Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

Charm as a Survival Plan - Sweet Bird of Youth review by griggs

Two people trying to claw back a bit of glory, using each other as the ladder — that’s the real story here. The romance between Chance and Heavenly barely gets a seat at the table; the film is more interested in watching Chance get squeezed between Alexandra Del Lago and Boss Finley.

Paul Newman is all charm and panic, a man who’s mistaken swagger for a survival plan. Geraldine Page is magnificently brittle as Alexandra, terrified of becoming yesterday’s news, while Ed Begley’s Boss Finley is hypocrisy wearing a suit. I kept getting pulled into the political ugliness, even when it crowded out the quieter drama.

The symbolism gets laid on with a trowel — Tennessee Williams was never subtle about that sort of thing. Still, this overlooked adaptation has a strange pull. Two damaged people clawing at each other for oxygen, while everyone else reaches for the knife.

Williams Classic. - Sweet Bird of Youth review by Steve

The role of film diva Alexandro Del Lago, seeking refuge from the reality of her lost youth, has become a favourite for female stars of a certain age. Geraldine Page played the 'princess' first on stage and screen and she's pretty definitive. It's a familiar Tennessee Williams persona, a vulnerable artist running away, and running out of time.

The princess is burning up on drugs and booze after her screen comeback ran aground on a disastrous close up. She finds herself serviced by an ambitious gigolo who aims to use her to break into Tinseltown; Paul Newman as the ominously named Chance Wayne! He takes her to his hometown where he has unfinished business with Heavenly (Shirley Knight), the daughter of a shady politician.

The best part of the film is the interplay between Page and Newman... two monsters who claw at each other in pursuit of sordid self interest. The lesser subplot concerns the schemes of the hypocritical, Trump-like Boss Finlay (Ed Begley) who corrupts everyone and everything. It's a cynical film about the American dream, its imperious winners and downtrodden victims.

Inevitably there were problems with the Production Code which undermined the ferocity of the message, but it's still surprisingly frank in places and its political and existential themes survive. It has a beautiful look too. It's not as intense as most Williams adaptations but there is characteristic poetry in the lines and Page and Newman make a volatile screen duo.