The Glass Menagerie

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Ken R The Glass menagerie – Crystal Thoughts Having never been a lover of Williams' writing have to admit this is the only title I regard with any true affection (maybe this has more to do with the adaption). Jayne Wyman is perfection as the shy club-footed daughter of suffocatingly controlling mother Amanda Wingfield (Gertrude Lawrence) – with Arthur Kennedy doing some of his best work as her brother Tom (with a rough likeness to Williams) Kirk Douglas scores well in an early role, as the ‘gentleman caller', coming for dinner at the request of the brother (with much input from mother!) It's a tender and thoughtful musing on how, with the right words and actions, a brief meeting can bring new meaning to a sheltered life. It's a pity Williams' life took such a destructive course as more stories like this would have been welcome. This version may not please everyone but with sensitive direction by Irvine Rapper and sterling visual work by prolific cinematographer Robert Burks --they extract a broad spectrum of human emotions from the limited settings-- making this another of those neglected masterpieces from some of Hollywood's most effective years. It's odd that it appears to be a Warner Bros production but came to us through 20th Century Fox; - It's more than ready for a remastered DVD release... from whoever it actually belongs to. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/22 Full Review Audience Member I especially enjoyed the performances of Kennedy and Douglas. "Look how big my shadow is when I stretch", is the perfect line to describe Jim's personality. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member everyone here gave their best performance tho i knew, this might not be the best version of the play Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member The only film adaptation of the play with which Williams himself was involved, "The Glass Menagerie" plays the comedy unusually light, often sidestepping or de-escalating the moments of conflict and heartbreak, even going so far as to change the ending to make it more upbeat. What's surprising is how much of it works. Arthur Kennedy gives an expert performance as Tom, and the whole cast is solid (even if Kirk Douglas feels a bit miscast--he lobbied for the role in an effort to change his image, and he does fine work, but is strangely unconvincing as the gentleman caller). Williams', co-writer Peter Berneis', and director Irving Rapper's choices to expand the story beyond the confines of the Wingfield's home make for an interesting, if uneven, experiment (and it's interesting to note that Williams originally pitched the story as a film before losing his studio job and writing it as a play); the reaction shots of Gertrude Lawrence's Amanda, in particular, are a pretty glaring misstep, and, except for a brief argument with his boss, Tom is unusually amiable and cheerful in most of his scene at the warehouse that is supposed to make him envy dead people. Still, the performances are good, and, while Rapper never really makes his "Menagerie" cohesive, there are more than merely sporadic flashes of the beauty and bittersweetness and vulnerability that have made the play one of the classics of the American stage. Essential for fans of the title and playwright, and an interesting and mostly very engaging piece of film history for anyone else. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member 4.5/5 Nice adaptation. Love the change/addition at the end Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member it's a great, amazing, very personal play Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Glass Menagerie

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