The Glass Menagerie (1950) :
Brief Review -
Tennessee Williams' classic and perhaps the best story ever gets the best cinematic adaptation at the hands of Irving Rapper. Tennessee's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire may have been popular, but I found them a little overrated. Today, my thoughts are empowered by The Glass Menagerie (adopted 4 times), as I found this one much better due to its realistic take on life. As mentioned by many, this one is a close account of Williams' life with a deliberate happy ending, which is not fulfilled but bleak. Pardon me for saying this, but I found this film 'storyless'. There was no story. Just a few moments of a family together and their struggle/success and you have The Glass Menagerie ready for you. Yet, this one moved me and engrossed me as a viewer, which is a big thing. The film is about a caring mother who wants her son to be settled well and her sick daughter to be mingled with a handsome young man. The son is working at a warehouse and is sick of the job. He wants to explore and go places, but his mother keeps pushing him to bring young men to the house and find a partner for his crippled sister. The sister lacks confidence, while the mother is all about swag and royal stature. I couldn't have imagined that Gertrude Lawrence had the nerves to overshadow Arthur Kennedy, Jane Wyman and Kirk Douglas in a four-actor film. What a presentation of a caring mother, and what an accent she carried throughout the film. Simply unbeatable. Jane Wyman shines as Laura, and I can't imagine any other actress playing this role better than her. Arthur Kennedy and Kirk Douglas go hand-in-hand as far as male bonding is concerned, as well as individually. "Dancing is the most civilised form of social intercourse" has to be my favourite quote, apart from that final monologue by Tom. I'll always be thankful to Irving Rapper for "The Corn is Green" (1942), but I didn't like "Now, Voyager" (1942) much. This one landed exactly in the middle.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
