Sweet Bird of Youth (1962 film)

Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1962 drama film starring Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Madeleine Sherwood, Ed Begley, Rip Torn and Mildred Dunnock. Based on the 1959 play of the same name by Tennessee Williams, it focuses on the relationship between a drifter and a faded movie star. The film was adapted and directed by Richard Brooks.[1][2][3]

This article is about the 1962 theatrical film. For the 1989 TV film, see Sweet Bird of Youth (1989 film).
Sweet Bird of Youth
original movie poster
Directed byRichard Brooks
Produced byPandro S. Berman
Written byRichard Brooks
Starring
CinematographyMilton Krasner
Edited byHenry Berman
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • March 21, 1962 (1962-03-21)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,000,000
Box office$7,550,000

The film won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ed Begley), and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Geraldine Page) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Shirley Knight). The film version was sanitized, with Chance becoming a drifter rather than a gigolo for hire, and no mention of Heavenly Finley's operation and resulting infertility. The ending was also heavily altered from the explicit sexual mutilation scene depicted in the conclusion of the original stage version.

Plot

Handsome, young Chance Wayne returns to his hometown of St. Cloud, Mississippi accompanied by a considerably older film star, Alexandra Del Lago. She is needy and depressed, particularly about a film she has just finished making, and speaks of retiring from the acting world forever.

Chance had gone to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune at the behest of St. Cloud's most powerful and influential citizen, "Boss" Finley, either too naive or unwilling to appreciate that Finley merely wants Chance, a waiter from the country club, to keep away from his beautiful daughter, Heavenly.

A political kingpin, Finley enjoys putting Heavenly on display as a model of purity and chastity. His ruthless son, Tom Jr., aids his father's ambitions in any way he can. He, too, is unhappy to have Chance Wayne back in town.

Desperate to have Alexandra further his fantasy of becoming a star, Chance has become her lover. He goes so far as to blackmail her with a tape recording, on which she speaks openly of a dependence on drugs. Alexandra defies him, becoming irate at the realization that Chance's romantic interests in Heavenly are more important to him than her own needs.

Just when Alexandra is at her most vulnerable, a call comes from Hollywood to notify her that the new movie she's just made appears to be a certain success, reviving her career. In a scene with Finley, Chance is shown being muscled off the screen by Finley's henchmen for purposes of either being roughed up or castrated. Meanwhile, Finley's discarded mistress, Miss Lucy, exposes Finley's underhanded tactics to the government authorities. Chance, with nowhere else to turn and still on his own two feet, persuades Heavenly to leave town with him.[4] Able now to face the truth about himself, Chance and Heavenly reconcile and leave town together, leaving her father to face indictment.

Cast

Development

The film was adapted and directed by Richard Brooks.[1][2][3] The adaptation of the original play by Tennessee Williams went through several drafts with emphasis on how to film the controversial ending in which Williams originally called for the castration of Chance's character as portrayed by Newman.[5] The depiction of castration was cut from the film and filmed as an ambiguous portrayal of Chance being muscled off the screen by Finley's henchmen for purposes of either being roughed up or castrated as originally written into the play. The roughhouse implied to take place off-screen was offset in the film by a closing scene depicting an ambulatory portrayal of Chance on his feet and preparing to leave town apparently not scarred in any appreciable way by the scene near the end of the film depicting Finley's henchmen taking bodily control of Chance.[5]

Reception

The film was a hit, making almost $8,000,000 on a $2,000,000 budget.

The film also was one of Roger Ebert's top films of the decade, and held a score of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes based on a total of 18 surveyed critics.[6]

Awards and nominations
Award Category Nominee(s) Result
Academy Awards[7] Best Actress Geraldine Page Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Ed Begley Won
Best Supporting Actress Shirley Knight Nominated
British Academy Film Awards[8] Best Foreign Actress Geraldine Page Nominated
David di Donatello Awards Best Foreign Actress Won
Golden Globe Awards[9] Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Paul Newman Nominated
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Geraldine Page Won
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Ed Begley Nominated
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Shirley Knight Nominated
Laurel Awards Top Male Supporting Performance Ed Begley Nominated
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See also

References
  1. Variety film review; February 28, 1962, page 6.
  2. Harrison's Reports film review; March 10, 1962, page 34.
  3. OCLC 317647354
  4. TCM film review of Sweet Bird of Youth. .
  5. "Tragic play ending transformed into happier film version in "Sweet Bird of Youth"". sites.utexas.edu.
  6. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  7. "The 35th Academy Awards (1963) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  8. "BAFTA Film – Foreign Actress in 1963". bafta.org. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  9. "Winners & Nominees 1963 – Golden Globes". goldenglobes.com. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
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