Monday 2 February 2009

The Glass Menagerie

Movie Review: The Glass Menagerie

Year of Release: 1973
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Anthony Harvey
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, Joanna Miles, Michael Moriarty

Plot outline: A son longs to escape from his stifling home, where his genteel mother worries about the future prospects of his lame, shy sister (IMDb).

Previously filmed in 1950, Tennessee Williams' 1944 Broadway hit The Glass Menagerie was remade for television in 1973. Katharine Hepburn is top-billed as Amanda Wingfield, a faded southern belle who lives on her memories in a Depression-era St. Louis tenement. Sam Waterston narrates the story as Amanda's idealistic son Tom, who'd give anything to escape his mother's fantasy world. Tom's withdrawn, clubfooted sister Laura, who maintains the glass menagerie of the title, is portrayed by Joanna Miles, while Michael Moriarity plays the Gentleman Caller, whose presence disrupts the fragile existence of the Wingfield family unit. The Glass Menagerie represented Katharine Hepburn's TV movie debut, the first of many well-publicized, highly-lauded small screen appearances for the veteran actress. (HE)

My judgement: *** out of 4 stars

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