Sweet Bird of Youth (1989 film)

Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1989 drama TV film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon. Based on the 1959 play by Tennessee Williams, it focuses on the relationship between a drifter and a faded movie star. The film was adapted by Gavin Lambert and directed by Nicolas Roeg.

Sweet Bird of Youth
GenreDrama
Screenplay byGavin Lambert
Directed byNicolas Roeg
StarringElizabeth Taylor
Mark Harmon
Barry Newman
ComposerRalph Burns
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerFred Whitehead
CinematographyFrancis Kenny
EditorPamela Malouf-Cundy
Running time95 minutes
Production companiesNBC
The Kushner-Locke Company
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseOctober 1, 1989 (1989-10-01)

Plot

After failing to make it in the film industry, drifter Chance Wayne decides to leave to return to his hometown. Fading film star Alexandra Del Lago is in her third marriage. Her latest husband is a prince, and she is now has the title of a Princess. Horrified by her own closeups in her latest film, she flees with Chance. She uses alcohol and drugs to anesthetize the pain of growing older. Back in his hometown, Chance seeks to resume his love affair with Heavenly Finley, the daughter of the local political boss.[1][2]

Cast

Production

Stephen Farber of The New York Times wrote, "In doing his adaptation, Mr. Lambert made some radical simplifications, reducing the Boss Finley story to a bare minimum." Sweet Bird of Youth, "like many other Williams plays, was rewritten several times by the playwright, and Mr. Lambert consulted the different versions that still exist," Farber wrote. The castration in the play, which was removed from the 1962 film adaptation, is included in the 1989 TV movie adaptation. "In some ways," Farber wrote, "the television film is bolder than the 1962 movie version of the play, which starred Geraldine Page and Paul Newman in the roles they had also created on Broadway. Because of censorship at the time, Richard Brooks, the writer-director, could not suggest the castration and was forced instead to end the film with Chance brutally beaten. ... Like the stage version, the TV film will not actually show the castration, but there will be a few clear references to the intention of emasculating Chance."[2]

Filming took place in Upland, California.[2] On May 11 and 12, 1989, vintage convertibles with Florida license plates drove through downtown Upland as cameras rolled. The interior of the Sea Cove bar was used as was the former Atwood's Department Store. A political rally was shot at the gazebo.[3]

This was Liz Taylor's fourth role in a Tennessee Williams adaptation.[3]

Rip Torn, who had already played Chance Wayne in the original 1959 Broadway production and Thomas J. Finley, Jr. in the 1962 film adaptation, was cast as a third character, Boss Finley, for the 1989 TV movie adaptation. His scenes were filmed separately from scenes with Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon, so he didn't get to see much of them. This differs from the play, in which the Princess and Boss are involved in one scene together. "On stage, when we did it, the Princess comes on during the political rally downstairs when the Boss is doing his thing," said Torn. "She drives by in her convertible."[1]

Broadcast

The film was broadcast on NBC on Sunday, October 1, 1989.

Reception

In his review for The New York Times on Sept. 29, 1989, John J. O'Connor wrote, "Apparently gaining weight again, Miss Taylor wears loose-fitting clothes and is often displayed in extremely dim lighting, which tends to shove Mr. Harmon further into the shadows. This is not the meeting of equals. This is a star turn. And it's a shame. The play and these performers are better than that. Still we get Tennessee Williams, one of the major playwrights of this century. And on commercial television these days, that's something to be grateful for."[4]

Alan Carter of People gave the film a C+, calling it a "sometimes slow-moving retelling of the classic Williams play and 1962 movie." In summary, he wrote, "Idiosyncratic film director Nicolas (The Man Who Fell to Earth) Roeg gives us endless close-ups of his two stars' dazzling blue eyes—but the production doesn't add up to anything memorable."[5]

Joseph Walker of Deseret News wrote that the film, "with its seaminess and overt sexuality, is not the kind of Sunday night viewing everyone will enjoy. But those who are looking for some sophisticated drama that is well-played artistically and technically will find much to their liking here."[6]

Brenda Murphy noted that, while Richard Brooks's adaptation focused on Chance Wayne, "Nicolas Roeg's centering of the Princess creates a darker film about the inevitable loss of youth and the despairing or resilient responses to it that are possible."[7]

References
  1. Brennan, Patricia (October 1, 1989). "'SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH'" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. Farber, Stephen (30 July 1989). "TELEVISION; A Stellar Cast Films a Steamy Williams Play" – via NYTimes.com.
  3. "Recalling Taylor's visits to the valley". 16 April 2011.
  4. O'Connor, John J. (September 29, 1989). "TV Weekend; Elizabeth Taylor's Star Turn as Williams's Aging Star" – via NYTimes.com.
  5. "Picks and Pans Review: Tennessee William's Sweet Bird of Youth". PEOPLE.com.
  6. "SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH: A LEGEND PLAYS A LEGEND IN REMAKE OF WILLIAMS PLAY". DeseretNews.com. 1 October 1989.
  7. "The Tennessee Williams Annual Review - 2016 Journal". www.tennesseewilliamsstudies.org.
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