The Rimers of Eldritch (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Starring:Joanna Roos, Clifford A. Pellow, Kate Harrington, Ernest Thompson, Vance Sorrells, James Staley, Kathleen Doyle, Carol Williard, Helen Stenborg, Will Hare, Cliff Carpenter, Susan Sarandon, Sarah Cunningham, K Callan, Rue McClanahan, Frances Sternhagen, Roberts Blossom
Director: Davey Marlin-Jones
Studio: Kultur Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

An ensemble cast and deft editing bring this haunting Lanford Wilson piece to life. The Rimers of Eldritch is set in a dying Midwestern town, and in many ways the town itself is the central character. The plot radiates outward from a trial, and the action shifts back and forth in time as we piece together what happened. The scenes are brief, often lasting just long enough to give a quick impression before moving on, and the dialogue is cleverly overlapped. Wilson uses these shreds of action and thought both to carefully add information about the violence that has happened and to dissect the community (viewers may be reminded of Twin Peaks more than once). The ensemble cast, including a young Susan Sarandon, is uniformly good, though Rue McClanahan is a standout. McClanahan's character, Cora, seems simple at first, but as the piece continues she expertly shades her with rich layers. --Ali Davis

Description

Set in a ghostly burg on the verge of disappearing, a place where the only movie house closed eight years ago, this adaptation of Lanford Wilson's play explores a community's reaction to rape, lies and murder. The plot revolves around the sexual assault of a teenage girl and an unrelated murder trial in the town of Eldritch. Wilson's innovative use of overlapping dialogue makes the people of the community the real focus of the play. "Ambitious, intriguing, attractive, demanding." --The Washington Post. With Frances Sterhagen, Rue McClanahan, Susan Sarandon, Davey Marlin-Jones.

Customer Reviews:

Immensely Disappointing.......2003-07-17

I was excited to see this dvd available - I saw the play a couple of times in the late '60's and loved it. Unfortunately this hoked-up film version does the play no justice. Taking the play from its platform/ramp/stairs stage setting and placing it into a 'real' ghost town waters down the suspense of the piece - in fact, more than waters down, obliterates it. The stage convention of using the same actor for the judge of the murder trial and the local hell 'n brimstone preacher doesn't work on film. On film, not only does it not make any point about justice - it is simply confusing. The trial and mystery of who-did-what-to-whom-and-why seems less than important. The actual film itself is poor quality - grainy and grey-ed out.
Good aspects are a terrific performance by Rue McClanahan and the actors portraying the young protagonists. Susan Sarandon does an admirable job for a woman about fifteen years too old for the role. Frances Sternhagen must have a good agent to get billing in this version - she has about five lines...and not even juicy ones.
What a disappointment this film is! I so wish they had just filmed a first rate stage performance instead of trying to turn it into a 'movie'.

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