particularly JoAnn Woodward.
Magnani was way too old for the part...(just don't buy she was pregnant.) She may have been a fascinating actress to watch (say 15 years earlier)...but she just did not fit the parameters.
The script, purposefully gritty, was almost "grab and bash" in it's concepts. Ugliness was thrown in stark shadows and light, with little redeeming action. There needed to be a balance...and it was all dull. The best writing is done subtly (like "Street Car named Desire") rather than slamming with black and white film noir, to get certain points across.
Marlon could sense it wasn't working....he did his best but just could find no reason for it to have any meaning. When his character died, nothing was felt by the audience. It was just one more loss, of characters no one felt any apathy for.
They were all selfish, grubby, static, useless human beings that no one really cared a thing about at the finish.
Even Maureen Stapleton couldn't save it...her character (supposedly the heart of the piece) just didn't appeal, even on a pitiful level. It was a wasted effort....something Tennessee Williams threw together to make money on his earlier successes.
Magnani was way too old for the part...(just don't buy she was pregnant.) She may have been a fascinating actress to watch (say 15 years earlier)...but she just did not fit the parameters.
The script, purposefully gritty, was almost "grab and bash" in it's concepts. Ugliness was thrown in stark shadows and light, with little redeeming action. There needed to be a balance...and it was all dull. The best writing is done subtly (like "Street Car named Desire") rather than slamming with black and white film noir, to get certain points across.
Marlon could sense it wasn't working....he did his best but just could find no reason for it to have any meaning. When his character died, nothing was felt by the audience. It was just one more loss, of characters no one felt any apathy for.
They were all selfish, grubby, static, useless human beings that no one really cared a thing about at the finish.
Even Maureen Stapleton couldn't save it...her character (supposedly the heart of the piece) just didn't appeal, even on a pitiful level. It was a wasted effort....something Tennessee Williams threw together to make money on his earlier successes.