User reviews

TV movie version of the 1980 Broadway production (more or less) of Paul Osborn's play. The plot follows four aging sisters in a midwestern town. Their lives face some upheavals based on long-simmering resentments and misunderstandings and familial bickering. Two of the sisters live next door to each other with the old maid sister living with one of the married ones. The 4th sister lives down the road with her snooty ex-professor husband. There's also a 40-ish son who's bringing home his long-standing girlfriend to meet the family, an act that serves as a catalyst to much of the confusion. The action takes place on the backyards of the adjoining houses.

Acting honors, for my money, go to Elizabeth Wilson as the old maid Aaronetta, who lives with sister Cora (Teresa Wright) and her husband Ted (Maurice Copeland). Aaronetta barely keeps her jealousy hidden from her married sisters and harbors a dark secret. Cora is resentful that her sister has always lived in her house. Next door we have the rather dim Ida (Kate Reid) who's hoping her middle-aged son, Homer (Robert Moberly) will some day marry and move into the house her husband (King Donovan) built for them years ago.

When elder sister Esther (Maureen O'Sullivan) comes to visit from down the street, she announces her snooty husband (Russell Nype) has banished her from the first floor of their home. But the major problem at hand is that Donovan is having "spells" again and that Homer may be following suit since he's feeling pressure to finally marry Myrtle (Charlotte Moore).

Terrific production with most of the original cast. The play first appeared on Broadway in 1939 with Dorothy Gish in the cast.