Product ReviewsThe Fugitive Kind (Criterion Collection) (DVD) Canada USA

BATTLE OF ANGELS, ORPHEUS DESCENDING, THE FUGITIVE KIND

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. MIRIAM HOPKINS PERFORMED THE STARRING ROLE ON LIVE STAGE, IN WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL TITLE OF THIS MOVIE, BATTLE OF ANGELS IN 1941. THIS WAS THE FIRST PUBLICLY PRODUCED PLAY (IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS) BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. THIS FIRST STAGE PRODUCTION DID NOT MEET WITH ANY SUCCESS, AND WAS PLAGUED WITH PROBLEMS, ESPECIALLY THE FIRE SCENE AT THE END. THE THEATER ACTUALLY CAUGHT FIRE, AND THE AUDIENCE HAD TO FLEE FROM THE THEATER. LUCKILY, SUCH IS NOT THE CASE WITH MOVIES, AS THE SCENE CAN BE RESHOT IF THERE ARE PROBLEMS. THAT FIRST NIGHT'S PERFORMANCE IN BOSTON MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE A SPECTACLE! THE PLAY WAS LATER RETITLED ORPHEUS DESCENDING FOR THE 1950'S REVIVAL OF THE PLAY, AND FINALLY GIVEN THE TITLE, THE FUGITIVE KIND, FOR COMMERCIAL REASONS WHEN THE FILM VERSION WAS RELEASED IN 1959.
MIRIAM HOPKINS WAS CONSIDERED BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS ONE OF THE FINEST ACTRESSES AMERICA EVER PRODUCED. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS WROTE THIS IN HIS OFFICIAL OBITUARY THAT WAS RELEASED AT THE TIME OF MIRIAM HOPKINS DEATH IN THE EARLY 1970'S. SHE WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MR. WILLIAMS, AND WELCOMED THE CHANCE TO STAR IN HIS FIRST PRODUCED PLAY. THIS EARLY WORK OF MR. WILLIAMS, LED TO HIS LATER FAME WITH THE GLASS MENAGERIE AND A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE TO NAME ONLY A FEW OF HIS WORKS. LATER, IN 1959 WHEN THE PLAY WAS MADE INTO A MOVIE AND RELEASED IN 1960, ANNA MAGNANI MET THE CHALLANGE EQUALLY WELL, AS HAD BEEN THE CASE WITH MIRIAM HOPKINS IN THE ORIGINAL STAGE VERSION 19 YEARS EARLIER.
THE STORY IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPELLING EVER WRITTEN BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, BUT UNFORTUNATELY ONE OF THE LEAST KNOWN TO THE MOVIE GOING PUBLIC. THE STORY DEALS WITH LONELINESS AND FEELING SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD AROUND US. ODDLY, THIS IS THE ONLY PLAY IN WHIICH TENNESSEE WILLIAMS ACTUALLY DEALS WITH RACISM IN THE SOUTH. IF YOU LIKE THE WORKS OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, WHO WAS REFERRED TO AS THE POET OF THE EMOTIONS, AND HAVE NOT SEEN THIS FILM, YOU WILL INDEED EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE GREAT SOUTHERN WRITERS AND POSSIBLY AMERICA'S GREATEST PLAYWRIGHT.

REVIEWERS OF THIS FILM ALWAYS MENTION THE MAGNIFICENT PERFORMANCES OF BRANDO, MAGNANI, JOANNE WOODWARD AND MAUREEN STAPLETON, AND ARE CORRECT IN DOING SO, BUT THE ROLE PLAYED BY VICTOR JORY AS THE AILING HUSBAND OF MAGNANI WILL LONG REMAIN IN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS, POSSIBLY MORE SO THAN THE PRINCIPLE PLAYERS. THE NATURE OF EVIL THAT CAN DWELL IN THE HUMAN PSYCHE, HAS RARELY BEEN PERFORMED SO CONVINCINGLY AS VICTOR JORY'S PERFORMANCE IN THIS FILM.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED VIEWING FOR THOSE WHO CAN APPRECIATE THE THE HARSHER REALITIES OF LIFE. THIS DVD SET HAS A VERY CLEAR PRINT, AND AN EXCELLENT COMMENTARY BY SIDNEY LUMET, AND ALSO THREE SHORT PLAYS FROM EARLY 1950'S TELEVISION INTRODUCED BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. ALSO INCLUDED ARE COMMENTS BY NOVELISTS WHO HAVE RECENTLY PUBLISHED TENNESSEE IN HOLLYWOOD, WHICH PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO THE HOLLYWOOD INFLUENCE ON THE PLAYS OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS.
THE THREE ONE ACT PLAYS (ON DISC TWO) PROBABLY HAVEN'T BEEN SEEN FOR YEARS AND ARE QUITE INTERESTING, ESPECIALLY WITH COMMERCIALS AND BRIEF COMMENTARY BY MR. WILLIAMS AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH.
SIDNEY LUMET IN HIS INTERVIEW PROVIDES MANY INSIGHTS INTO THE MAKING OF THIS FILM, AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PRINCIPLE STARS OF THIS PICTURE. THIS PLAY IS A TRUE SOUTHERN GOTHIC CLASSIC THAT CAN ONLY COME FROM THE PEN OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, AND PROBABLY THE ONE PLAY THAT CAME FROM HIS PEN WITH THE MOST RE-WRITES FROM THE 1940'S THROUGH 1959.Read full review...