This is the story of a dysfunctional southern family. The matriarch (Katharine Hepburn) is a bit deluded, a bit pushy and a bit too talkative--much like a reworking of Blanche Dubois from "A Streetcar Named Desire"--but without the sexual subtext. The daughter is completely incapable of dealing with life--possibly because her mother is such a dominant person, she's become completely ineffectual and meek. So, the more the mother bullies her into dating, the more it forces the unattractive daughter into her shell. As for the brother, he is a bit of a cypher--and seems angry at his mother but mostly avoids her.
It's funny, but the first time I saw this play and tonight when I watched this 1973 version, I couldn't help but think that the big unspoken secret in this film was that Tom was gay. It made perfect sense, as back when the play debuted, they couldn't talk about such things and often had to talked about it veiled in various euphemisms. So, when Tom disappears all the time and returns very, very late, although he says he's at the movies, I couldn't help but assume he was cruising for men. This is especially likely since the author, Tennessee Williams, was gay and homosexuality is the topic of several of his other plays (such as in "Suddenly Last Summer"). Seeing the film in this context makes it much more entertaining and gives it much greater depth--so when you watch the film, try looking at it from this point of view.
So is all this any good? Well, yes and no. Yes, the film is compelling and the characters and situations are interesting--and the acting is quite good. But the film (like many of the adaptations of Williams' plays) is high quality but unappealing at the same time---and the film may easily leave you depressed and drained. Well done overall but not exactly a bag of laughs! Just keep this in mind if you decide to watch--you need to have a pretty high tolerance for raw family dramas involving rather hopeless families.
It's funny, but the first time I saw this play and tonight when I watched this 1973 version, I couldn't help but think that the big unspoken secret in this film was that Tom was gay. It made perfect sense, as back when the play debuted, they couldn't talk about such things and often had to talked about it veiled in various euphemisms. So, when Tom disappears all the time and returns very, very late, although he says he's at the movies, I couldn't help but assume he was cruising for men. This is especially likely since the author, Tennessee Williams, was gay and homosexuality is the topic of several of his other plays (such as in "Suddenly Last Summer"). Seeing the film in this context makes it much more entertaining and gives it much greater depth--so when you watch the film, try looking at it from this point of view.
So is all this any good? Well, yes and no. Yes, the film is compelling and the characters and situations are interesting--and the acting is quite good. But the film (like many of the adaptations of Williams' plays) is high quality but unappealing at the same time---and the film may easily leave you depressed and drained. Well done overall but not exactly a bag of laughs! Just keep this in mind if you decide to watch--you need to have a pretty high tolerance for raw family dramas involving rather hopeless families.