Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

Directed by Richard Brooks. Starring Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Ed Begley, Shirley Knight, Rip Torn, Mildred Dunnock, Madeleine Sherwood, Philip Abbott, Corey Allen.

Newman is Chance, a “drifter” (never called what he is—a gigolo) who returns to his hometown with aging film star Page in this film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, where both actors had originated the roles on stage. Writer/director Brooks, who previously helmed a different Williams film adaptation with Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), works well with his actors, encouraging several excellent portrayals, including Knight as a young woman who was once involved with Chance (ending with ugly consequences) and Begley as the town’s corrupt “boss” who won’t hesitate to smack around a woman or threaten his enemies with castration; he won an Academy Award. As in Cat, the main drawback lies in the writing, in no small part because of the filmmakers’ need to censor/alter some of the play’s more mature content. There had to have been a way to appease the moral code without tacking on a “happy ending,” though—a grievous error that very nearly spoils the broth. Remade into a TV-movie in 1989 with Mark Harmon and Elizabeth Taylor.

74/100