The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
It’s quite a pity that Vivien Leigh’s delicate mental condition, once combined with playing the role of the mentally unhinged Blanche duBois, became even more delicate. She credited Tennessee Williams’s heroine with her eventual mental collapse, which shows just how close to the edge she was. In the immortal words of her husband, couldn’t she “just try acting”?
As tragic a figure as Miss Leigh was, why would she want to act in another Williams drama, about a similarly troubled older woman? In The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Blanche duBois—I mean, Mrs. Stone—is a successful actress beloved by all but besieged by self-doubt and insecurity. When her husband dies, she flees to Rome, where she’s immediately preyed upon by a young gigolo, Warren Beatty, and his madam, Lotte Lenya.
“Young, young, young man…” Yes, we all remember Blanche’s dalliance with the newspaper collection boy in Scene Five. But to make an entire movie out of it? It’s a touch boring, a tad repetitious, and a little unoriginal. If you’re a die-hard Warren Beatty fan, you’ll probably excuse his very muddled accent because this was his first year of making movies – and because he looks so handsome. But he’s so untrustworthy and obviously un-caring, his good looks are hardly worth anything. It’s difficult to award sympathy to a rich widow who knows she’s being played by a gold-digging gigolo, but it’s even more difficult to award any warm feelings at all to the gigolo himself.
As a fun fact, this was Tennessee Williams’s favorite of all the film adaptations of his plays. So, if you like him and want to see his dream realized, you can rent it. If you were hoping to see a good movie, you can skip it.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Vivien Leigh movies here!
As tragic a figure as Miss Leigh was, why would she want to act in another Williams drama, about a similarly troubled older woman? In The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Blanche duBois—I mean, Mrs. Stone—is a successful actress beloved by all but besieged by self-doubt and insecurity. When her husband dies, she flees to Rome, where she’s immediately preyed upon by a young gigolo, Warren Beatty, and his madam, Lotte Lenya.
“Young, young, young man…” Yes, we all remember Blanche’s dalliance with the newspaper collection boy in Scene Five. But to make an entire movie out of it? It’s a touch boring, a tad repetitious, and a little unoriginal. If you’re a die-hard Warren Beatty fan, you’ll probably excuse his very muddled accent because this was his first year of making movies – and because he looks so handsome. But he’s so untrustworthy and obviously un-caring, his good looks are hardly worth anything. It’s difficult to award sympathy to a rich widow who knows she’s being played by a gold-digging gigolo, but it’s even more difficult to award any warm feelings at all to the gigolo himself.
As a fun fact, this was Tennessee Williams’s favorite of all the film adaptations of his plays. So, if you like him and want to see his dream realized, you can rent it. If you were hoping to see a good movie, you can skip it.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Vivien Leigh movies here!