Sweet Bird of Youth

The acting is terrific. Gotta be the type of script that actors love because there are so many good scenes and rip-em-up speeches. Juicy roles galore. But. There's a glaring flaw in the concept, and it diminished (for me, anyway) what could have been a better movie.The flaw is that we're supposed to believe that Chance and Heavenly, who have fundamentally opposite views of what's important in life, spend 10 or more years pining away for each other, mostly apart. Williams ropes these characters together in order to propel the main conflict of the story, but there is no there there in their relationship other than the writer insisting that they be together. Chance is a vain, shallow and selfish man. A handsome skunk, but a skunk nonetheless. He's utterly blind and deaf to all the ways that Heavenly tries to tell him that what's important to him (fame, wealth, publicity, adulation of the masses) is not important to her. And yet she persists trying to persuade this guy who's so drunk on his own fumes of My Face Is My Ticket to Glory despite his knowing her so little over so many years.I get that Chance's looks are supposed to be mesmerizing and that we are watching Paul Newman inhabit this character, but come on. Chance's best asset (his looks) is actually the least important to Heavenly (proven by the ending of the movie). But we're supposed to believe that she hung on for this 100% narcissist for a decade or more.I would have believed a more compressed time frame for the light bulbs to go on for both Chance and Heavenly (like, say, 2 or 3 years instead of 10+), but that would blotto the "Chance's youth is faded" theme. So it would seem that in order to have the "not old, but no longer young" tragedy play out, we are also saddled with having to swallow two utterly mismatched characters remaining stupid and making bad choices long after their youth, which might have explained that stupidity, had passed.I guess I expected the fundamentals of the story to hold together better than they did, given that this originated from a Tennessee Williams play.And OBTW I was wondering about those shots in the opening sequence where Chance and Alexandra's car is on a road that runs between a coastline and miles of oil derricks. I grew up in Florida & never saw anything like that. But that was very much the look of several beach communities in mid-20th-century Los Angeles. Wouldn't you know, that's where the movie was shot according to IMDB.Final mystery -- why was Ed Begley's character spitting all the time? Was that supposed to reveal him for the uncouth piece of trash that he was despite his wealth & influence?

Tennessee Williams is arguably the greatest playwright that America has produced. A Southerner by birth, Williams' characters are larger than life, living human beings that jump off the page, fated to tragedy within a distinctly humid and oppressive atmosphere of fretting about the heat and retiring to the local bar to wonder where their next meal may be coming from. It seems that money and sex are their driving motivations in life and maybe Williams is not far wrong. 'Sweet Bird of Youth' is as a good a play as anything he ever wrote, and this film is more than just an outstanding record of it. Apart from the censorship problems encountered in having the play reach a wider audience, and the subsequent changes to the story, I think it can be safely said that 'Sweet Bird of Youth' loses very little of its impact in the translation, thanks to the performances and Richard Brooks' assured direction.1962 is a great year for ladies' lead performances in the movies, and Geraldine Page is terrific in the role she created on Broadway as Alexandra del Lago (aka Princess Cosmonopolis), a great star on the lam after making a comeback she is afraid may not have been successful. She is accompanied by Chance Wayne, (Paul Newman) a young gigolo who hopes that his intimacy with the lady will finally give him what he thinks are his just rewards in life. They stop off at Chance's hometown in Florida. However he is not welcome after leaving his girlfriend (would you believe 'Heavenly'?) in a bad condition and enraging her father and brother to the extent that they would like to see him out of their sight and their lives as soon as is humanly possible.Apart from Newman and Page who burn up the screen with some marvellous dialogue and situations, the supporting cast are also compelling, with Ed Begley chewing up the scenery as a fascist leader-of-the-people with a distinctly unnatural affection for his daughter Heavenly, played by Shirley Knight. Rip Torn plays her brother Boss Jr. as a bewildered adolescent who likes to tear the wings off flies when he has nothing better to do with his time. Madeleine Sherwood looks far sexier than she did in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as the girlfriend of the Boss, who gets an unexpected and painful present from him for talking too much about certain things he prefers to be kept a secret.Richard Brooks manages to keep all of this together somehow, with a brisk adaptation, in which the action doesn't seem to flag for a minute. The characters are unforgettable and the actors were very serious about their jobs, most (apart from Knight) having originated their roles on Broadway, the benefit of this being they knew them inside out and could probably perform them with their eyes closed. The DVD transfer is beautiful to look at in what seems to be the correct aspect ratio, and the sound for an older film seems reasonably free of the usual hiss and crackle which comes from using an older print that is in need of restoration.All in all I recommend 'Sweet Bird of Youth' to anyone who appreciates a good show with adult content, great acting and a provocative story wonderfully realised and presented.

My being from northeastern Ohio, has everything to do with me buying this on Amazon instant video. Paul Newman was born in Shaker Hts.May he rest in peace, a great actor and humanitarian, that being said, some of the best films of the late 1950's especially the ones with the bad boy or loner types, Paul Newman owned those parts- only Brando was also a contender ( no pun intended ) . Paul Newman sweated S-E-X in a clean cut 1950's way and he did justice to this part. Seeing him with the always regal Geraldine Page was like eating a big slice of cheesecake with strawberries AND ice-cream. I don't know why I waited so long to watch this, since I own a few Paul Newman movies on DVD. Oh well, save "one" of the best for last, I guess.Seeing Shirley Knight in the film was interesting, for me at least. I own a vhs tape YES vhs of a movie called "Little boy blue" it stars John Savage (The Deer Hunter) and a very young Ryan Phillipe. if you've never seen this film before check it out. Especially anyone whose a Shirley Knight fan, you're in for a big , yet pleasant surprise. The lady still had serious acting chops in the late 1990's. Sweet Bird of Youth is a wonderful film for a lazy summer afternoon or evening when there's nothing worth watching on t.v., good casting all around and the different taboo subjects the film briefly touched upon was well done.If you like Paul Newman and you've never seen this ( late like me !!? ) or you love it. click yes below on my review. Thank you.

I had just forgotten what an incredible playwright Tennessee William is. Also just how enigmatic Paul Newman is. In South Africa eurocentric writing no longer seems to have a place. We seem to be in the process of closing down bookshops. So watching this old film was like a breath of fresh air.

Husband loved this pressie.

Fast delivery and as described

vfm

The dvd is exactly as I wanted, on giving 4 stars as the sound is not too good.