Sweet Bird of Youth

Starring:Elizabeth Taylor, Mark Harmon, Valerie Perrine, Kevin Geer, Seymour Cassel, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Cheryl Paris, Rip Torn, Charles Lucia, Teddy Wilson, Megan Blake, John Fleck, Tom Nolan, Billy Ray Sharkey, Ruta Lee, Hal England, Avon Hill, Nurit Koppel, Martha Milliken, Michael Shaner
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Studio: Tango Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

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A much-needed DVD tribute to one of the essential American playwrights, The Tennessee Williams Collection gathers six Williams titles and one vintage documentary. Taken together, it's a potent introduction to the specific terrain (geographical and emotional) of this brilliant writer. The set is anchored by Warner's deluxe two-disc treatment of A Streetcar Named Desire, which has copious extras (among them a fine 90-minute documentary about director Elia Kazan). The multi-Oscar-winning Streetcar is one of the better stage adaptations in film history, and it captures the electrifying Marlon Brando, re-creating his stage role, in the part that changed American acting: the brutish New Orleans sensualist Stanley Kowalski. Vivien Leigh won an Oscar opposite him, as the faded (except in her own mind) Southern belle Blanche DuBois, whose arrival in the Kowalski home leads to disaster.

Kazan also directed Baby Doll, which Williams scripted from a couple of one-act plays. This outrageous sex comedy casts the excellent Carroll Baker as the 19-year-old wife of middle-aged Karl Malden, who anxiously awaits the day he can finally consummate his maddening marriage; immigrant cotton magnate Eli Wallach shows up at Malden's crumbling plantation house just in time to take the bloom off the rose, as it were. Famous for being condemned in 1956, Baby Doll remains a very modern (and gloriously dirty) movie. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Richard Brooks, faithfully brings three of Williams's indelible characters to the screen, even if the script discreetly changes the original stage text: the hot Maggie the Cat (Elizabeth Taylor), her reluctant husband Brick (Paul Newman), and Brick's rich Big Daddy (Burl Ives). All three performers act the lights out.

Sweet Bird of Youth reunites Paul Newman with director Brooks, and also showcases Geraldine Page's performance as an aging film star tagging along with young stud Newman to his Southern home town. Some of Williams' more depraved touches are toned down, but the milieu is unmistakable and the movie is intense. The Night of the Iguana gives Richard Burton perhaps his finest hour onscreen: as Williams' dissolute defrocked priest, playing tour guide in Puerto Vallarta to tour groups of nattering biddies. The movie has director John Huston's sympathy for life's losers, as well as a trio of women built to torment Burton's reverend: Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, based on Williams's novel, is not a great movie, but gives Vivien Leigh a good workout as a wounded actress dallying with Italian gigolo Warren Beatty.

Tennessee Williams' South is a 1973 documentary featuring some marvelous observations from Williams, as he holds court for filmmaker Harry Rasky. It also has long scenes from his plays, enacted by good folks such as Maureen Stapleton, Colleen Dewhurst, and Burl Ives. Especially valuable is a Streetcar sequence with Jessica Tandy re-creating her original role as Blanche. Williams himself reads the narration from The Glass Menagerie, a privileged moment. This is not an exhaustive Williams set (Joseph Mankiewicz's Suddenly, Last Summer and Sidney Lumet's The Fugitive Kind are among the best Williams films), but it maps out the steamy, tortured landscape awfully well. --Robert Horton

Description

Streetcar Named Desire 2 Disc SE Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Deluxe Edition Sweet Bird of Youth Night of the Iguana Baby Doll Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Customer Reviews:

Essential boxset for fans of American theater of the 1950s.......2007-02-23

This is a terrific boxset, collecting six of the films based on Tennessee Williams's plays (plus another disc with the documentary "Tennessee Williams' South"). All the films are transferred with great care, and look quite wonderful. And the films themselves are fascinating, because (with the exception of BABY DOLL), they're invariably sanitized, as the major studios (Warner Brothers, MGM) struggled to constrain the unfettered imagination of one of America's most floridly uninihibited playwrights. Yet Williams' reputation as one of the premiere writers for actors allows some classic performances, starting with Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, one of the most potent displays of Method acting which helped to revolutionize American film and theater. Kazan's hyperbolic direction of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is tempered in BABY DOLL, possibly the most charming film in the set (with terrific performances from Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Eli Wallach, and, most hilariously, Mildred Dunnock). It seems incredible that, at the time (1956), BABY DOLL was the most controversial film of its year, with condemnation and cries of "filth" being bandied about. But BABY DOLL is a comic interlude in Williams' career. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is the most heavily censored, so that all the talk of mendacity makes the film seem mendacious, because no one is talking about what the film is really about. But all the actors go to town with their Southern accents, especially Elizabeth Taylor and Judith Anderson.

But if CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF seems antiseptic, that's nothing compared to SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, which is alternately lurid and dainty. To watch Geraldine Page rip through in an absolutely corrosive and riveting performance is to see one of America's greatest actresses at her peak. THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA is uneven, but, again, some of the performances (in particular, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and, especially, Deborah Kerr and Cyril Delevanti) are superb. The long sequence with Burton and Kerr talking about demons and love while Burton is tied in the hammock is one of the most poetic sequences in all of Williams, handled with great insight and power.

THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE has worn well with the years, as Vivien Leigh gives an elegant performance as the aging woman desperate for love nad even more desperate for her dignity.

Of course, these are all works which could be done now with a greater fidelity to Williams' original texts, but it would be hard to beat the incredible performances, done (in many cases) in the original acting styles of the period (in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, many of the original Broadway casts were also cast in the films). This is a chance to see some legendary actors in the classic parts which they made famous.

A Boxed Set Named Tennessee Williams.......2007-01-08

He may be considered the great American playwright of the 20th Century, but until I got the boxed set of DVDs featuring adaptations of his works, I had never really been exposed to Tennessee Williams. This set of six movies gives a good sampling of Williams and shows why he got his reputation for both daring and excellence.

In chronological order by film date, the first film in the set (and probably the best) is A Streetcar Named Desire. This story focuses on the interrelationship of three characters: Blanche DuBois (played by Vivien Leigh), her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). Blanche moves in with the couple, fleeing from scandal in her hometown and with only a weak grip on sanity. The brutish Stanley is her natural antagonist, with Stella stuck in the middle. Eventually, however, Blanche and Stanley will have to confront each other.

Though Blanche may be the main character, it is Stanley who steals the show due to Brando's wonderful performance. After seeing this movie, I can understand how significant of an impact that Brando had in the world of movie acting; prior to Streetcar, acting performances like Brando's were quite rare. This is a great film, and the only Williams movie I was really familiar with prior to watching, both due to its immortal scenes ("Stella!") and the brilliant Simpsons musical adaptation (in "A Streetcar Named Marge").

Next is Baby Doll, with Karl Malden as an impoverished cotton-miller and Carroll Baker as his very young wife, the Baby Doll of the title. She has been viewing her much older spouse with increasing contempt and has held him to a promise that they would not consummate their marriage until she turned 20, an event soon to happen. Eli Wallach enters the film as both a business and romantic rival to Malden. For the time this movie was made (1956), this film was sexually daring, and though not as explicit as modern movies, it still holds up well.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) and Brick (Paul Newman) as a married couple on the edge. A deep secret has kept them estranged and there is the additional complication of the impending death of Brick's very wealthy and dominating father. Brick may be Big Daddy's favorite, but their problems threatens to cut Brick out of an inheritance he doesn't want; Maggie, however, has other ideas.

Newman is back in a different role in Sweet Bird of Youth as a young hustler who returns to his hometown as the lover/employee of an aging actress. He is hopeful that she will help him make it big in Hollywood, but he is also interested in winning back his old girlfriend, a goal her corrupt political boss father will do anything to stop.

Night of the Iguana has Richard Burton as a drunken reverend turned third-rate tour guide winding up at a hotel run by the widow (Ava Gardner) of an old friend. His job is threatened when a young tourist (played by Sue Lyons of Lolita fame) keeps trying to seduce him. As things fall apart for him, it's up to the widow and an artist (Deborah Kerr) to keep him from destroying himself.

Finally, there is The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, featuring Vivien Leigh as a recently widowed actress who takes a young lover (played by an early Warren Beatty). This is probably the weakest in the set, and the only one I felt rather bored while watching.

Actually, there is a problem that is consistent with many of these movies in that they often just seem like filmed plays. That is, everything seems very staged and there is little real action; the focus is on dialogue, which often takes the somewhat formal form you see in the theater. That is not to say that these are bad movies; actually, they are almost all good: Streetcar is a five star film, Baby Doll, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth merit four, Night three and Roman Spring two. There are also a good number of extras in the set, including commentaries on Streetcar and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a bunch of mini-documentaries and a bonus disc called Tennessee Williams' South. This bonus disc is an early-1970s documentary featuring interviews with Williams and various actors doing scenes from his plays; it is mildly interesting.

One does not watch Williams expecting happy endings and everything nicely resolved (although some of the films do end more upbeat than others, in part, I believe because of a Hollywood demand for such conclusions, despite how the plays may have been written). Instead, you get a level and type of drama that was rarely shown prior to the Williams. Overall, this set rates a high four stars; it may not be perfect, but you do get some good films that pushed the limits of what was allowed at the time.

Tennessee Williams' plays as movies.......2007-01-06

Each of the plays of Tennessee Williams that has been rended as a movie is worth watching. The rawness of emotions, the actors and the direction all make these movies immensely watchable.

A Bit Of Heaven In This Southern Madness.......2006-10-09

Being a sucker for a good box set, I have accumulated quite a few. You end up with some great DVDs, but also some titles that you might not have purchased on their own. This Tennessee Williams collection is one that I wholeheartedly recommend--each selection might not be a true classic, but each represents a significant part of Williams' lexicon and lore. Put together, they symbolize and honor a master craftsman and a time when words, dialogue and screenplays were more important than quick edits and loud soundtracks.

Of course, the undisputed champion of this set is the two disc "A Streetcar Named Desire." An absolutely perfect rendering of a brilliant play, "Streetcar" boasts some of the most powerful performances you're likely to see. With Oscars going to Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter--this is one of the most honored films in history. And Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski has become a legend.

I'm not going to individually review every film, each offers its own merits. What is amazing about these films is how adult they were for their day and how well they stand up today. Southern melodrama never looked or sounded so good.

"Cat on A Hot Tin Roof" is a flawed, truncated version of Williams' play--but still an entertaining vehicle for Newman and Taylor. "Sweet Bird Of Youth" is one of my absolute favorites proving once and for all that Geraldine Page was an acting icon! Those that dismiss "Baby Doll" as a more minor work miss some of its subtlety. It's a very clever romp. "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and "The Night of the Iguana" are both intriguing and eminently watchable, but not without their problems.

These films represent very adult topics, some great writing--sometimes leaning toward lurid melodrama--and awesome performances. It's easy to see why so many top caliber actors and directors are attached to these pieces--and why so many were honored for their works.

If you love film (or plays for that matter) and you haven't seen some of these titles, do yourself a favor--BUY THIS SET and enjoy. Tennessee Williams was a singular talent and a unique voice. KGHarris, 10/06.

Amazing Box Set Collects Some of the Finest Film Performances of Mid-20th Century American Cinema.......2006-05-24

If playwright Tennessee Williams's Southern gothic writing style makes his works feel more ornately melodramatic than those of O'Neill or his closest contemporary Arthur Miller, they do provide resonant showcases for the actors inhabiting his characters. This is clearly evidenced in this six-film, eight-disc collection that epitomizes some of the most powerful acting to come out of Hollywood in the 1950's and early 1960's, all directed by true filmmaking masters. Probably because they are the least censored by the studio system at least in the form presented now, the best of the set are Elia Kazan's "A Streetcar Named Desire" and John Huston's "The Night of the Iguana". The others are Kazan's "Baby Doll", Richard Brooks' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", Jose Quintero's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and Brooks' "Sweet Bird of Youth".

A feral, smoldering Marlon Brando justifiably made his reputation as brutish Stanley Kowalski in 1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire", and his animalistic charisma still leaps off the screen. Intriguingly, one of the extras included in the two-disc set for the movie is footage from a 1947 screen test of Brando when he was 23, and his stardom seems assured even then. The plot of the movie amounts to the inevitable clash between Kowalski and his visiting sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois, a fading Southern belle on the verge of a mental breakdown. Having proven her ability to be a convincing Southerner in "Gone With the Wind", Vivien Leigh expertly handles all the florid dialogue with her particular blend of defiance and vulnerability.

Strong supporting work comes from Kim Hunter as Blanche's naive sister Stella and Karl Malden as Blanche's seemingly respectful suitor Mitch. Now over ninety, Malden is on hand to provide his own eloquent recollections of the production on an alternate track, and film historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young provide more objective commentary on another track. Film critic Richard Schickel's 1995 feature-length look at Kazan is the centerpiece of the second disk, and there is also a more interesting five-part documentary on the film and original Broadway show, the best portion focusing on censorship and the several minutes that have been reinserted in the DVD version of the film.

1964's "The Night of the Iguana" deals with a similarly dysfunctional group of people, but this time the setting is a dilapidated Mexican beach resort where Reverend Shannon, newly defrocked, has taken a group of spinsters from a women's college. Huston made his reputation on his strong literary adaptations, and his affinity shows in the fulsome characterizations, striking visuals and dark humor. Richard Burton is in peak form as Shannon, and there is also sterling work from Deborah Kerr as the spinsterish Hannah and especially Ava Gardner as the slatternly resort owner, Maxine Faulk. The DVD contains a recent making-of featurette and a vintage video, both fascinating.

"Baby Doll" is an entertaining hoot that doesn't seem as sensationalistic as I'm sure it was when the film was first released in 1956. It's simply a Southern-fried farce about the potential deflowering of a nineteen-year old child bride with a nice, pouty turn by Carroll Baker in the title role and a surprisingly funny one by Karl Malden as her randy husband, cotton mill owner Archie. 1958's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is far more vaunted but ultimately hamstrung by the overly careful portrayal of Brick as an asexual protagonist, this in spite of stellar performances from Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives.

Newman is even better as gigolo Chance Wayne in 1963's "Sweet Bird of Youth", and he is matched all the way by Geraldine Page's all-cylinders-on performance as faded movie queen Alexandra Del Lago (a role that would have ironically been ideal for Ava Gardner). The weakest film of the set is 1961's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" about an aging American actress living in Rome who falls recklessly in love with an indifferent gigolo. A decade after "Streetcar", the glamorous-looking Leigh excels in the title role, while a young Warren Beatty fits the physical requirements as the gigolo Paolo even though his faux-Italian accent is a little too emphatic. All four of these movies come with making-of featurettes and original trailers, and "Cat" also includes commentary from Williams' biographer Donald Spoto.

The focal point of the eighth disc is a 1973 documentary, "Tennessee Williams' South", which highlights insightful interviews with Williams in the New Orleans area. The film also includes classic scenes from his plays reenacted specifically for the documentary. You can have the privilege of seeing Broadway's original Blanche DuBois, Jessica Tandy, and compare her work to Leigh's, as well as an impressive turn by Maureen Stapleton as Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie". This is an incredible film collection for anyone who wants to see some of the greatest performances of mid-20th century American cinema.

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Sweet Bird of Youth
"Failure is a contagious disease".,
One of Newman most deeply felt and affecting screen portrayals...
Chance's last desperate chance
"This is America. Today you're nobody, tomorrow you're somebody."

Sweet Bird of Youth
Starring: Paul Newman , Geraldine Page , Shirley Knight , Ed Begley , and Rip Torn
Director: Richard Brooks
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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The Night of the Iguana
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
The Long, Hot Summer
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Deluxe Edition)
From the Terrace

ASIN: B000EBD9U8
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Amazon.com essential video

Sweet Bird of Youth has the Tennessee Williams penchant for provocation and Southern depravity--although at this point, the bloom is somewhat off the hothouse flower. Paul Newman is a cad who dreams of glory; he's returned to his hometown towing a dissolute, over-the-hill Hollywood star (Geraldine Page re-creates her Broadway role), certain she'll be his meal ticket. He's ruined the only girl he really loved (day-dreamy Shirley Knight), who just happens to be the daughter of the town's boss (Ed Begley, in an Oscar ^®-winning role). The play's more shocking elements have been euphemized, in the custom of the era's Williams movie adaptations. Director Richard Brooks handles it with intensity, and Rip Torn (who was married to Page) has some wicked moments, but the movie is bound to its theatrical roots and its inability to mention racism, syphilis, or castration. And that's Tennessee Williams without the hot sauce. --Robert Horton

Description

Drifter Chance Wayne returns to his hometown after many years of trying to make it in the movies. With him is a faded film star he picked up along the way, Alexandra Del Lago. While trying to get her help to make a screen test, he also finds the time to meet his former girlfriend Heavenly, the daughter of the local politician Tom 'Boss' Finley, who more or less forced him to leave the town many years ago.

Customer Reviews:

Sweet Bird of Youth.......2007-06-28

Dealing with faded looks and broken dreams, all of it stewing in a cauldron of ugly family conflict, "Bird" is as much about the cruel rotisserie of Hollywood fame as it is a dark observation of damaged relationships. Newman is virile and intense as loner-loser Chance, while Oscar-winner Begley and Torn each turn in solid performances as Knight's menacing, vengeful male kin. The other true star of the film is Page, a real-life fading beauty whose boozy, down-and-out Alexandra epitomizes the kind of exaggerated egomania Williams set out to skewer. Don't let this "Sweet Bird" fly away.

"Failure is a contagious disease".,.......2007-04-08

"Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962) was directed by Richard Brooks who also wrote the screenplay based on one of the darkest and most pessimistic plays by Tennessee Williams. Paul Newman stars as Chance Wayne, handsome, charming, lusty, and fame-hungry young gigolo who returns to his Southern home town after long stay in Florida and Hollywood where he tried to make a career as a movie star. He hoped to reconnect with two women he loved and left behind, his mother and his first love, Heavenly Finley. He hopes to make it this time because he brought with him a famous and once beautiful but now fading movie star with drinking problems, Princess Cosmonopolous aka Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page). She needs a companion, he needs her connections. Once again, he will realize and bitterly admit that "Failure is a contagious disease". His mother died just before he returned and Heavenly's father, a local political boss (Ed Begley), hates him and swears revenge for having broken his daughter's heart. The film works thanks to the wonderful performances from Page, Begley, and breathtaking Paul Newman who looked like he was able to catch the sweet bird of youth and who gave an outstanding performance. Brooks changed the play's ending to give Chance and Heavenly hope for the better future but in the light of what we've seen, the movie's final feels like forced and unsatisfying.

One of Newman most deeply felt and affecting screen portrayals..........2007-01-15

Again Newman is the attractive young man ruthlessly pursuing the American Dream of success, coldly exploiting people and rejecting the love that might save him...

Chance has only one talent--sexual prowess--and he's been bumming around for several years, satisfying rich women in the hope that he can find fame in Hollywood... He picks up a faded film star, Alexandra Del Lago (magnificently played by Geraldine Page), who is hooked on vodka, hashish, oxygen and young studs... She promises to get him a screen test, and they drive to his Southern hometown, where he plans to find his sweetheart, Heavenly Finley (Shirley Knight), and take her along to Hollywood... He doesn't know that on his last visit he left her pregnant, that she had an abortion, and that her father, the powerful Boss Finley (Ed Begley), is out to get him...

Newman is impeccable as the smiling, confident phony who acts like a celebrity--dropping names, giving large tips, arrogantly stating: "Just because a man's successful doesn't mean he has to forget his hometown." He's also frighteningly sneaky and sympathetically tolerant, as he charms Alexandra while recording what she's saying for blackmail purposes... But he's ultimately pathetic: a desperately insecure man, addicted to amphetamines, so self-abasing attending to Alexandra and performing as a lover at her whim... His mask of swaggering bravura really disappears when he tries to see Heavenly... He becomes confused and desperate--walking with regular steps, rubbing his hands together, pleading urgently over the phone...

Flashbacks (not in the play) show him as a younger man--smiling, innocent, eager to marry Heavenly, but persuaded by Finley (who scorns Chance's poor background) to leave town and pursue success... Thus Chance was corrupted, and began to use his sexuality to get ahead...

Chance doesn't make it, but he keeps dreaming... On his previous visit, he tells Heavenly that he's learned how to "beat the game." Newman has never been more convincing as an intense man on the make... With a ruthless look, he says he will return a success next time: "I got the key, baby--I got the know-how ... for me there's one quick way." She wants him as he is, but he can't stop: "All my life I've been on the outside, and time is running out ... they got places for the old and the sick and the homeless, but there is no place at all for the failures." He rejects her to become a beach boy: "Don't ask me to give up my dream."

Now it's too late, and in another effective scene, Heavenly refuses to come with him, ignoring his agonized pleas, and leaving him stunned, anguished, alone with his dream...

Newman says that Chance must take his beating to expiate his sins: "He's saying to you--all of you--'look at me and recognize whatever there is of me in you'." Like Fast Eddie, he must be punished for his arrogance...

Despite the film's many contrivances and excesses, "Sweet Bird of Youth" has worked as a story of a man's pathetic downfall, but his getting the girl after all is absurd... The guilty, as in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," is director-writer Richard Brooks, although perhaps the real blame belongs to Hollywood, the Kingdom of Compromise...

Chance's last desperate chance.......2006-08-18

Paul Newman is stunning based on both his thespian proficiency and handsome screen presence as Hollywood never has been Chance Wayne in the Tennessee Williams drama "Sweet Bird of Youth". Williams again shows a great aptitude for crafting a wonderful piece based on the complex interrelationships existent between his characters. The film transposed well from the stage thanks to both the writing and directorial expertise of Richard Brooks. The Deep South based film features an impressive array of acting performances from its players.

Newman returns back to his Gulf Coast hometown of St. Cloud having failed repeatedly to make it into show business. He is serving as a chauffeur/gofer/sex toy for fading and alcoholic screen siren Alexandra Del Lago played wonderfully by Geraldine Page, who is accompanying him. He hopes to reconnect with his hometown sweetheart Heavenly Finley played by Shirley Knight. Wayne, however grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Heavenly's father Tom Finley is a powerful Southern political boss played superbly by deserved Oscar winner Ed Begley. "Boss" Finley had banished Newman many years ago from St. Cloud to remove him from daughter Heavenly's world.

Newman's return to town forces Begley and his minions including his kowtowing son Tom Jr. played nicely by Rip Torn to again force him out of town. We find out however that Heavenly had become pregnant by Chance during a secret tryst some months previously.

Newman desperately tries to both secure a professional commitment from the drunken and insecure Page and consumate his feelings for his true love Knight.

"This is America. Today you're nobody, tomorrow you're somebody.".......2006-05-29

Sweet Bird of Youth is initially a hard movie to get into, the first ten minutes are talky and oblique and it's sort of hard to figure out what the movie is going to be about. But once Geraldine Page's boozy, bitter, has-been movie star Alexandra Del Lago comes onto the screen and clashes with Paul Newman's naively ambitious gigolo Chance Wayne, viewers know they're in for a real treat.

Controversial for it's time, Sweet Bird of Youth is all about the price one pays for fame and beauty, cleverly exposing the greed and hypocrisy of Hollywood and the South. The action centers on the small squalid Florida town of St. Cloud, currently mired in corruption and sleaze.

Years ago the nasty misogynist Boss Finley - who runs the town with a fierce demagoguery - ran Chance out of town with a one-way ticket and the temptations of the American Dream. In fact, Chance - with his startling good looks - hoped to score it big in Hollywood as a matinee idol.

When Finely finds out that Chance has returned accompanied by a whorey, drunken Hollywood actress, he's not happy at all. Chance was having an affair with Finley's beautiful daughter Heavenly (Shirley Knight) much to the chagrin of Finely and her evil brother Thomas (Rip Torn). Finley's spinsterish sister, aunt Nonnie (Mildred Dunnock), a victimized, frightened browbeaten woman, is the only person who still likes Chance, cherishing his love to Heavenly.

Chance desperately wants to reconnect with Heavenly, but her father constantly surrounds her with the law and won't let her out of his sight. Chance is also unaware of the terrible secret - an illegal abortion - that shamed the family and almost bought the dynasty down. Flashbacks to their "sweet bird" time reveal that Chance once had the potential for a real relationship and a life better than a two-bit hustler.

Now he spends much of his time with Alexandra, negotiating sex with her and desperately trying to get her to sign a contract and promote him Hollywood. He pops Benzedrine while she sinks back bottles of vodka, getting rolling drunk, and they think nothing of smoking pot when the mood takes them. There's a quiet anxiety to them both - she sees it as a relationship of convenience and he sees her as his one chance to make it big.

The scenes between Chance and Alexandra are indeed the best parts of the movie, as a formidably beautiful bared-chested Newman struts around the hotel room, waxing lyrical to Alexandra how great he is, whilst she is so shattered at what she thinks is the bad reception of her latest film. After all, she's an aging starlet who has banked much of her career on her looks and she comes apart when she can't face those close-ups anymore.

Transferring Tennessee Williams' material from the stage to the screen is always a risky endeavor. Sweet Bird of Youth incorporates a lot of flashbacks to keep the plot moving and to explain the various characters' pasts. But oftentimes the narrative comes across as clunky and awkward, the text is mannered and stagy and sometimes I wonder whether director Richard Brooks could have streamlined it a bit better from the stage to the screen.

Still, the acting is mostly spectacular from the leads down to the supporting - you just never see performances like this on screen today. With Newman, Page and Begley getting the lions share of the hysterical scenes. Page is an absolute standout as Alexandra the aging, fading movie star; and Paul Newman is of course totally sexy as Chance, the selfish, self-involved stud. Mike Leonard May 06.

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Williams' South

Tennessee Williams' South

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Biography - Tennessee Williams: Wounded Genius (A&E DVD Archives)
Great Writers: Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams Film Collection (A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Two-Disc Special Edition / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Deluxe Edition / Sweet Bird of Youth / The Night of the Iguana / Baby Doll / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone)
Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (Broadway Theatre Archive)
A Streetcar Named Desire (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000FLCTU8

Product Description

The brutes and the belles. The gadflies and the good ol' boys. The taboos and the profound truths. They're all part of a tennessee state of mind -- a realm of places, personalities and ideas. Williams is front and center for this exploration, reading from his works, placing them in the context of his life, and serving as guide in visits to his career-shaping refuge in New Orleans and his later-day writing quarters in Key West. Also, dramatizations by distinguished actors -- including Jessica Tandy, Broadway's original Blanche DuBois, in a recreation of her A Streetcar Named Desire triumph -- give flesh-and-bone immediacy to some of the writer's famed works. In his own words. In his own places. The resilient character and memorable characters of one of our greatest writers reside in Tennessee Williams' South.

Customer Reviews:

Williams' South.......2006-06-24

Tennessee Williams is interviewed in Key West and New Orleans, and talks about his childhood, family, religion, race relations in the south, his eccentricies and demons and his love for Chekhov. His observations are often illuminating and provide good analysis for some of his writings. He also reads some of his poetry and prose (the poem from "Night of the Iguana" and "Life Story" and a section from "The Glass Menagerie"). This odd film also contains dramatic pieces at intervals with Williams commenting on the characters and their motivations. The dramatic clips are about 5 minutes each and include Burl Ives in a scene from "The Last of my Solid Gold Watches," Jessica Tandy in "A Streetcar Named Desire," William Hutt in "Small Craft Warnings," Colleen Dewhurst and John Colicos in "Night of the Iguana," and Maureen Stapleton, Michael York, James Naughton and Carol Williard in "The Glass Menagerie."

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yawn
Tennessee Williams
Star vehicle gets stuck in the mud
This is Nicolas Roeg's TV film starring Elisabeth Taylor

Sweet Bird of Youth (1989)
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor , Mark Harmon , Valerie Perrine , Kevin Geer , and Seymour Cassel
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
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Jerry Herman's Broadway at Hollywood Bowl
Tennessee Williams Film Collection (A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Two-Disc Special Edition / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Deluxe Edition / Sweet Bird of Youth / The Night of the Iguana / Baby Doll / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Deluxe Edition)

ASIN: B00006L91T
Release Date: 2002-11-19

Product Description

The second film production of Tennessee William's 1959 play does not live up to earlier productions. While ambitious, much of the play's symbolism and underlying tones have been dropped. Chief is the elimination of the setting of Easter Sunday and the key speeches bringing the audience's recognition into bearing and time as the enemy of everyone. What remains is the melodrama of a failing, aging movie star who takes up with an ambitious masseur who takes her home only to show off in front of his former girl friend and her powerful father.

System Requirements:

Running Time 95 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

yawn.......2005-03-27

This had to have been Liz's last 'glamour' role. To be honest, I expected full-blown schlock and that's what I got. All I could focus on throughout the movie was how the camera was trying to camouflage this once great beauty's girth and double chin! Hellen Mirren's Karen Stone (in Willaims' "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone") is a much more authentic, and moving, portrayal of the consequences of the ravages of time - for a former stage&screen beauty and, indeed, for any of us. Best part of the movie for me was the flash of Mark Harmon's pretty butt - but my, what bushy eyebrows! ps - Fuggettabout Princess del Lago: Whatever happened to "Sexiest Man of the Year" Mark Harmon?! Therein, I suppose, lies Williams' not-so-surprising message...

Tennessee Williams.......2003-06-23

You have to really get the mood set to be an adapt actor for a Tennessee Williams production. I have seen Elizabeth Taylor do a couple of his works. In Sweet Bird of Youth she is just not Elizabeth Taylor but the ageing actress the way Williams would have wanted it. I believe Mark Harmon gave a good performan much different from Paul Newman. As I was watching it kept me interested. Individuals could learn much from this film if they just listen. Tennesse Williams had a message and it sure comes accross.

Star vehicle gets stuck in the mud.......2003-03-09

Though I'm only giving it two stars, this is not as bad a film as you'd think. And considering the price, I really shouldn't be complaining at all. After shining in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Suddenly Last Summer," Elizabeth Taylor should be justified in claiming the crown as the quintessential Tennessee Williams actress. In one sense, she was a perfect choice to play the aging actress hiding behind the identity of the "Princess Kosmonopolis" in SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH. But Taylor is an actor who needs strong direction (think of what she an Mike Nichols accomplished in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF). What could have been every bit as good as the performance Geraldine Page turned in for Richard Brooks in the 1962 film is, in fact, something of a campfest--more of an Elizabeth Taylor impersonation than a true dramatic performance. (But then, is there a non-campy way to deliver the line, "Stupid, beautiful young man, that's my hash"?) As best as I could tell, this made-for-tv version of the play is closer to what Williams wrote than Brooks' theatrical release. (Back then, theater took more risks than movies ever did.) Although the Taylor movie is set in the 1950s the same as the play, it doesn't capture the mood of that period very well. In fact, when the Princess's traveling companion Chance Wayne (played by Mark Harmon) tries to blackmail her into giving him a movie contract (by tape recording her confessions about her drug use), the act seems downright implausible. When Paul Newman did the same in Brooks's film, it struck me more as a pathetic and ineffectual act, one that revealed Chance's boyish naivite and charm. In general, the remake is a conglomeration of unexplored nuances andd missed opportunities. Much of the film is shot in close-up and softened amber tones, giving it the feel of a daytime drama. (Tennessee Williams's plays are already dangerously close to being soap operas; they don't need an extra push.)

As for the play itself, I consider it to be the best of the second-tier Williams plays (the first tier consisting of THE GLASS MENAGERIE, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, and THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA). Many of the great Williams themes are here: abuse of power, the predatory nature of sexuality, the human fascination with youth and beauty, and the delicate nature of society's outcasts. What I find interesting about this play is how when the play opens we are exposed to the Princess's obsessive concern about growing old and losing her physical attractiveness, but by the end of the play this obsession has been transferred to the male lead, to Chance. The Princess is the steely survivor, Chance is the one who suffers and is destroyed (like Blanche DuBois before him) by his inability to adapt and move on. This play is definitely worth seeing. My hope is that Richard Brooks' superior (but not perfect) film will be made available on DVD (with extras!).

This is Nicolas Roeg's TV film starring Elisabeth Taylor.......2003-01-22

Please becareful, because this is not Richard Brooks' film!
This is Nicolas Roeg's TV film starring Elisabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon.

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Sweet Bird of Youth
Starring: Megan Blake , Seymour Cassel , Ronnie Claire Edwards , Hal England , and John Fleck
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Manufacturer: Tango Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000ERVKJY
Release Date: 2006-05-08

Average customer rating:

"A Kind Of Magnificence."
Love That Movie!!!!!!

Sweet Bird of Youth
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor , Mark Harmon , Valerie Perrine , Kevin Geer , and Seymour Cassel
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Manufacturer: Tango Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Sweet Bird of Youth

ASIN: B0009GX1Z6
Release Date: 2005-07-12

Description

Two-Time Oscar® Winner Elizabeth Taylor and Emmy® Nominee Mark Harmon star in this powerful production based on Tennessee Williams' play. Once a beautiful screen idol, Alexandra Del Lago (Taylor) has fled Hollywood for fear that her beauty and fame has faded. Alexandra falls into the arms of Chance (Harmon), a shiftless would-be actor, who sees her wealth and position as his last shot at making it in Hollywood. Incorporating intense drama and steamy lust, this gripping story reveals the dark forces of human ambition and desire, as two people stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

Customer Reviews:

"A Kind Of Magnificence.".......2006-05-20

This 1989 film version of SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH based on the play by Tennessee Williams stars Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon. She is a fading movie actress (Alexandra Del Lago) while he (Chance Wayne) is her driver/escort/confidante/gigolo/actor-want-to-be. The plot is classic Williams: the vulnerable, beautiful woman cast opposite the sexy stud but with a twist since Alexandra has a steeliness reminiscent of Maggie in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Both characters use each other for a quid pro quo: sex for furthering one's acting career. Thrown in for good measure are old-style demagoguery of the 1950's politician, racism, segregation, abortion and adultery. Add to that The theme of the perils of growing old, particularly if one has accomplished little (Chance); and you have quite a lot going on and a plot that does not always work.

Ms. Taylor remains tremendously beautiful here even with big hair and the essential lavender costumes. She plays again the role that she has done many times before, the exotic (often Southern but not always) woman (CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE, RAINTREE COUNTY, et cetera). At times she seems to be playing Elizabeth Taylor; on the other hand, it's great to watch her do only that. A character in the film describes Alexandra as having a "kind of magnificence." I have no words better to describe this screen legend.

Although by no means a perfect film, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH is certainly worth watching.

Love That Movie!!!!!!.......2005-09-15

Elizabeth Taylor rules as a classic legendary actress who befriends a younger washed up actor using her to revamp his career.It's a must see!!!

Average customer rating:

Sweet Bird of Youth
"Failure is a contagious disease".,
One of Newman most deeply felt and affecting screen portrayals...
Chance's last desperate chance
"This is America. Today you're nobody, tomorrow you're somebody."

Sweet Bird of Youth
Starring: Paul Newman , Geraldine Page , Shirley Knight , Ed Begley , and Rip Torn
Director: Richard Brooks
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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