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Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
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Paul Newman recreates his Broadway role in the 1962 film version of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Newman plays handsome hustler Chance Wayne, who romances fading film star Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page) in hopes of winning a movie contract for himself. The mercenary Wayne and the self-destructive Alexandra find themselves in Chance's home town, where corrupt politician Boss Finley (Oscar-winner Ed Begley) rules the roost. Finley's daughter Heavenly (Shirley Knight), impregnated by Chance during his last visit, dreams of a reunion with her old beau, but Finley and his brutish son Tom Jr. (Rip Torn) make certain that no such reunion occurs. Even the well-intentioned interventions of Heavenly's Aunt Nonny (Mildred Dunnock) fail to move the stubborn Finley. Warned to leave town or risk a broken skull, Chance is dumped by Alexandra, whose recent "comeback" film has proven a success and who thus no longer needs a gigolo to feed her ego. From this point on, Richard Brooks' screenplay departs so radically from the Tennessee Williams original that to elucidate the differences would require a book in itself. Suffice to say that the play's Chance Wayne is rendered "less than a man" by the vengeful Finley, whereas the film's Wayne emerges with all his working parts intact. A second version Sweet Bird of Youth (1989), purportedly based on Williams' own rewrite of his earlier material, was filmed for television in 1989, with Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon in the leads, and with Rip Torn, Tom Finley Jr. in the original, stepping into the role of Boss Finley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, (more)
Director(s):
Richard Brooks
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of Sweet Bird of Youth

Paul Newman recreates his Broadway role in the 1962 film version of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Newman plays handsome hustler Chance Wayne, who romances fading film star Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page) in hopes of winning a movie contract for himself. The mercenary Wayne and the self-destructive Alexandra find themselves in Chance's home town, where corrupt politician Boss Finley (Oscar-winner Ed Begley) rules the roost. Finley's daughter Heavenly (Shirley Knight), impregnated by Chance during his last visit, dreams of a reunion with her old beau, but Finley and his brutish son Tom Jr. (Rip Torn) make certain that no such reunion occurs. Even the well-intentioned interventions of Heavenly's Aunt Nonny (Mildred Dunnock) fail to move the stubborn Finley. Warned to leave town or risk a broken skull, Chance is dumped by Alexandra, whose recent "comeback" film has proven a success and who thus no longer needs a gigolo to feed her ego. From this point on, Richard Brooks' screenplay departs so radically from the Tennessee Williams original that to elucidate the differences would require a book in itself. Suffice to say that the play's Chance Wayne is rendered "less than a man" by the vengeful Finley, whereas the film's Wayne emerges with all his working parts intact. A second version Sweet Bird of Youth (1989), purportedly based on Williams' own rewrite of his earlier material, was filmed for television in 1989, with Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon in the leads, and with Rip Torn, Tom Finley Jr. in the original, stepping into the role of Boss Finley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
120 mins

Complete Cast of Sweet Bird of Youth


Director(s):
Richard Brooks
Writer(s):
Tennessee Williams, Richard Brooks
Producer(s):
Pandro S. Berman
Sweet Bird of Youth Awards:
  • 1962 - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
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    Patricia R.

    This film gives people a chance to see Geraldine Page when she still had her looks. And Paul Newman when he had abs to kill for and was such a hunk. And Rip Torn with a very young and handsome face - no wonder he imbibed a bit too freely of late - in pursuit of his glorious youth. This Tennessee Williams play was altered in the film treatment because of the virulent censors of that time. Consequently, we get a happy ending and a genitally intact Paul Newman at the end. Be thankful for these merciful quirks of history.

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    Robert R.

    Geraldine Page runs away with this movie without a single mistep and with astonishing aplomb she no doubt brought from her stage performance of the same. Newman is good, but you can actually catch him fumbling with lines and sometimes just thinking too much instead of projecting to the camera. The poorly written/executed changes from the original play to the screenplay cause for some head scratching. But, some of the original topics and a particular act of violence were far too graphic for 1962 Hollywood. This film is good for the overall performances and Newman's ripped abs in a scene or two and it's still a pretty juicy old southern drama. I'll add that the set design and cinematography were sometimes distractingly cheap and obvious. This being a 1962 film was certainly not any reason for the sloppiness.

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    Ralph G.

    The changes made to the script, including a totally different ending than the classic play, required by the Hayes code, pretty much gutted the movie. Hopefully one of these days they'll remake all the Tennessee Williams plays as they were written. It was an okay movie, but it could have been great.

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