Customer Reviews

Period of Adjustment [VHS]

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
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I saw this film about 25 years ago and remembered it as being special. Having just seen it again, I can say it has aged well and is one of those low-key movies that does not seem to get the attention it deserves. Adapted from a play, it is stagey and very verbal, of course, but Tennessee Williams deals with many still relevant aspects of relationships in a very entertaining way. Had male and female insecurities been portrayed in such a way before? It is a funny, as well as moving, film with all four main characters showing, at times, fighting spirit and vulnerability. It's not surprising that the director went on to make some classics

A Comedy by Tennessee Williams? Yes, this one happened during Kennedy's Camelot era, and is quite demurely virginal.....

Oh, yes indeed! Lois Nettleton and Anthony Franciosa are the sounding-board for newlyweds Jane Fonda and Jim Hutton. He had to get this "black Cadillac ex-hearse" for their transportation needs; she is having "consumation" afterthoughts, the older wedded couple look on and advise......

A young Miss Fonda holds her own admirably against the older vets - shades of the later "Barefoot in the Park"!

Show in black and white with expert direction by George Roy Hill - a rare, vintage treat "the way we were".

...by Tennessee Williams?!!! Yes, engaging, witty, insightful, Williams not only understood the basest of human frailty, but he also understood the ridiculously funny side of human nature as well. This adaptation of his Broadway play is amusing from beginning to end, and the ensemble cast plays really well together.

Tony Franciosa gives the outstanding performance here as a Korean war hero who married for money and unexpectedly fell in love with his wife. Lois Nettleton is said wife, who, though once homely and awkward, has turned into a good-looking, warm, and mostly understanding wife. Jim Hutton is a very confused Korean war veteran with the shakes, who may or may not be a virgin on his wedding night, and is terrified of failing his bride (Jane Fonda) as a he-man, uber-male lover. Jane Fonda channels Marilyn Monroe better than Marilyn ever did as the bride who would like to be gentle and understanding with her bridegroom if only he would stop YELLING at her. The supporting cast of Mabel Albertson, John Macgyver, Jack Albertson, and the hilariously and progressively drunken Christmas carolers make this a romantic Christmas comedy in which everything turns out all right. And that is what we want at Christmastime after all, isn't it?

There are some people who start running for the doors after hearing a few Tennessee Williams' zingers (e.g., "there's only one angel in Glorious Hill. Her body is stone and her blood is mineral water" ["Summer & Smoke"], or "the violets in the mountains have broken the rocks!" ["Camino Real"]). They, probably, won't be able to take this movie. Yet it's really some twisted Christmas fun. For even though "Period of Adjustment" was produced during the Camelot years, as mentioned above (or elsewhere on this message board), the real pressure of an ending relationship between Tenn Williams and Frank Merlo exerts a negative, darker side to this light piece.

I like to think of this play as anticipating some of the fine, light Neil Simon work coming out a few years later. Tenn is testing his skill at telling jokes about gender roles, expectations, and desires. Much in the criticism of the play concentrates on the alternate title "High Point Over a Cavern" as a bleak view of human aspirations. True, though the point may just be: "Which do you want to emphasize, the 'cavern' or the 'high point'?" Namely, are all relationships doomed to sink? Are we supposed to rejoice in the "high point" while it still exists? What about the idea of men's expectations about themselves? Can a genteel nurse like Isabel allow George to be an aggressive and sexually uninhibited husband, rather than a timid, ill boy buzzing for her attention? What's up with Ralph not wanting his boy to be a sissy, similar to Williams' first published play, "Moonie's Kid Don't Cry"?

This screenplay brings up many questions about sex, money, gender roles and communication between the sexes. I agree with those who point out how well it has held up, even though a prescription for Viagra may have cleared up some portion of George and Isabel's problem, today.

Merry Christmas from Tennessee Williams: Life's not all bad, especially if we can communicate with each other as we slide downhill together. [Not my favorite Christmas message, mind you, but one that Williams decided to share with us. And I'm glad he did. His next play, "The Night of the Iguana," will put aside many of the lighter aspects of this slight, but delightful play and film.]

PS: Two more things: Yes, Williams and Merlo ended their 12-or-so-year relationship shortly after the play's Broadway opening, although Williams rejoined Merlo for the month before Merlo's 1963 death of lung cancer. The year-or-so separation before Frank's death, possibly, left Tennessee Williams even more guilt-ridden & distraught than if they'd never broken up.

The other thing, I think the potential for physical comedy, combined with a slight reshaping of the script to a more modern Memphis, might make "A Period of Adjustment" a great Christmas comedy for someone like Resse Witherspoon as Isabel.

Pure comedy! My husband and I could not stop laughing!!! We could relate to it!!

This movie is always a surprise--imagine a comedy by Tennessee Williams!! But it is a delightful romp with newlyweds and seasoned couple relating (and not). It is well-written, well-acted and such fun. If you love old Jane Fonda movies and the acting talents of Jim Hutton, Tony Franciosa and Lois Nettleton, this is the one. Just one question, where's the DVD?

Although the basis for this motion picture is renowned dramatist Tennessee Williams 1960 play, I believe the motion picture adaption by screenwriter Isobel Lennart to be the better of the two. The four main characters are more fully rounded, developed and engaging, so of course the viewer cares more about them. Ms. Lennart's touch is a little surer; the comedy more deft than Mr. Williams who only ventured into light comedy this one time to my knowledge, and it is she who provides the twinkle here.

The title refers to a "period of adjustment" in two young couples married lives. Isabel and George Haverstick (played by Jane Fonda and Jim Hutton) are newlyweds, married after a brief whirlwind courtship, dismayed to discover they really don't know much about each other, or their sensibilities, and as such have been unable to consummate their marriage during their disastrous honeymoon. George's best friend from the Air Force, Ralph Bates, (Tony Franciosa) has been married to his wife Dottie (Lois Nettleton) for six years and has a little boy, but the stress and frustration of working for his boorish, blustering father-in-law has brought him to the breaking point. He quits his job on Christmas Eve without letting Dottie know, in her hurt and anger she winds up leaving him, staying with her father & nouveau riche, pretentious mother. George, tense, sexually frustrated, with a mysterious tremor of his hands that appears in times of stress or crisis, drives the overwrought, romantically disillusioned Isabel to Ralph's house on Christmas Eve. He hopes to interest him in a pie in the sky business opportunity, but really is there more for Ralph's advice as the older more experienced married man. However, as mentioned above Ralph has plenty marital problems of his own. Sounds more like a recipe for a Tennessee Williams drama than a romantic comedy, doesn't it?

Yet, although the subject matter is serious, (and for the early 1960's rather bold, I'm not sure if impotence and male performance anxiety were ever explored in a romantic comedy before), Ms. Lennart does leaven it with lighthearted humor ranging from moments of wit to broad slapstick. Although both couples are going through a rough patch in their marriages, the situation is never desperate or without hope. The fact that most of the film takes place on Christmas Eve, the season of miracles, reassures the viewer that all will be resolved happily in the end. A holiday glow diffuses the screen, even though it is shot in black and white not color. Despite the tension, there is a warm and tender atmosphere in the Bates home; the twinkling Christmas tree with the little boy's presents beneath, and the cozily flickering fireplace with the banner "Merry Christmas" strung along the mantle, the lighting soft and gentle. The art and set direction by George W. Davis is so good in fact that it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for 1962,the only Oscar nomination unfortunately received.

Jane Fonda once said in an interview this was the first time she felt relaxed and at ease in a film, and came to the realization that movies were for her. This comes through in her performance, the best she had given so far in the 4th of her film roles as she begins to blossom into the charming light comedienne that would later shine in "Sunday in New York", "Cat Ballou" and especially "Barefoot in the Park". She is both wryly comic and endearing as the naive, sheltered young bride, who finds the harsh reality far removed from the storybook marriage she probably has dreamed of as a young girl. Her Southern accent is nicely handled, not too syrupy, and it never slips away from her.

Ralph Bates, serving as counselor, mediator and sometimes referee to the battling Haversticks, while trying making sense of his own troubled marriage is very warmly played by Tony Franciosa. He brings out Ralph's humanity, a truly "nice guy", who takes a genuine interest in people, sees issues clearly, and tries to help them resolve their problems. He instantly befriends the heartsick, forlorn Isabel, and tactfully tries to make the stubborn George see that no man is a Superman, that a real man can admit and address doubts and fears, particularly an inexperienced newlywed. Mr. Franciosa is not sanctimonious however, he shows Ralph's flaws, and the underlying pain and bewilderment he feels at the collapse of his marriage.

In portraying Dottie Bates, Lois Nettleton brings a poignant dignity to this young woman whose insecurity as a former "homely girl", (she is quite attractive now) comes back to haunt her and causes her to make a hastily considered decision to end her marriage. Ms. Nettleton lets you see the regression from the loving, self assured person she is when we first meet her in her own home to the tentative, self doubting daughter who has retreated back to her parents home.

Jim Hutton has a tough job to make the callow George Haverstick full of empty bravado likeable, particularly in the early part of the movie when he is so insensitive to his young bride. But as the story unwinds, Hutton gives hints of the doubts that are underneath the macho exterior, also his inexperience (if he's not a virgin, he's not far removed) and fear of not living up to an unrealistic image of a "superman" lover that brings on his "shakes". In the final scene, as Isabel and he in nightclothes are nervously perched on opposite sides of the pullout sofa bed, the viewer is rooting for him as he haltingly admits the truth to the understanding, reassuring Isabel.

A quick word about three supporting performers: John McGiver who usually portrays upper class characters as in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "The Manchurian Candidate" gets a nice change of pace as the lower class Stuart McGill, Dottie's father, who delightfully mangles his grammar. As Dottie's obnoxious mother who fancies herself as a Southern aristocrat, Mabel Albertson starts her mother from hell series that would later be on television in "Bewitched" and "That Girl." Her real life brother Jack Albertson gives a nice cameo as the genial police sergeant truly bewildered by the McGills attempts to charge Ralph with "attempted embezzlement".

Finally kudos given to the director George Roy Hill, who had also directed the original Broadway play, for the superb transfer from stage to screen. This was his first film and he shows the skill and talent that would later be evidenced in such varied motion pictures as "The World of Henry Orient", "Hawaii" "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting"

Each year at Christmastime, Turner Classic Movies runs this film at least once, I never miss it, and it has become one of my favorite Christmas films. Now, it's long overdue to bring it out on DVD with ideally a commentary by Ms. Fonda, the only major contributor still alive, the rest of the cast, George Roy Hill and Isabel Lennart are all sadly gone, but in this film their excellence lives on.

This is a very funny movie. I wish that it were available in DVD format.

Very enjoyable a fair amount of the way - Anthony Franciosa is especially good. It becomes too "cartoonish" for me, towards the end - with some awful dialog that makes your toes curl, and you pity the actors having do deliver some of the lines.