It’s a simple question with a not so simple answer. Well, it’s a fairly simple question; why does arguably the greatest playwright of all time, Tennessee Williams, have the worst film adaptations of his works? As a fan of the theatre and film, I often find myself fighting with this predicament. I declare often that Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the greatest play adaptation of all time. I believe this is chiefly down to one thing; it didn’t alter the script, bar the few sparse cuts for running time purposes. Edward Albee, the playwright of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? only really had two issues with the film; the casting of Taylor and Burton, where he would have preferred James Mason and Bette Davis (not that he thought Taylor and Burton were bad, in fact he thought the film was Taylor’s finest work). Although he also had an issue with the use of score in the film. But that’s an essay for another day.
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Back to Williams. For those who don’t know much of the glorious cannon of the playwright, Tennessee Williams was oft described as the greatest playwright of his era (amongst the likes of Arthur Miller and Albee), before nowadays being referred to as certainly one of the greatest American authors of all time, and even perhaps one of the greatest authors, full stop, of all time. So why does he have the worst film adaptations? What gripes me most about this whole situation, is the reasons why these adaptations are largely terrible. For it is not a matter of creative turmoil or an issue of performance or direction, it is solely an issue of censorship. Williams works all dealt with heady and usually hedonistic themes such as sexuality, rape, homosexuality (rather taboo in his time), violence and addiction in most of its forms. This unfortunately led to most of his adaptations being wholly diluted, or as I prefer to say, butchered. Let’s look at a few examples, in no particular order. Noting that I will contradict myself a few times along this list and direct you towards adaptations (mostly not cinematic), that do complete justice for these works. I’ve chose what I see as Williams five best works and the adaptations that those works have received.
THE GLASS MENAGERIE
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A beautiful memory play where Williams portrayed a semi-autobiographical presentation of his early home life, through the Wingfields. Tom Wingfield narrates the story of an attempt of his mother Amanda to get his sister/Amanda's daughter, Laura, a suitable suitor.
1950 Adaptation for film (feat. Jane Wyman & Kirk Douglas)
An unfortunately weak film with a rather brilliant cast. Wyman shines as Laura, but the adaptation suffers, offering a happy ending rather than the beautifully poetic tragedy of the original plays climax.
1973 Adaptation for film (feat. Katherine Hepburn & Sam Waterston)
Through doing away with the narration and monologues of Tom, we do lose a lot of Williams intention with the piece and thus the film sufferers. Waterston is rather good as Tom, but this adaptation is worth a watch alone for the always brilliant Katherine Hepburn as Amanda. A half of a good adaptation here.
WHAT TO WATCH...
A sublime piece of work. Made for TV, this word for word adaptation directed by Paul Newman brings all the brilliance of the piece directly to the screen. Woodward, Allen and Malkovich are all similarly sublime in their roles and the film perfectly judges the works humour, drama, romance and tragedy and offers all of them in heart doses. This is really one of Williams most quiet works and Newman and Woodward make us lean in to listen, rather than be taken aback by overindulgent performances or directing. Newman is pure in his direction, giving himself one job, to put Williams work on screen without losing any of its power – Newman certainly succeeds.
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
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Maybe Williams' best play, the sexual tension in the marriage of Brick and Maggie comes to a head at Bricks father, Big Daddy's, birthday. But the deep secrets of Big Daddy’s cancer and Brick's homosexuality lead to the night being one of both pain and passion.
1958 Adaptation for film (feat. Elizebeth Taylor, Paul Newman & Burl Ives)
This is what annoys me most about all of these butcherings. It is most importantly a waste of the great talent that made the roles famous originally. Such an example is here in 1958, although Ben Gazzara originated the role of Brick, Paul Newman solidified the role as one of the finest male characters in the theatre. Taylor and Newman are both great in the film, as is Burl Ives. Taylor, so sultry and pained as Maggie and Newman so worn and pained as Brick, with Ives offering the oafish nature of Big daddy underpinned with sentiment. But the film is a complete bastardisation of the finest works ever put to a page. Williams famously commented that “the film would take the cinema back a 100 years”. In removing all allusion to homosexuality the film does the equivalent of removing the shark from Jaws. The film is a true travesty in my eyes and more importantly it makes Williams dull, a seemingly impossible task.
1976 Adaptation for TV (feat. Laurence Olivier, Natalie Wood & Robert Wagner)
Real life couple Wagner and Wood play Brick and Maggie under Laurence Olivier as Big Daddy. Wood is the standout here, really quite good as Maggie, Olivier is similarly fine as Big Daddy. It does feel rather odd referring to an Olivier performance as “fine”, but such is the case here. Wagner however is terrible, stilted and ungodly wooden. The trash of Wagner unfortunately holds this TV adaptation back severely, as-well as many large cuts to the script leading to many key elements disappearing. Feels more like a brief synopsis of a larger plot, which in a way it is.
WHAT TO WATCH...
1984 Adaptation for TV (feat. Rip Torn, Jessica Lange & Tommy Lee Jones)Director: Jack Hofsiss
Much like the The Glass Menagerie's 1987 adaptation, this TV presentation sticks to the script and prevails because of it. With Torn, Lange and Jones doing some of the best work that I’ve seen them all do. The adaptation actually uses the current version of the script with added “f-bombs” as per Williams original unfulfilled wishes. The sex is so present with Lange and Jones and the words are delivered like the poetry that they are. Everything lands, just sublime.
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER
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A performer of lobotomies is brought to the house of an old matron who has dismissed her nieces declaration of her sons homosexuality as pure madness.
WHAT TO WATCH...
1959 Adaptation for film (feat. Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn & Montgomery
Clift)
Both adaptations here are wonderful in different ways and both deserve watching. This 1959 black and white film delivers more so in the world of the visual, with its superb borderline experimental direction and big budget sequences, never detracting from the central plot, instead always serving it. Hepburn, Taylor and Clift are all great in their roles and offer us the play with a more stage-like theatrically than we get in our next recommendation.
WATCH THIS TOO...
1993 Adaptation for TV (feat. Maggie Smith, Rob Lowe, Natasha Richardson & Richard
E Grant)
Here the focus is on realism and the mostly British cast bring a humanity to one of Williams' most absurdist and horrifying works. Smith and Richardson are the standouts here, both outdoing their earlier counterparts. The human horror is the chief aspect of this flawless adaptation. A very unsettling must watch.
SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH
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*SPOILERS* Albeit not his greatest work, this is my favourite Williams play. Chance Wayne, a male gigolo and struggling actor, returns to his home town with a fading star Alexandra DeLargo. His goal being to be reunited with his true love, Heavenly. The play is sexy, sleazy, tragic and dirty. Chance learns he led to Heavenly having a hysterectomy, is castrated and left to die after Alexandra leaves him.
UNFORTUNATLEY THOUGH, NOTHING WORTH WATCHING...
1962 Adaptation for film (feat. Geraldine Page, Paul Newman & Rip Torn)
Reuniting the original stars of the original production, we unfortunately do not have a glorious immortalisation of that original production, instead we have a film diluted to no end, with glimpses of the film we should have had. Torn, Page and Newman are all excellent but the film is just so bland. The film completely ruins the piece by having Chance get with Heavenly and run away, following Chance getting hit by a cane once. Chance is not a hero! An unfortunate disappointment.
1989 Adaptation for TV (feat. Mark Harmon, Elizebeth Taylor & Rip Torn)Director: Nic Roeg
A very odd beast indeed. The film is directed by one of our finest directors Nicholas Roeg and has all the sex of the original, even some more. But leaves the script behind, adding terrible scenes of the writers own creation. Leading ultimately to the ending (which is unaltered) to feel completely out of place. Harmon works well as Chance, but feels a touch too old. Taylor is great as always, but we have seen her much better.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
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Blanche Du Bois moves in with her sister Stella and is caught in a triangle of fury, passion and torture with her new brother in law; Stanley. Often referred to as Williams best play, rightly so, it’s bloody perfect.
1984 Adaptation for TV (feat. Ann Margaret, Beverly DeAngelo & Treat Williams)
A lacklustre tv adaptation, with fine performances from Margaret and DeAngelo, but a truly bad offering from Treat Williams – even laughable in points. Wait a decade for the better TV adaptation.
WHAT TO WATCH...
1995 Adaptation for TV (feat. Jessica Lange, Alec Baldwin, John Goodman & Dianne Lane)
A truly tour de force presentation of the film. The most faithful adaptation we’ve ever had, again unfortunately for the TV, from the much acclaimed broadway production of the same time with the same cast. On a good day you may even catch me singing the praises of this more than the 1951 film. All involved are cast so perfectly it’s stunning, they all fill their roles effortlessly and Baldwin offers us the only other Stanley I’ll consider tops over Brando. Definitely worth a watch, unfortunately hindered by its TV budget and staging.
BUT THE BEST IS STILL THE ORIGINAL...
1951 Adaptation for film (feat. Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh & Karl Malden)Director: Elia Kazan
So around this point you are probably wondering what I think is the best adaptation of Williams work, well it’s probably the one you already know – A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). A piece of work so glorious that I have dedicated an entire article to it, appearing here next Tuesday. Albeit the film also falters with what it is allowed to present from the original text, the film is purely undeniable as a masterpiece and a more than fitting adaptation of Williams excellent original.
So, tune in next week for a complete review of that marvellous 1951 film, and always “depend on the kindness of strangers” – some of them might watch a Williams play with you, which is an offer nobody should refuse.
-Thomas Carruthers
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