Set in the span of one late night at a university residence, the film revolves around an associate college professor and his wife as they invite a young couple new to the university for a chat and some drinks where everything goes to hell. It is a film that is about one late night where much of the action takes place at this couple’s home at the university as they invite a new professor and his wife for a drink that ends up being a night of chaos. Ernest Lehman’s screenplay is straightforward in its term of the narrative as its first and third act take place at the home of Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) and her associate professor husband George (Richard Burton) with a bit of the film’s second act taking place outside of the house and at a roadhouse. Part of the film’s strength is the dialogue and monologue spoken by the characters with George often pushing people’s buttons while telling stories to observe his guests in Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis).
Nick is the new biology professor despite Martha’s claim he is teaching math as he is fascinated by George’s time in the university as well as what to expect though Honey is a woman who is fragile as she will get sick if she drinks. As the night goes on, things start to unravel when Martha talks about her son whose birthday is the next day when George is upset over the mention of him. At a brief stop at a roadhouse, more drinks happen with Honey wanting to dance and have fun yet things between Martha and Nick would anger George as he decides to push everyone’s buttons where he ends up walking home. Yet, revelations about Nick and Honey are unveiled during the night including a conversation between George and Nick outside of the house and another one between George and Honey in the third act.
Mike Nichols’ direction is rapturous in its setting as it is shot on location at the Warner Brothers soundstage for all the interior scenes with all the exterior scenes are shot at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. While there are wide shots for some of the exterior scenes including the opening shot of the film where George and Martha walk out of a party on their way home. Much of Nichols’ direction is emphasized on close-ups and medium shots to play into the intimacy of the house that George and Martha live in as well as scenes at the roadhouse during the film’s second act. Notably in how Nichols creates compositions in the way characters are seen in the foreground and in the background during a shot. Nichols’ direction also maintains this air of theatricality where he utilizes long shots for monologues and dialogues to be spoken for minutes uncut as well as scenes where the camera would move from one room to another to follow a character. It adds to this sense of tension as well as moments of dark humor such as a scene where George carries a rifle that would be served as a prank.
Nichols also maintains moments that are somber such as George and Nick’s conversation outside of the house where Nichols create some unique camera angles to play into whether the characters are equal or dominating one another in the conversation. The scenes at the roadhouse are tense for the way everyone starts to unravel with Honey wanting to dance and have fun, yet George starts to notice something is happening with Nick and Martha. The third act is where a lot of revelations about everyone comes into play with George, ready to push everyone’s buttons in revealing something including himself. Especially as Martha brought up the subject of their unnamed son as well as George’s failed novel early in the film, forcing George to get confrontational where Nichols’ direction is always fixed on what is happening. Even as he knows where to place the camera waiting for something to happen that will just blow things up. Overall, Nichols crafts a gripping and ravishing film about a drunken couple’s meeting with a young couple for a late night of drinks going wrong.
Cinematographer Haskell Wexler does incredible work with the film’s black-and-white photography with the way the home of George and Martha is lit in its living room and kitchen as well as spacious look of the roadhouse and the low-key lighting for the exterior scenes. Editor Sam O’Steen does brilliant work with the editing with a few scenes of fast-cuts during the second act where all the characters are in a car before they arrive at the roadhouse along with cuts that allow shots to linger to play into the emotional moments in the film. Production designer Richard Sylbert and set decorator George James Hopkins does excellent work with the look of the interiors of George and Martha’s home with a messy kitchen as well as a living room full of books and a bar full of drinks as well as the spacious interior of the roadhouse. Costume designer Irene Sharaff does fantastic work with the costumes in the suits the men wear to Honey’s dress and coat as well as the posh yet ragged clothes that Martha wears.
Makeup artists Gordon Bau and Ron Berkeley, along with hair stylist Sydney Guilaroff, do amazing work with the look of Martha from her big hairstyle as well as the makeup where she looks older than she is as it is a highlight of the film. The sound work of M.A. Merrick and George Groves do superb work with the sound as it plays into the atmosphere of a room as well as whatever music is played in the roadhouse. The film’s music by Alex North is wonderful for its low-key orchestral score that is used sparingly to play into the dramatic tension that looms throughout the film.
The film’s ensemble cast feature a couple of notable small yet uncredited performances from Frank and Agnes Flanagan as the couple who run the roadhouse. Sandy Dennis is great as Honey as a young woman who is fragile due to her inability to deal with alcohol where she would have mood swings where she can be upbeat but also feel down as she wonders if Nick really loves her for who she is or for something else. George Segal is phenomenal as Honey’s husband Nick who is the new biology professor at the university as he is troubled by George and Martha’s behavior though he would briefly have a moment with George about his marriage to Honey realizing they are the same in some respects.
Richard Burton is tremendous as George as an associate history professor who is reluctant to invite new guests while he starts to unravel over things his wife said that would force him to push everyone else around him. Burton has this gravitas of a man who has experiences a lot yet is also carrying something that is deep inside him that he does not want to reveal. Finally, there’s Elizabeth Taylor in a spectacular performance as Martha as George’s wife whose father is the university president as she is known for drinking and oversharing information that would humiliate George. Taylor is also someone that is also hiding something as she is also someone who is willing to get what she wants no matter who she hurts as it is one of her career-defining performances.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a magnificent film by Mike Nichols that features great leading performances from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as well as impressive supporting performances from George Segal and Sandy Dennis. Along with Ernest Lehman’s confrontational screenplay, Haskell Wexler’s stunning cinematography, and its unsettling presentation. It is a film that is an engaging drama that is about an older couple meeting a young couple only for a late night of drinking just to unravel. In the end, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an outstanding film by Mike Nichols.
Mike Nichols Films: (The Graduate) – (Catch 22) – Carnal Knowledge - (The Day of the Dolphin) – (The Fortune) – (Gilda Live) – (Silkwood) – (Heartburn) – (Biloxi Blues) – Working Girl - Postcards from the Edge - (Regarding Henry) – (Wolf (1994 film)) – The Birdcage - (Primary Colors) – (What Planet Are You From?) – (Wit) – (Angels in America) – Closer (2004 film) - (Charlie Wilson’s War)
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Set in 1928 Kansas, the film revolves around a relationship between a working class girl and a young rich boy who fall in love and want to take the next step into their relationship yet expectations and pressures from their parents about their individual futures and such would drive the couple apart and into chaos. It is a film that explores young love between two high school kids who are devoted to each other yet both of them are from different social statuses despite attending the same high school as well as their parents wanting to do something for their futures as well as wanting to keep them together. William Inge’s screenplay is largely straightforward as it opens with Wilma Dean “Deanie” Loomis (Natalie Wood) and Bud Stamper (Warren Beatty) making out in his car as the latter wants to go forward but the former is reluctant for the relationship to be sexual. Still, the two want to maintain a relationship with Stamper wanting to marry Deanie in the future yet his father Ace Stamper (Pat Hingle) has plans for him to take over the family business even though Bud knows he doesn’t have the grades to go to Yale.
While Deanie lives comfortably despite her being over-protected by her mother (Audrey Christie), she is eager to become Stamper’s wife though is still reluctant to lose her virginity while also having to watch the dysfunctional world that is Stamper’s family. Notably as his older sister Ginny (Barbara Loden) has returned home from Chicago from an annulled marriage as well as a getting an abortion done, which was illegal at the time, where she becomes a source of discord for the family. Even as her behavior would create gossip with Ace wanting to focus more on Bud’s future where he convinces Bud to break up Deanie temporarily as the result would be chaotic with Deanie becoming erratic over its break-up. The two would endure their own separate journeys where Stamper deals with the futility of expectations while Deanie goes on her own journey to discover herself.
Elia Kazan’s direction is evocative in not just the richness of its compositions but also in its overall presentation as it plays into a world where parents are expecting this great future emerging just a year before the Crash of 1929 that lead to the Great Depression. Shot largely at the Filmways Studios in New York City with exterior locations shot on Staten Island and High Falls, New York, Kazan creates a film that plays into a period in time where Prohibition was still happening though the rich were able to get alcohol through some illegal means and get away with it. Even as Kazan shows how Ace Stamper is able to get alcohol in those times as he is a rich man with oil wells and cattle ranches where he wants Bud to run these things in the future though Bud is more interested in just wanting to run a ranch. Kazan plays into this sense of generational gap involving Deanie and Bud against the expectations of their parents as Kazan’s unique compositions in his close-ups and medium shots play into the melodrama and dramatic suspense.
There are some wide shots in Kazan’s direction in the way he films scenes in Kansas including this waterfall area for the film’s first scene as well as a couple of key moments that would play into the Deanie and Bud’s dissolution. Kazan also maintains this air of sexual innuendo in the way Ginny presents herself as well as a scene of Deanie in a bathtub as she is talking to her mother as she would act erratically over what happened with Bud. It would play into this third act of Bud and Deanie living separate lives but also confront their own issues with themselves but also gain an understanding of what their parents want. Notably as Bud’s time in Yale produces poor results in a scene with him, his father, and Yale’s dean (Kermit Murdock) where Kazan definitely shows who is running the conversation as that person is starting to unravel with Bud caught in the middle. Its ending refers to a poem by William Wordsmith that Deanie struggled to read and comprehend in its second act as it would return as a way to express what she and Bud had endured but also the choices they would make as adults. Overall, Kazan crafts an intoxicating and exhilarating film about high school sweethearts whose love life is disrupted by the demands of adulthood and the expectations of their families.
Cinematographer Boris Kaufman does amazing work with the film’s cinematography in the richness of the daytime exterior locations as well as the usage of lights for some of the interior scenes at night along with an emphasis on low-key lighting for the exterior scenes at night. Editor Gene Milford does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into the melodrama as well as some lighthearted moments in the film. Production designer Richard Sylbert and set decorator Gene Callahan do brilliant work with the interiors of the Loomis family home in its simple yet classy style that is a sharp contrast to the way more refined world of the Stamper family estate with all of its bigger rooms and such. Costume designer Anna Hill Johnstone does fantastic work with the costumes with the dresses that the women wear being a highlight including some of the clothes that Deanie would wear later in her life as well as the raunchy clothes that Ginny wears.
Hairdresser Willis Hanchett and makeup artist Robert Jiras do terrific work with the hairstyles that the women wear at the time including Deanie’s hairstyle in the film’s first and second act as well as a more refined look in the third act. Sound editor Frank Lewin does superb work with the sound in the way waterfall sounds from its location up-close and from afar as well as the way a room is presented in its location. The film’s music by David Amram is incredible for its jazz-like score that features some saxophone and piano to play into the melodrama and romance that includes some orchestral flourishes with a soundtrack filled with the music of the times.
The film’s marvelous ensemble cast feature some notable small roles and appearances from Ivor Francis as Deanie’s psychiatrist Dr. Judd, screenwriter William Inge as the local pastor Reverend Whitman, Kermit Murdock as the dean of Yale in Dean Pollard, Phyllis Diller in her film debut as the famed performer Texas Guinan, Martine Bartlett as the school literature teacher Miss Metcalf, the duo of Sandy Dennis and Crystal Field as two of Deanie’s friends in Kay and Hazel, Charles Robinson in an un-credited performance as a young man that Deanie meets in a hospital in John, Gary Lockwood as a friend/teammate of Bud in Toots, Jan Norris as a slutty classmate of Deanie in Juanita Howard, and John McGovern as Doc Smiley who becomes concerned for Bud’s health following a collapse at a basketball game while also believing that Bud is being put into a lot of pressure from his father. Joanna Roos is wonderful as Bud and Ginny’s mother who is supportive of Bud’s relationship with Deanie though she has great concerns over her husband’s ambitions and the pressure he put on their son. Fred Stewart is superb as Deanie’s father Del Loomis as a man who runs a small shop next to the house as he is this low-key person that doesn’t try to cause trouble while is also doing what he can to make Deanie feel happy as he would also feel that his wife is smothering her.
Zohra Lampert is fantastic as Angelina as this young Italian immigrant that Bud meets in Yale as she would help him see things differently as well as be an important person to him later in his life. Audrey Christie is excellent as Deanie’s mother who is protective of Deanie as she also sees her as a young girl as she unknowingly would smother her as it would add to Deanie’s emotional and mental troubles. Barbara Loden is brilliant as Bud’s older sister Ginny as this young woman who likes to push her father’s buttons as well as be this ultimate rebel though it would also put her in danger including an attempted rape on her as she’s also gained notoriety for all of the wrong reasons. Pat Hingle is amazing as Bud’s father Ace Stamper as this rich oilman who expects so much from Bud to succeed him as he talks a lot while also making some bad suggestions as he would help play a role in Bud and Deanie’s break-up as he is really a complex man that is severely flawed and tries to control so many things in his life.
Finally, there’s the duo of Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood in tremendous performances in their respective roles as Bud Stamper and Deanie Loomis. Beatty in his debut performance has all of the attributes of a high school sports star in terms of its physiques and looks yet it is Beatty’s vulnerability that makes Bud compelling to watch as someone who is aware of his flaws and shortcomings as well as the fact that he doesn’t have his father’s ambitions. Wood exudes a radiance in her performance as a young woman that has an air of innocence but is also someone who had been too sheltered leading to an emotional breakdown and issues that would allow her to act out where Wood brings in that intensity to a young woman that is unraveling. Beatty and Wood together have this amazing chemistry as a young couple in love but one of them wants to get more physical but other isn’t willing as it causes problems with Ace getting involved as it adds to the drama as the two are a major highlight to watch.
Splendor in the Grass is an outstanding film from Elia Kazan that features great leading performances from Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty. Along with its supporting ensemble cast, wondrous visuals, a fiery music score, and a story of young love and the expectations of adulthood. It is a film that explores two young people wanting to devote their love for one another only to cope with life changes and the move into adulthood as well as the demanding hopes of their parents. In the end, Splendor in the Grass is magnificent film from Elia Kazan.
Elia Kazan Films: (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) – (The Sea of Grass) – (Boomerang!) – (Gentleman’s Agreement) – (Pinky) – (Panic in the Streets) – A Streetcar Named Desire - (Viva Zapata!) – (Man on a Tightrope) – On the Waterfront - East of Eden – (Baby Doll) – (A Face in the Crowd) – (Wild River) – (America America) – (The Arrangement) – (The Visitors (1972 film)) – (The Last Tycoon)
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Written and directed by Woody Allen, Another Woman is the story about a philosophy professor whose life unravels after listening to a private psychoanalyst on another woman as she starts to question about her own life. The film is an exploration into the world of identity as well as the choices one makes in a person’s life. Starring Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, Ian Holm, Gene Hackman, Harris Yulin, Frances Conroy, Betty Buckley, Blythe Danner, Martha Plimpton, John Houseman, and Philip Bosco. Another Woman is an engrossing yet mesmerizing film from Woody Allen.
What happens when a woman accidentally listens to another woman talking about her own problems leading for this woman to deal with her own life? That’s essentially the premise of the film where a philosophy professor named Marion (Gena Rowlands) finds herself questioning about not just herself but the way she treated the people in her life as she‘s always been judgmental and at times, quite cruel. The revelations that Marion faces about herself and the people in her life forces her to reflect on her past while continually listen to the psychiatric sessions of this pregnant yet troubled woman (Mia Farrow). What Woody Allen does with the script is create a story about a woman’s life being told where Marion often narrates to play into her feelings as well as thinking about the people in her life such as her brother Paul (Harris Yulin) and father (John Houseman) as well as her own marriage to Ken (Ian Holm).
Allen’s direction definitely recalls the work of Ingmar Bergman, most notably Wild Strawberries, in terms of its visual language and its intimacy towards drama. Notably as it plays into the idea of memory and fantasy where this woman has to look back in parts of her life including the way she realizes how complicated things are. Allen’s direction is straightforward though there is a sense of style in terms of close-ups and compositions where Allen goes to Bergman for inspiration. Still, Allen does instill some of his own ideas such as a scene where Marion watches a recreation of a conversation she had with Ken as Marion is being played by her former friend Claire (Sandy Dennis) to establish some ideas about not just who Marion but also a look into her own marriage. Notably as it would force Marion to see her life and what can she do to regain some sense of who she is. Overall, Allen creates a very engaging yet captivating film about a woman reflecting on her life.
Cinematographer Sven Nykvist does brilliant work with the film‘s photography as it recalls many of his work with Ingmar Bergman from the lush look of some of its exterior scenes in the flashbacks to the more colorful look of the locations in New York City. Editor Susan E. Morse does excellent work with the editing to help create seamless transitions from reality to fantasy while keeping things straightforward without any overly-stylized cuts. Production designer Santo Loquasto, with set decorator George DeTitta Jr. and art director Speed Hopkins, does nice work with the look of the NYC apartments and homes the characters live including the look of an antiques shop where Marion meets the woman she‘s been listening to.
Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland does terrific work with the costumes as it‘s mostly sort of colorless and bland to represent the world of the characters and their sort of lack of emotions. Sound editor Robert Hein does wonderful work with the sound from the way Marion listens to the other woman in a session to some of the scenes set in New York City. The film’s music soundtrack is mostly a mix of jazz and classical music that includes a piece Erik Satie that often dominates the film.
The casting by Juliet Taylor is fantastic for the ensemble that is created as it features appearances from Fred Melamed as a guest at an engagement party for Ken and Marion in a flashback, Josh Hamilton as the boyfriend of Ken’s daughter, David Odgen Stiers as the younger version of Marion and Paul’s father, Stephen Mailer and Margaret Marx in their respective roles as the young Paul and Marion, Philip Bosco as Marion’s first husband Sam, Frances Conroy as Marion’s sister-in-law Lynn, and Betty Buckley as Ken’s ex-wife Kathy whose sole appearance at Ken and Marion’s engagement party is chilling to watch. Martha Plimpton is excellent as Ken’s daughter Laura who always turn to Marion for advice while Blythe Danner is very good as Marion’s friend Lydia who always likes to socialize with her and Ken. Harris Yulin is terrific as Marion’s brother Paul who is a man that lacks ambition but wants to do right for his family.
Gene Hackman is great in a small but memorable performance as Ken’s friend Larry who admits to having feelings for Marion as he would play a key part into Marion’s own revelations about her life. John Houseman is amazing as Marion and Paul’s father as a man who also thinks about his life while appearing in a fantasy where he expresses his own regrets. Sandy Dennis is wonderful as Marion’s old friend Claire who expresses her own bitterness towards Marion about their friendship as she later plays Marion in a recreation of a conversation scene. Mia Farrow is superb as the mysterious woman Marion discovers as she is a woman anguished by her own problems in life as she would play a key role into Marion’s own discovery.
Ian Holm is brilliant as Marion’s husband Ken as a man who seems to be content with his life but is sort of aloof in the fact that he and Marion don’t spend a lot of alone time together. Finally, there’s Gena Rowlands in a remarkable performance as Marion where Rowlands display a sense of restraint to a woman who becomes unaware of the life she’s leading. Notably as Rowlands adds that sense of distance to her character as someone who is sort of cruel as well as judgmental as she starts to realize some of the trouble aspects of her life as it’s a very mesmerizing performance from Rowlands.
Another Woman is a marvelous film from Woody Allen that features tremendous performance from Gena Rowlands. Armed with a great ensemble cast as well as themes of regrets and identity, the film isn’t just a fantastic tribute to the works of Ingmar Bergman. It’s also a drama that explores a woman searching for herself in a crucial period in her life as she ponders about the choices she’s made. In the end, Another Woman is a phenomenal film from Woody Allen.
Woody Allen Films: What's Up Tiger Lily? - Take the Money & Run - Bananas - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) - Sleeper - Love and Death - Annie Hall - Interiors - Manhattan - Stardust Memories - A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy - Zelig - Broadway Danny Rose - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Hannah & Her Sisters - Radio Days - September - New York Stories: Oedipus Wrecks - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Alice - Shadows & Fog - Husbands & Wives - Manhattan Murder Mystery - Don’t Drink the Water - Bullets Over Broadway - Mighty Aphrodite - Everyone Says I Love You - Deconstructing Harry - Celebrity - Sweet & Lowdown - Small Time Crooks - The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - Hollywood Ending - Anything Else - Melinda & Melinda - Match Point - Scoop - Cassandra’s Dream - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Whatever Works - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Midnight in Paris - To Rome with Love - Blue Jasmine - Magic in the Moonlight - Irrational Man - (Cafe Society)
The Auteurs #24: Woody Allen Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4
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