515 The Fugitive Kind

[Michael]

The Fugitive Kind



Four Oscar-winning actors—Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, and Maureen Stapleton—sink their teeth into this enthralling film, which brings together the legendary talents of director Sidney Lumet and writer Tennessee Williams. A smoldering, snakeskin-jacketed Brando is Val Xavier, a drifter trying to go straight. He finds work and solace in a southern small-town variety store run by the married, sexually frustrated Lady Torrance (Magnani), who proves as much a temptation for Val as local wild child Carol Cutrere (Woodward). Lumet captures the intense, fearless performances and Williams's hot-blooded storytelling and social critique with his customary restraint, resulting in a drama of uncommon sophistication and craft.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• High-definition digital restoration, approved by director Sidney Lumet, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Interview from 2009 with Lumet
• Three Plays by Tennessee Williams, an hour-long 1958 television presentation of one-act plays, directed by Lumet and starring Ben Gazzara and Lee Grant, among others
• Program from 2010 discussing Williams's work in Hollywood and The Fugitive Kind
• PLUS: An essay by film critic David Thomson

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[carax09]

TCM offered The Fugitive Kind very recently and I caught it. Brando + Magnani = Can't Miss. And this was the only Tennessee Williams film left for me to watch. I ended up completely shattered in every way.

Lumet's handling of a very shabby, drunken, and weird script is a stroke of silvery brilliance. It's a very sensitive and loving ode to the outsiders, the "peculiar" characters. The same feelings I get from Nights of Cabiria and Mala Noche. The "creatures" of the night crawl out of the oppresive daytime society to find each other and glue together. Magnani's "Italian", Brando's sexy, sweet rebel musician, Woodward's free spirit, Stapleton's blooming artist, and of course the blacks including the amazing woman who runs a restaurant in KKK country = all a threat to the White Man.

Fire is a constant motif and the real fire belongs to Brando and Magnani, both together burning the celluloid away. Has there been a couple like them in the entire, entire history of cinema? I was shocked by how raw the film was, I mean looking at other Tennessee Williams films, such as the most famous ones A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on the Hot Tin Roof, they always feel censored and too softened but not so with The Fugitive Kind. It is what Tennesse Williams is all about - completely no restraints.

It's a very fucked up (in the best way!) and beautiful film: luminous and expressive b/w cinematography caressing the night creatures holding together. I will be talking about this film for as long as I live. My new favorite film.

Quoted from IMDB message board:

brando: songs my mother taught me, a while back and brando wrote that, anna was crazy about him. Also, how everytime she was near him, how she would put her hand down his pants, and start giving him a hand job. Now what the hell is that!

I don't blame you for trying, Anna!

You know, I am a bit surprised by the lack of recognition for this film. I think it's right up there with the best Williams' film adaptations, but I've never met anyone else who shared that belief. The film is generally panned for poor chemistry between Anna and Marlon, but I think their personal animosities provide a nice spark in the scenes they share! Like you, I think the cinematography is top-notch (can you imagine if the dvd was given the same treatment that was given the recent The Apartment?), and really evokes the American Gothic of the narrative.

Did you know that Brando's character is the template that Lynch used for Sailor in Wild At Heart?

[Michael]

Brando's snakeskin jacket got me thinking of Sailor but Sailor is nowhere as complex and hot as Brando. The vibe Brando oozes in Fugitive is really beautiful and mysterious. The sheriff asks him to strip his shirt, he opens his shirt, hair peeking through from his chest and that's the end of it. What a tease.

It is really awful how little known the film is. I was utterly blown away.

carax, didn't you say somewhere here that Magnani is your great aunt? What do you think of her performances in American films, The Rose Tattoo and this? What is your favorite performance of hers? She is my favorite actress ever and of all her performances, Bellissima is what I fall for the most.

[ando]

Did you know, Michael, that Brando felt that he was was not the right type for the part? If you reflect back on the film, Brando's character really calls for a leaner, more delicately framed type of guy. Brando was a bit too solid a presence for the ephermeral Val. The sequence where Brando actually sings and plays the guitar that he is supposedly reknown for (his character mentions Leadbelly as a kind of mentor) always strikes me as peculiar. (It actually reminds me a bit of Chet Baker's vocal approach). I don't think it actually works - Brando is never convincing as a travelling crooner/giggilo (at least not the crooner part) - but the vulnerability of the character comes through, nevertheless.

Magnani, however, is magnifient. She's perfectly cast as the "dego/wop" wife to the racist shop owner who ruined her immigrant father. Without Magnani's emotional commitment I don't think the movie would have come off as beautifully, though the other actors give outstanding performances, indeed.

It's one of my old faves, particularly because of Magnani (I have to admit that Joanne Woodward's wild intertretation is a bit hard to bear at times).

[Michael]

Finished watching The Rose Tattoo a few moments ago. Wow, it was awful. Surely Magnani shines like a diamond in a pile of rotten banana leaves. The first half was bearable because Magnani owned nearly every shot. But then Lancaster entered, the film crumbled instantly, erasing the last bit of my interest. I can't believe this is the same actor who played another Siciliano in The Leopard! When he saw Mangani sobbing, he sobbed, telling her he sobbed whenever a woman sobbed. Huh? Everything involving Lancaster was handled so embarrasingly that I didn't know whether to laugh or pity Mangani. I never sensed one single lick of the bonfire I saw between her and Brando.

[carax09]

Wow, it was awful. Surely Magnani shines like a diamond in a pile of rotten banana leaves.

Ha ha! I don't think I'd go that far, but I do agree with you (and Ando about TFK) that the male leads are the most problematic aspect of both pictures. Brando's disinterest is palpable at times, and Lancaster does thoughtful & reflective much better than he does happy-go-lucky! The Rose Tattoo is a pretty solid film in that it achieves it's modest ambitions, but The Fugitive Kind could have been so much better! At times it seems as if Magnani is not only playing her part, but trying to pull a performance out of Brando, as well. I don't know how else to describe it, but it's actually hard for me to watch sometimes.

This is sounding a bit more negative than I really intended, it's just that I think it should've been a masterpiece, and it isn't. I don't necessarily believe that someone other than Brando would've been more suitable for the central role (although I will be thinking about that angle next time I watch it), I just think he needed to buy into it more.

[ando]

Brando couldn't play everything, contrary to what many believe. And I think this is a case in point. Though I do agree that he seems almost disinterested here - an acting choice, probably. Perhaps he tried to affect the aloof aspect of Val's character (contrary to the busy-body, gossip minded characters around him) too much. A Hollywood actor like James Dean or Montgomery Clift might have been able to pull it off and still retain the magnetic quality vital to the character.


Magnani and Williams on the set of The Fugitiive Kind

Williams supposedly admired this film, though. And it's obvious that casting Magnani was a main catalyst in making it. She was such a force of nature. I can see how it must have been a challenge for Pasolini, for instance, to avoid having Magnani turn Mamma Roma into an Anna Magnani showcase. That film is my favorite among Magnani's films, chiefly because Pasolini was able to manipulate her talent and energy for the film's ends (and not Magnani's!).

[Matt]

Announced

[Michael]

Easily the best Tennessee Williams film. There must be an old thread I started about this film somewhere.

Edit: I found it.

[domino harvey]

There's an argument on the Amazon Customer Review page about the aspect ratio that always scared me away from buying the MGM DVD. Is this Andre 2.0?

[Jeff]

Three Plays by Tennessee Williams, an hour-long television presentation of three one-act plays by Williams, directed by Lumet in 1958

More 50s teleplays? Love it. I hope Criterion has acquired a massive cache of these things to use as future supplements.

[domino harvey]

Aren't these the first Brando and Woodward releases for Criterion? It'd have been nice for some supplements about them and not just Williams...

[HistoryProf]

Three Plays by Tennessee Williams, an hour-long television presentation of three one-act plays by Williams, directed by Lumet in 1958

More 50s teleplays? Love it. I hope Criterion has acquired a massive cache of these things to use as future supplements.

agreed...what an awesome package! easily the release of the month for me!

[ianungstad]

Surprised they didn't interview Joanne Woodward for this release. She's great in this film.

[Doctor Sunshine]

Aren't these the first Brando and Woodward releases for Criterion? It'd have been nice for some supplements about them and not just Williams...

I was thinking the same thing for Skeet Ulrich.

[domino harvey]

They're saving that for the South Park movie

[HerrSchreck]

So is the MGM disc still classified as "In Print"?

This is kind of a nice title, since this was one film I never saw during my Youthful Brando Worshipping Days... I'm still kind of bleh on it. I guess April still is the cruellest month, mixing Brando with dull titles.

[brendanjc]

I figured I'd fill in my complete Tennessee Williams blind spot by watching a handful of films based on his work I'd recorded from TCM over the weekend, this being one of them, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer the others. I found this to be a big step down from the other two, which I quite liked. I agree with the previous poster who said Brando seemed disinterested - I didn't buy the romance and I certainly didn't buy him as a musician. The bright spots in this film for me were the peripheral characters who represented the malevolence of the local townspeople and Victor Jory's Jabe, who was a great villain, but I think it's a misfire overall. Still, this might be one of those cases where the supplements overshadow the film and are reason enough for the release to exist.

[Michael]

Why is it that no one bitches about the lack of the Blu release for this title? I'm surprised there is not much chat about this title. Is the film really that minor? For me, April 27th couldn't come sooner.

Florida Film Festival is hosting Tennessee Willliams' Southern Gothic Family Reunion.

[Matt]

I think most of the complaints about lack of Blu-ray editions have been for recent films for which such an absence seems like a grievous oversight (A Christmas Tale, Everlasting Moments), especially when a Blu-ray exists in another region. I think for older films, particularly films Criterion is licensing, Blu-ray editions are going to be much less likely. I don't think it has anything to do with the perceived popularity of the film but with the availability of good elements and a suitable HD transfer. If Criterion can't get those, they're not going to produce a Blu-ray.

I was actually amazed that they put out a Blu-ray of Bigger Than Life, but apparently Fox was either able to provide a good HD master or suitable elements for Criterion to make their own HD master. That's probably not the case with this film.

[perkizitore]

Don't forget the costs involved restoring an old film, compared to creating existing HD masters of a recent movie! When an old film is obscure and unreleased on home video, Criterion cannot bear the costs of releasing the film on Blu-ray.

[Michael]

Ah, makes sense!

[Matt]

Criterion typically does not do film restoration (at least not the photochemical kind), so it's the original studio (or possibly a film archive) who would be bearing that cost (as I'm sure was the case with Bigger Than Life). If the original studio is uninterested in performing or unable to perform restoration of the film, Criterion doesn't have much choice in the matter (c.f. The Scarlet Empress).

[perkizitore]

Wouldn't the fee to licence a restored film be much higher than acquiring a recent independent film?

[NilbogSavant]

Wouldn't the fee to licence a restored film be much higher than acquiring a recent independent film?

I don't see why that would be true. It's a lot easier to sell a new film than an old one no matter how much restoration work was done.