4/5 Sanitized version of a powerful Williams melodrama
  by H. Schneider (window seat)
Paul Newman was always worth watching, and this is certainly not his worst movie, but I would rate Geraldine Page's splendid version of the drama queen, the down and out Hollywood diva with the come back knack, even higher.

If you don't know the story: Newman comes to his hometown on the Gulf coast with drunken Page in tow; he is her driver plus other jobs; they have some beautiful developments of their relationship, and this is really the best aspect of the movie. His ambition is to make her help him to the acting career that has eluded him so far.

His problem in his home town is that he is not welcome. He was the unacceptable lover boy of the town boss's daughter. The boss had sent him away, but he came back a few times. Now the patience with him has run out, mainly because of some consequences that the Newman character doesn't even know about yet.

And 'not welcome' means more than just getting frowned upon. The play has some drastic action which is left out here. The play is not remotely considering a happy end, but Hollywood seems to have insisted. Sorry if that is a spoiler, but with 'classic' theater plays one assumes that people don't watch them for 'suspense'.

Nothing about the movie is outstandingly original, but you get the essence of TW's play, plus strong acting by Newman and Page, so no bad choice.

5/5 This film is very sweet indeed...
  by Andrew Ellington (Mulholland Drive)
It's become common knowledge to me that playwright Tennessee Williams has never been able to have his plays accurately transferred from stage to screen. He is just too extreme for the time period in which he lived. The very idea of castration, syphilis or racism (and that's just this play) was just too much for 60's cinema. Regardless though, his films still managed to be effortless and poignant and dramatically outstanding. `Sweet Bird of Youth' is just one of many (`Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and `A Streetcar Named Desire' being his best film adaptations). Whether or not it was able to tackle everything Williams' wanted it to, the fact remains that it is a stellar production that I am sure made him proud.

The film follows Chance Wayne, a dreamer of sorts who is trying to make it big in Hollywood. He left his hometown girlfriend Heavenly behind in order to pursue a career for himself and solidify their future, but in his absence her father, Boss Finley, has promised her hand to another. When Chance returns home with washed up actress Alexandra Del Lago, Boss and his temperamental son Tom Jr. set out scheming a way to get Chance out of town, for good.

As always, secrets from their past bubble forth to expose the foundation for their hatred of one another, thus creating some very tense and equally steamy moments.

The performances are outstanding across the board, especially by the two leads. I have made it very clear that I consider Paul Newman that greatest actor of all time, and I stand by that still. He embodies Chance with his natural charm, but he adds these touching layers of vulnerability that make Chance a very understandable and sympathetic young man. He uses those around him, but his acts are far from selfish. Geraldine Page is phenomenal here, completely and utterly unforgettable. I have mentioned before how I feel Newman is the perfect co-star, and he definitely works his magic at aiding Page in delivering an outstanding performance. He just seems to naturally fit with whoever is sharing the screen with him. Page feeds off that to infuse her character with an almost reluctant charm, which is refreshing and intoxicating.

The supporting cast is all stellar, with Shirley Knight, Ed Begley, Madeleine Sherwood and Rip Torn all delivering top notch performances; especially Rip Torn, who is dastardly as the young and impetuous son of the Boss, searching and striving for approval.

`Sweet Bird of Youth' is a cautionary tale about the blessings and maledictions that come with age. Youth is a sweet bird, but bitter sweet really. Looking at both the characters of Chance and Alexandra we see the opposing sides of that argument. Chance is young and foolish and thus winds up suffering from his own immaturity, while Alexandra is older, more world-wise and yet she suffers from a society that rejects age as if it were an illness.

Startling and absorbing, `Sweet Bird of Youth' is an outstanding example of enthralling cinema; a film that grabs you and never lets you go. With fantastic performances, a strong script and a delicate hand behind the camera (Brooks works with Williams well, as he proved with 58's `Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and cemented with this gem), this is a must-see film for any and everyone.

5/5 Performances Elevate Film To Greatness
  by David Baldwin (Philadelphia,PA USA)
I'm not a big Tennessee Williams fan but this film grabbed me. For sure it's a potboiler but what a sizzler. Foremost are the performances here most notably by Oscar winner Ed Begley and Geraldine Page. Begley's role, though a supporting one, as a corrupt politico is one of those rare turns that envelope the whole movie much like Marlon Brando in "The Godfather" and Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs". Calling everybody laddie through a cynical smile wielding a cane Begley's malevolence leaves an indelible stench that permeates your nervous system. Page's alcoholic fading movie star could have been cliched but she gives her character great empathy and humanity. The film's ostensible star, Paul Newman, as an aging gigolo wisely defers to his co-stars. Also good are Rip Torn as Begley's sadistic son and Shirley Knight as Begley's tormented daughter. An excellent film all around.

5/5 The Fickle Bird Of Youth
  by Alfred Johnson (boston, ma)
The first couple of paragraphs here have been used as introduction to other plays written by Tennessee Williams and reviewed in this space. This review applies to both the stage play and the film versions with differences noted as part of the review

Perhaps, as is the case with this reviewer, if you have come to the works of the excellent American playwright Tennessee Williams through adaptations of his plays to commercially distributed film you too will have missed some of the more controversial and intriguing aspects of his plays that had placed him at that time along with Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller as America's finest serious playwrights. Although some of the films have their own charms I want to address the written plays in this entry first (along with, when appropriate, commentary about Williams' extensive and detailed directing instructions).

That said, there are certain limitations for a political commentator like this reviewer on the works of Williams. Although his plays, at least his best and most well-known ones, take place in the steamy South or its environs, there is virtually no acknowledgement of the race question that dominated Southern life during the period of the plays; and, for that matter was beginning to dominate national life. Thus, although it is possible to pay homage to his work on its artistic merits, I am very, very tentative about giving fulsome praise to that work on its political merits. With that proviso Williams nevertheless has created a very modern stage on which to address social questions at the personal level like homosexuality, incest and the dysfunctional family that only began to get addressed widely well after his ground-breaking work hit the stage.

"Sweet Bird Of Youth" is a case in point. Not for the first time, a seemingly 1950's style All- American boy Chance who has left his hometown, his home town girl and his roots behind to drift in that endless spiral toward fame- Hollywood and the movies, naturally- comes back to claim what is his by right. On this little hometown reunion Chance is in the service of one aging and fretful actress who has her own issues with that elusive `bird of youth'. In his return to town it appears that Chance has stirred up a hornet's nest with the local political establishment in the person of one red-neck preacher turned politician in order to better do "god's work", old Tom Findley. The object of this dispute is one Heavenly Findley, old Ton's daughter and Chance's left behind paramour who is now the subject of some scandal (due to the amorphously stated need for female-related medical treatment due to Chance's irresponsibility). Along the way we get to see how political power is distributed in a small Southern town as well as the inevitable tempting of the fates by Chance in order to win the `brass ring' before it is too late (apparently somewhere over thirty, by my reckoning). At play's end though, where he is between a rock and a hard place, Chance may not get the chance to be Chance at thirty. Oh, that fickle bird of youth. Still, Chance, go for it.

In the movie version the recently departed excellent actor Paul Newman, a classic example of a 1950's All-American boy type (among his other acting talents), as the movie star `wannabe' and Geraldine Page as the aging actress recreated their stage performances although with a greater screen presence for Ms. Page. Moreover, Chance's strivings to reconnect with Heavenly are more central to the plot. More importantly, the endings differ in that, despite some mauling by Tom Findley's boys Chance takes my advice from the play version and runs, with Heavenly, just as far and as fast as his now aging legs can carry him.


5/5 TENNESSEE WROTE THIS WITH TALLULAH BANKHEAD IN MIND...
  by Richard Davis McLeod (RIVERSIDE, CA USA)
THIS MOVIE, DISAPPOINTED TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, BECAUSE OF THE CHANGES MADE BY THE CENSORS. THE FILM DOES CONVEY THE ACTUAL PERSONALITY OF THIS POSSIBLY GREATEST OF ALL AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS. A REAL INSIGHT INTO THE INNER PSYCHE OF MR. WILLIAMS, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A "POET OF THE EMOTIONS".

THE CHARACTER OF ALEXANDRA DE LAGO MIRRORED THE PERSONALITY OF MR. WILLIAMS, IN THAT HE HAD EXPERIENCED A BRILLIANT CAREER, AND WAS GETTING OLDER, AND SUFFERING MORE HEALTH PROBLEMS. THE CHANCE WAYNE CHARACTER PLAYED BY PAUL NEWMAN, ILLUSTRATES THE TYPE OF MAN MR. WILLIAMS WAS MOST EMOTIONALLY ATTRACTED TO IN LIFE. GERALDINE PAGE GIVES AN INTERESTING PERFORMANCE, BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A MUCH BETTER FILM, IF INDEED TALLULAH BANKHEAD COUD HAVE PLAYED THIS PART, ESPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR HER BY MR. WILLIAMS, AND ONE HE WANTED HER TO PLAY.

TALLULAH BANKHEAD TURNED THE PART DOWN BECAUSE SHE FELT IT WAS THE STORY OF ANOTHER DEGRADED SOUTHERN WOMAN. ED BEGLEY STEALS THE SHOW IN THIS FILM, AND DESERVEDLY WON AN OSCAR FOR HIS PERFORMANCE.