Customer Reviews

Summer & Smoke [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are a lot of things you can say about this film, but foremost must be the performance of Geraldine Page, perhaps the finest female performance ever captured on film. Her use of her hands, a glance...every nuance imaginable has not been matched (a close second: Giulietta Massina). Alma is a lot more complicated than most realize, a repressed rage, hopeless love, culminating in a dependance on drugs (not brought out so much in the film); "those little white tablets...ever so merciful..." After an Oscar nomination in 1953 for "Hondo", Page was subjected to ugliness by the McCarthy nonsense, and "S&S" was only her second film. English director Peter Glenville, famous for attention to detail ("Becket"), worked with fellow Brit, Laurence Harvey (a southerner by association since he played Travis in "The Alamo"), and it was actually a fine group of talent. Tennessee Williams always thought this was his best play; he re-wrote it as "Eccenticities of a Nightingale", but the new idea, though admired, never survived. It made more reference to Alma's addiction, and also referred to all 4 women as caged birds, escaping in different directions. I applaud anyone who takes the time to soak in all the nuance that Williams has to offer, the mood and delivery of Glenville, and the unflinching perfection of Page's performance. Taking this all at once is quite overwhelming. AFTERTHOUGHT: I failed to mention the power of Jerry Goldsmith's magnificent music. Along with his score to "To Kill a Mockingbird", these films were both transcended to a place complete understanding. Oops, I meant composer Elmer Bernstein; one of his best scores. HALLELUJAH! The DVD is very fine, a great 2.35 widescreen, and terrific sound quality. Page's last 20 minutes will blow anyone away. Alas, no DVD extras.

This Panavision and color adaptation of Tennessee Williams' most poetic play is a showcase for both his words and Geraldine Page's Oscar-nominated performance. Spirituality vs. carnality is the theme of a spinster romantically attracted to her childhood neighbor, a wild libertine. Elmer Bernstein's score is magnificant - one of his finest and one of the finest in film history. Listen during Alma's soul-searing final monologue using images of ice and fire and listen to Bernstein's use of harp glissandos that reflect the words. This is Page's finest screen performance and along with the score and the writing are the main reasons for viewing. The prologue and main title are letterboxed - showing the fine use of wide screen. Nominations were also received for Una Merkel's supporting performance as the dotty mother, Bernstein's score and the period Art Direction. Well worth a visit.

It's THAT final scene that always grabs ya, poor Alma, little desolate sitting there, next to that grotesque stone angel, a bit like Blanche, waiting for that Gentleman Caller, getting by with a little help from her friends, and that ODD, bittersweet conclusion.....

Underrated performances, underrated movie, pre-David Lynch territory, almost Ray Bradbury country, weird, Wonderful Tennessee Williams! Geraldine Page assaults your senses as the repressed, tightly-encorseted spinster masking a volcano of passion - just under the veil! A product of affuent early 20th century domestic repression she pines for the affection of neighborhood hunk Harvey M.D., but to no avail. He has been "taken" by a much younger rival [another devastating scene with Page and Pamela Tiffin as the "bride to be"].

There's plenty a-foot, spot-on performances by Una Merkel as the ever-eccentric mother, and Rita Moreno as the passionate, doomed Rosa BUT its those last moments with Alma [Page] and the salesman [Mr. Goodbar, Ragtime style? - Earl Holliman] in the park, alone, late at night ....that sobers!

Thank God for the wonders of Ms. Geraldine Page. If it weren't for her, I doubt that the film would have the same effect. A tragedy unfolds and Ms. Page gives us all emotional aspects of the character she portrays. It is hard to believe that she is not Alma (the character she plays) because her sense of reality in the film is so strong. A lesson for all actors -- she has obviously done her homework -- she is concentrated and resonates with that human pain that exists within all of us. I sorely miss her. I remember seeing this film as a child in the theater and young as I was, I knew I was watching someone extraordinary. We would have sorely lost out without her.

Tennessee Williams did another great job with "Summer and Smoke" and the memorable phrases that he came up with will stick with you forever. Just listen for Miss Alma (Geraldine Page) when she says "I could spread out my life like a rug for you to step on, and you'd still step on it, and never say thank you, Alma."

If you delight in great dialogue and superb acting, this is a movie you just HAVE to get!

Geraldine Page makes you rewind that VCR SO MANY TIMES that it is just the limit! I am a huge fan of hers and this was a new movie to me. I couldn't believe it at all - hers was a talent that will never be matched again.

See this movie and you won't be disappointed - it will be one of those shows that you watch over and over again to catch all the nuances that you couldn't catch in prior viewings. LOVED IT AND YOU WILL TOO!

I cannot get through a summer without seeing this fine film. For me,it captures the sad brevity of summer and the classic melancholy of Tennessee Williams. Paige's performance is a treasure; Harvey's equally memorable. Bernstein's score frames the story perfectly. This movie is an underrated masterpiece. Why it has not been released on DVD is, indeed, baffling to me.

I collect nostalgia, ....and this is a prize! What acting...You just can't find good actimg like this these days....those days are gone.Thank goodness for modern tecnology we can still see the likes of Bette Davis, Geraldine Page, (When did she die?)edward G. Robinson, etc. Anyway,my sister and I watch these films and really yearn for the old days. Laurence Harvey was a dreamboat,and I loved his accent. This tape is to be viewed on a rainy afternoon, while enjoying a favorite cup of tea..........Sandee .

The finest actress ever to live, Geraldine Page recreates her broadway role as the spinster Alma, who lives with her parents to care for her ill mother{Una Merkel, in a brilliant performance]. She has fallen in love with the boy next door, John Buchanan [Laurence Harvey]. When John returns after being away she tries to win his love, but he falls in love with the town vamp [Rita Moreno]. Alma tries to be everything that John wants and in the end they both get swallowed up in each others desires. Geraldine Page was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance and should have won. If for nothing else one should see this film to see a real actress at work.
4 1961 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS:
BEST ACTRESS-GERALDINE PAGE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS-UNA MERKEL
BEST ART DIRECTION[COLOR]
BEST SCORE

Tennessee Williams is once again settling his accounts with parents and the South. One daughter is encaged by her preaching father into absolutele spinstery. One son escapes the cage of duty and dedication his father tries to impose onto him. Another daughter manages to escape the cage her mother opens up one day in a well-advised moment of inspiration. And a final daughter is nothing but the tool of her father's ambition to conquer the rich world even if it takes a gunshot to do so. The first daughter is also haunted by her mother's getting crazy at seeing the locked cage in which her husband has locked her daughter up. And this is supposed to represent that noble and genteel South that is so lovable and yet so cruel. But Tennessee Williams goes a little farther in this film by showing how people can change, but they change in exactly opposite directions. They cannot meet at first because the young man is not a gentleman and the young woman is a lady. But they can't meet later on because the young man has discovered his soul and asks the young woman to remain a lady, whereas she has finally understood that the soul is not all that counts and she would like the young man not to be the gentleman he has become and still to be the animal he used to. No way out, except an elopement. The younger generation always finds their ways out of all those cages even if at times it is hard, painful and even fatal or lethal. This delicate mental and corporal torture is the trademark of this Tennessee Williams that reaches universality, if not eternity. And the South becomes a showcase of mankind and is redeemed in such a process. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

OK...OK...here I go again on the peerless Miss Page...this one will be quite succinct...
SHE IS MAGNIFICENT! RENT IT! BUY IT! DON'T MISS IT!
...where is the DVD?