green4tom

This film is amazing, in terms of the sociology of the 1950s family here in revealed. It's all right out of Max Horkheimer (Authority and the Family) and Talcott Parsons (Social Structure of the Family), both of whose essays you can find in Ruth Anshen, ed. THE FAMILY. We have the mother-housewife, assuming the role of both nurturing parent and disciplinarian (the father has died here in this film, though in many, many families, he was instead away at work, as Parsons and Horkheimer lament). In the boy's fantasy, his piano teacher, Dr. T., becomes the embodiment of a greedy, technologically glutted corporate America, pulling Mom's and Dad's strings. Mom (Heloise Collins, played by Mary Healy) is wearing a costume that has must be seen to be believed--she's split right down the middle, corporate masculine vs. evening gown party girl feminine. Then there's of course the very interesting songs, the best of which is when little Bart pleads for adults to understand children.

I could not disagree more with the one and only comment so far to appear here. A wonderful version of the play, and Lady Joan Plowright is absolutely outstanding. I love the beginning, when she is shipwrecked--she has this amazing feminine way of expressing both hope and fear--a utopian moment. I am frantically looking through my VHS collection because I know I taped this sucker and can't find it now, and there is neither a VHS nor DVD version now available. And this cad's comments don't help getting this show DVDized--GRRRRRRRRR! Pearls before swine! And why then did this show garner 7+ votes! And it was made during the golden era, of 1969! And Tommy Steele is great, singing, accompanying himself on the lute--how many pop stars from the 1960s could do that? And so is everybody else. I really liked this film (how many more lines do I need?--LOL!) Make this available on DVD, NOW!

Have I seen this film?! Only every time I teach an urban sociology class, when I show it to my students! I can only echo the previous commentator--what a great film! The best scene--and there are many--is during the Great Depression, when the five bricklayers decides that it is Julio, who starving mouths to feed, should get half a day's work. Then, through a store window, Geremio catches one of the other bricklayers panhandling. "Heaven has forgotten us!" his workfellow says. This film, whose story was written by an Italian socialist (DiDonato) and made by socialists in London (couldn't make it in New York--it was the McCarthy period, may he rest in pieces!) is, besides being dramatically and emotionally rich, is sociologically rich. It's a brilliant portrayal of the conflict between the individualist version of the American Dream among immigrants--and the sordid reality they face. When they face it collectively, they are great men and women, in all their splendor. When they face it individually, they become alienated from themselves and each other. Though the DVD is entitled CHRIST IN CONCRETE, it is actually the prequel to the story in the novel. The last horrific scene is the first chapter of the novel, which detail's the life of Geremio's widow, Annunziata, and their son Paul, after Geremio dies. All the actors are great--but I especially like Lea Padavini--who had to learn the part phonetically, because when they hired her, she didn't speak a word of English! I also highly recommend this film