is leisurely and never does the story seem vibrant enough to convince us that the events are really happening. Instead, we have an awareness that Jane Wyman is "acting" the role of Laura and Gertrude Lawrence is doing her best to tone down her stage mannerisms and give a natural performance as Amanda.

Summing up: Not the best of Tennessee's work on screen.

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.

The Glass Menagerie (1950) : Brief Review -

Tennessee Williams' classic and perhaps the best story ever gets the best cinematic adaptation at the hands of Irving Rapper. Tennessee's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire may have been popular, but I found them a little overrated. Today, my thoughts are empowered by The Glass Menagerie (adopted 4 times), as I found this one much better due to its realistic take on life. As mentioned by many, this one is a close account of Williams' life with a deliberate happy ending, which is not fulfilled but bleak. Pardon me for saying this, but I found this film 'storyless'. There was no story. Just a few moments of a family together and their struggle/success and you have The Glass Menagerie ready for you. Yet, this one moved me and engrossed me as a viewer, which is a big thing. The film is about a caring mother who wants her son to be settled well and her sick daughter to be mingled with a handsome young man. The son is working at a warehouse and is sick of the job. He wants to explore and go places, but his mother keeps pushing him to bring young men to the house and find a partner for his crippled sister. The sister lacks confidence, while the mother is all about swag and royal stature. I couldn't have imagined that Gertrude Lawrence had the nerves to overshadow Arthur Kennedy, Jane Wyman and Kirk Douglas in a four-actor film. What a presentation of a caring mother, and what an accent she carried throughout the film. Simply unbeatable. Jane Wyman shines as Laura, and I can't imagine any other actress playing this role better than her. Arthur Kennedy and Kirk Douglas go hand-in-hand as far as male bonding is concerned, as well as individually. "Dancing is the most civilised form of social intercourse" has to be my favourite quote, apart from that final monologue by Tom. I'll always be thankful to Irving Rapper for "The Corn is Green" (1942), but I didn't like "Now, Voyager" (1942) much. This one landed exactly in the middle.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

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.