Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Drifter Chance Wayne (Paul Newman) returns to his hometown after many years of trying to make it in the movies. Arriving with him is a faded film star he picked up along the way, Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page). While trying to get her help to make a screen test, he also finds the time to meet his former girlfriend Heavenly, the daughter of the local politician Tom 'Boss' Finley (Ed Begley), who more or less forced him to leave the town many years ago.
- Actors:
- Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley, Rip Torn, Mildred Dunnock, Madeleine Sherwood, Philip Abbott, Corey Allen, Barry Cahill, Dub Taylor, James Douglas, Barry Atwater, Charles Arnt, Dorothy Konrad
- Directors:
- Richard Brooks
- Producers:
- Pandro S. Berman
- Writers:
- Tennessee Williams, Richard Brooks
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 3, Elvis Presley on Screen, People of the Pictures
- Awards:
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Reviews (1) of Sweet Bird of Youth
Williams Classic. - Sweet Bird of Youth review by Steve
The role of film diva Alexandro Del Lago, seeking refuge from the reality of her lost youth, has become a favourite for female stars of a certain age. Geraldine Page played the 'princess' first on stage and screen and she's pretty definitive. It's a familiar Tennessee Williams persona, a vulnerable artist running away, and running out of time.
The princess is burning up on drugs and booze after her screen comeback ran aground on a disastrous close up. She finds herself serviced by an ambitious gigolo who aims to use her to break into Tinseltown; Paul Newman as the ominously named Chance Wayne! He takes her to his hometown where he has unfinished business with Heavenly (Shirley Knight), the daughter of a shady politician.
The best part of the film is the interplay between Page and Newman... two monsters who claw at each other in pursuit of sordid self interest. The lesser subplot concerns the schemes of the hypocritical, Trump-like Boss Finlay (Ed Begley) who corrupts everyone and everything. It's a cynical film about the American dream, its imperious winners and downtrodden victims.
Inevitably there were problems with the Production Code which undermined the ferocity of the message, but it's still surprisingly frank in places and its political and existential themes survive. It has a beautiful look too. It's not as intense as most Williams adaptations but there is characteristic poetry in the lines and Page and Newman make a volatile screen duo.