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The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Play trailer Poster for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone Released Dec 28, 1961 1h 44m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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0% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 57% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Disheartened by suggestions that she is too old to for her role in a play, 50-year-old actress Karen Stone (Vivien Leigh) travels to Rome. After her husband dies on the plane, Karen rents an apartment and meets a conniving countess (Lotte Lenya) who introduces her to Paolo (Warren Beatty), a young Italian gigolo. Karen and Paolo begin a steamy affair, but the countess insists on paying for Paolo's services and ensures that the romance will not last long.
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The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Critics Reviews

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Kathi Maio Sojourner Not all the women who sleep with men young enough to be their sons die foi their sins, but most of them live to wish they had. Sep 11, 2019 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The disappointing pic is right in Vivian Leigh's wheel-house, as she inhabits her aging and fading beauty character to the fullest and gives a superb performance. Rated: C+ Apr 19, 2015 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com As the aging actress, Vivien Leigh is good but Warren Beatty is miscast as the gigolo in this weak screen adaptation of Tennessee William's novella. Rated: C+ Jun 17, 2011 Full Review Walter Chaw Film Freak Central The tagline says that they called it love and it was for sale, to which the appropriate response is that one hopes they kept the receipt. Rated: 1/4 Jun 20, 2006 Full Review Mark Bourne DVDJournal.com The prose is so purple and the tone so overripe that ... what wants to be mature, sensual romance-novel boilerplate becomes instead a plodding exercise in intriguingly cast camp. May 14, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ann S There's a reason why Tennessee Williams named his character Mrs. STONE. That's how she starts out, cool and in charge of her emotions and tricky social situations, seeing through the lies. And finally she melts and for a few brief moments, is happy. Don't expect a happy ending, this is Tennessee Wiliams, after all. And it's no accident that her true friend with the best advice is named Meg BISHOP. Leigh is pitch-perfect and although seeing Warren Beatty as an Italian is a bit of a stretch, the movie works. I stumbled upon it on TCM and there went a chunk of my afternoon. One plot hole, Mr. Williams. If a dodgy creep keeps following her and scaring her, why doesn't the wealthy Mrs. Stone hire a private detective? Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/04/25 Full Review MB B Lottery Lenya is the best thing in the movie. She is a creepy spider. Also enjoyed looking at Vivien Leigh's beautiful Balmain clothes and jewelry. Story is weird. Acting is overdramatic. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/10/25 Full Review Audience Member I was prompted to click on this out of TCM's monthly offerings by the intriguing casting combination. A mature but still quite lovely Vivien Leigh is portrayed here as a fading rose, but a lushly gowned and coiffured one, thrown among monsters in decadent Rome. A young Warren Beatty plays a Spanish version of himself; to paraphrase Carly Simon, he's so vain he thinks this movie is about him. Hard to tell whether his character [if you can call it that since I don't think he had to rehearse for a single scene] or the phony contessa who pimps him out is the story's biggest monster. This is hard to watch at times as the viewer makes one's self a willing witness to cruelty and greed. I'd rate it higher but I confess that I took off a star or two because it's so depressing. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review steve d The performances are far better than the story. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Terrible. Warren Beatty cannot act. Vivian Leigh is tragically at her lowest. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member not very believable by todays standards Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

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Cast & Crew

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José Quintero

Director

Vivien Leigh

Karen Stone

Warren Beatty

Paolo di Leo

Lotte Lenya

Contessa Magda Terribili-Gonzales

Coral Browne

Meg

Jill St. John

Barbara Bingham

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The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

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Movie Info

Synopsis Disheartened by suggestions that she is too old to for her role in a play, 50-year-old actress Karen Stone (Vivien Leigh) travels to Rome. After her husband dies on the plane, Karen rents an apartment and meets a conniving countess (Lotte Lenya) who introduces her to Paolo (Warren Beatty), a young Italian gigolo. Karen and Paolo begin a steamy affair, but the countess insists on paying for Paolo's services and ensures that the romance will not last long.
Director
José Quintero
Producer
Louis De Rochemont
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Seven Arts Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 28, 1961, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 44m
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