George Roy Hill's second feature film - following his 1962 version of Tennessee Williams' 'Period of Adjustment' - takes us yet again on a tour of one of those big crumbling Southern mansions in which people flutter about talking incessantly and family skeletons come crashing out of closets.
The very conventionality of Hill's stagey direction, Carey Odell's meticulous set, Joseph Biroc's photography and George Duning's music seem designed to make us feel we've seen this all before, so when the bombshell is finally dropped about one of the sisters' relationship with her brother its done so casually - and simply told us, rather than conveyed visually - that I did a double take and thought, Did She Really Just Say That? Likewise, after such a slow build-up (SPOILER COMING) the shocking moment of gruesomely intimate violence near the end (not shown in the play) made me wonder if I'd really just seen it.
As usual its fun to see Geraldine Page roll her eyes, wiggle her mouth and play with her hands, but naturally Wendy Hiller's is by far the better performance in the less showy role...
The very conventionality of Hill's stagey direction, Carey Odell's meticulous set, Joseph Biroc's photography and George Duning's music seem designed to make us feel we've seen this all before, so when the bombshell is finally dropped about one of the sisters' relationship with her brother its done so casually - and simply told us, rather than conveyed visually - that I did a double take and thought, Did She Really Just Say That? Likewise, after such a slow build-up (SPOILER COMING) the shocking moment of gruesomely intimate violence near the end (not shown in the play) made me wonder if I'd really just seen it.
As usual its fun to see Geraldine Page roll her eyes, wiggle her mouth and play with her hands, but naturally Wendy Hiller's is by far the better performance in the less showy role...