Natalie Wood.... damn.

Based on a Tennessee Williams play, directed by Sydney Pollack (over-rated, but still good), starring Natalie Wood and Robert Redford, oh, and Charlie Bronson!... this movie had a lot going for it from the start, but doesn't achieve greatness. Set i... (read more) Based on a Tennessee Williams play, directed by Sydney Pollack (over-rated, but still good), starring Natalie Wood and Robert Redford, oh, and Charlie Bronson!... this movie had a lot going for it from the start, but doesn't achieve greatness. Set in rural Depression-era Mississippi, the film features Robert as serious-minded railroad exec sent to shut down the impoverished burg's only economic lifeline, it's railroad; soon after arriving he falls for the sultry daughter (played by Natalie) of the local boarding house's owner... romantic tensions ensue, then of course there's an overbearing mother involved... the film shifts to New Orleans with a potentially hopeful ending, but you guessed it, there isn't one. If you dig Tennessee Williams (like I do), you'll probably like it-- it's got the ambience. If you dig Robert and/or Natalie (like I do), that helps too, though Robert is playing against type he does a decent job. The ephemerality of happiness, desire and love; fanciful delusions and Southern Gothic loss; it's all here; the mood's here for sure; and it's a hell of a lot better than *Watchmen Part 3* or *Sex and the City: The Movie*.

I'm on something of a Tennessee Williams jag, and this really intrigued me. built up from a bare-bones flashback by screenwriter FF Copolla, This Property is proper Williams Southern Gothic. Redford is excellent here as the hatchet man come to kill a... (read more) I'm on something of a Tennessee Williams jag, and this really intrigued me. built up from a bare-bones flashback by screenwriter FF Copolla, This Property is proper Williams Southern Gothic. Redford is excellent here as the hatchet man come to kill a railroad town in the Depression. Wood is a bit arch as the hottest thing in a dying town looking to escape. Sydney Pollack's 2nd film shows considerable promise but also some very ham-fisted scenes. Bronson, Blake, and Coleman all do well in bit parts.

Sad stroy. Good movie. Wood & Redford are great. Good photography in Mississippi.

I keep getting surprised by the Tennessee Williams movies that I should have seen a long time ago already. Once again such intensity of feelings, such exxtraordinary characters and ...unhappy endings, as usual. And young Robert Redford, mmmmmm...