Toys in the Attic

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Toys in the Attic

Released Jul 31, 1963

1h 30m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

40%

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5 Reviews

53%

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100+ Ratings

Black sheep Julian Berniers (Dean Martin) returns home -- along with wife Lily (Yvette Mimieux) -- to his two sisters in New Orleans. Julian's shoe factory in Illinois has gone bankrupt, but he tells them he saved enough money to be comfortable. Julian's sister, Carrie (Geraldine Page), nurses a borderline incestuous affection for Julian and dislikes Lily. When Carrie overhears Julian revealing his money was swindled from Cyrus Warkins (Larry Gates), she convinces naive Lily to betray Julian.

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TIME Magazine

Hellman speaks her mind brilliantly but opens her heart rarely. When the moment requires feeling, she too often offers irony; when the theme invites tragedy, she resorts to melodrama.

Jul 22, 2013

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Variety Staff

Variety

Toys in the Attic is a somewhat watered-down version of Lillian Hellman's play, but enough of the original emotional savagery has been retained to satisfy those who prefer their melodramatic meat raw and chewy.

Mar 26, 2009

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Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Somebody out there in Hollywood has made even more of a wreck of Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic than was made of it on the stage. I would say the responsible party is the director, George Roy Hill.

Rated: 1.5/5

May 9, 2005

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TV Guide

Page was brilliant and Hiller, in a less showy role, was excellent.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 22, 2013

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Dean Martin is miscast in this adaptation of Lillian Hellman's stage play, directed by the young George Roy Hill.

Rated: C+

Mar 8, 2013

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Martin B

Don't understand why it didn't get stronger reviews. The subject matter not uplifting but the acting and plot development compelling in my view.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/12/25

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Alain E

Totally dated melodrama. For the dustbins. Very consistent though. Neither the characters, nor what they say, bear any resemblance to reality.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/08/25

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Jerry E

This film was a dated melodrama from the moment it was released. In addition, it’s pretty dull, despite the star quality of the female leads. George Duning’s continuous music is mostly annoying and seems to be trying to enliven the boredom of the plot. And Dean Martin is hopeless, a cliched impersonation of a character rather than a believable one. The only interest for me was the appearance of the superb English actor Wendy Hiller trying out a southern American accent.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/17/24

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Blu B

This is shot half decent and the music is also but aside from that it's pretty mediocre melodrama stuff honestly. The plot is very unfocused and alternates between uncovering where Julian got his money from and the inner turmoil of Julian's loved ones and never really makes it work together that well. The weird part is rather than showing the drama between the two characters at hand it is always shown through two other character interactions without the other being present which is really weird in the middle and just is very hard to follow. The women characters besides his fiance all blend in for the most part also. It's interesting and Hill's direction helps make the material watchable despite it not always being focused and a bit meandering. The ending is somewhat interesting also and that helps. Desite Julian being the main focus he really isn't in the majority of it even rather it being about his Mom and older sister who oddly get most of the screen time and just aren't that interesting and are always talking about Julian without him being there. This needed clearer supporting cast and scenes more focused on whose on screen which is a very odd problem. I can't really recommend this to anyone because even for Martin fans, he's not even in it that much. Skip It.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/01/23

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steve d

The cast do little with a decent script.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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ashley h

Toys in the Attic is a decent film. It is about a man returns to his New Orleans home with his new and naive bride. Dean Martin and Geraldine Page give okay performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. George Roy Hill did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the drama.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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George Roy Hill

Director

Dean Martin

Julian Berniers

Geraldine Page

Carrie Berniers

Yvette Mimieux

Lily Prine Berniers

Wendy Hiller

Anna Berniers

Gene Tierney

Albertine Prine

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Synopsis

Black sheep Julian Berniers (Dean Martin) returns home -- along with wife Lily (Yvette Mimieux) -- to his two sisters in New Orleans. Julian's shoe factory in Illinois has gone bankrupt, but he tells them he saved enough money to be comfortable. Julian's sister, Carrie (Geraldine Page), nurses a borderline incestuous affection for Julian and dislikes Lily. When Carrie overhears Julian revealing his money was swindled from Cyrus Warkins (Larry Gates), she convinces naive Lily to betray Julian.

Director: George Roy Hill
Producer: Walter Mirisch
Screenwriter: James Poe
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Mirisch Corporation
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 31, 1963, Original
Release Date (DVD): May 3, 2010
Runtime: 1h 30m

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