Barton_Keyes Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 From The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-lost-glass-menagerie-rediscovered?mbid=social_facebook The CBS Playhouse production of The Glass Menagerie will air at 8:00PM on TCM on December 8, fifty years to the day of the original broadcast. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I'll be sure to catch it. But which airing do you think will be better? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Coverage from the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/nyregion/glass-menagerie-restoration-paley-center.html?_r=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Thanks for the heads up! Hadnt even known about this. I'll record it to watch this wknd. I dont even remember this broadcast (I must not have watched it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Oh yeah! I'll be sure to watch this one. I've been in dire need lately to watch some uplifting story and refresh my belief in mankind. (...well, Tom DOES finally screw up enough gumption to leave that dysfunctional family for good at the end of this thing, doesn't he?!...THAT'S kind'a good, ain't it?!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I'm very much looking forward to seeing this version of THE GLASS MENAGERIE, primarily for Barbara Loden's performance as Laura. I love her in WANDA (in the title role) and suspect that her Laura Wingfield will be as beautifully real as her Wanda Goronski. It will be interesting to see if Shirley Booth is able to pull off Amanda. I think she is absolutely amazing in COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA (I know that one of my buds on the boards dislikes her in CBLS ---I respect his opinion but disagree), but I'm having trouble imagining her as a displaced Southern belle in THE GLASS MENAGERIE. But I will withhold judgment until I actually see the performance. I've read that she disagreed with the director over the interpretation of the character. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyCronin Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I'm not familiar with and had never heard of this Booth version! I did see the Katharine Hepburn one when it first aired in the early 70s and I saw Jessica Tandy and Amanda Plummer in a Broadway revival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 The problem is, it's still Tennessee Williams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Well, many people LOVE Tennessee Williams......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Lots of people like Justin Bieber, too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 No one is forcing you to watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Well, many people LOVE Tennessee Williams......... Yeah, and a lot of people love Tennessee Ernie Ford too! (...but for some reason I can't see Shirley Booth breakin' into a rousing chorus of "16 Tons"...but that's probably just me, huh) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I'm very much looking forward to seeing this version of THE GLASS MENAGERIE, primarily for Barbara Loden's performance as Laura. I love her in WANDA (in the title role) and suspect that her Laura Wingfield will be as beautifully real as her Wanda Goronski. It will be interesting to see if Shirley Booth is able to pull off Amanda. I think she is absolutely amazing in COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA (I know that one of my buds on the boards dislikes her in CBLS ---I respect his opinion but disagree), but I'm having trouble imagining her as a displaced Southern belle in THE GLASS MENAGERIE. But I will withhold judgment until I actually see the performance. I've read that she disagreed with the director over the interpretation of the character. Yes, Barbara Loden is what interests me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 From The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-lost-glass-menagerie-rediscovered?mbid=social_facebook The CBS Playhouse production of The Glass Menagerie will air at 8:00PM on TCM on December 8, fifty years to the day of the original broadcast. You know, I actually watched this as a kid 50 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
im4cinema2 Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 You know I always felt sorry for Shirley Booth. She always played the forlorn housewife or the loser old maid. Even as Hazel the maid she didn't always play with a full deck. The role of Amanda fit her like a glove. What happened to the Gertrude Lawrence version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rover27 Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 The best film version I've seen is the 1987 movie with Joanne Woodward, John Malkovich, Karen Allen, and James Naughton. Excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 What happened to the Gertrude Lawrence version? The 1950 Warners version was produced by Charles K. Feldman, who sold it to 20th Century-Fox for reissue along with STREETCAR. Warners got STREETCAR back but they snubbed MENAGERIE. Fox Movie Channel has run MENAGERIE a few times. It's my favorite version only because of Arthur Kennedy's Tom and Max Steiner's incredible score. Gertrude did a bit too much show-boating as Amanda (it should have been Fay Bainter) and Jane Wyman simply didn't have Julie Haydon's other-worldly quality. Kirk Douglas was good as "Jim" but he was, perhaps, a bit too confident. We released Max's complete score on CD quite a few years ago. http://www.chelsearialtostudios.com/glass_menagerie.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayban Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 The TV version that was broadcast in the 70's, I believe, is amazing for the performances, especially Sam Waterson's forlorn son. He was also memorable in the film version of "The Great Gatsby". He gives you so much "subtext" without ever being "showy". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 The TV version that was broadcast in the 70's, I believe, is amazing for the performances, especially Sam Waterson's forlorn son. He was also memorable in the film version of "The Great Gatsby". He gives you so much "subtext" without ever being "showy". Yeah, this was probably the best film or video production. Katharine Hepburn, of course, was Amanda. The film is available on DVD as part of the Broadway Theatre Archive (along with the 1966 DEATH OF A SALESMAN with Lee J. Cobb). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 I know Bette Davis tested for the film version, but didnt get the part. I wonder how Gertrude Lawrence got it? (hardly a household name).... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayban Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Yeah, this was probably the best film or video production. Katharine Hepburn, of course, was Amanda. The film is available on DVD as part of the Broadway Theatre Archive (along with the 1966 DEATH OF A SALESMAN with Lee J. Cobb). I agree, Katherine Hepburn was Amanda Wingfield. Shirley Booth was a little too "robust", I'd say. But one of the great attractions of this fabled script is that there is so much leeway for interpretation. I never grow tired of seeing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Radio versions: 1. Theatre Guild on the Air in 1951 starring Helen Hayes as Amanda with Montgomery Clift as Tom, Kathryn Baird as Laura, and Karl Malden as Jim. 2.Jane Wyman recreated her film role of Laura for a 1954 adaptation on Lux Radio Theatre with Fay Bainter as Amanda, Frank Lovejoy as Tom and Tom Brown as Jim https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Lux_Radio_Theater_Singles/Lux_Radio_Theatre_54-03-08_871_The_Glass_Menagerie.mp3 3. In 1964 Caedmon Records produced an LP version of the Glass Menagerie as the initial issue of its theatre series. The production starred Jessica Tandy as Amanda, Montgomery Clift as Tom, Julie Harris as Laura, David Wayne as the gentleman caller. There was another version produced in 1953 for the radio series Best Plays, starring Evelyn Varden as Amanda and Geraldine Page as Laura, but this is not known to survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vautrin Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 I watched it last night. Not bad, but nothing special. I haven't seen the 1950 movie in a while, but I'd call that one better than the 1966 TV one. I thought Kirk Douglas pretty well captured the ex-high school golden boy and the positive thinker type. Pat Hingle did a good job, but he seemed a little too old and subdued for the role. The good thing about a play is that one can always go back and read the original play and not worry too much about how the actors interpreted their roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlewis Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 I thought that the camerawork was better than average for videotaped material of the sixties. I like the spots with Hal Holbrook narrating. Yeah, it was dated but it was fun in a retro way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickLindsay Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hello, I missed GLASS MENAGERIE the other night. I remember watching it back in 1966 and wanted to see it again but got my dates mixed up. I don't see it on the TCM calendar anymore. Are they planning to repeat it? anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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