Desire Under the Elms *** (1958, Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Burl Ives) – Classic Movie Review 7143

Director Delbert Mann’s 1958 movie of playwright Eugene O’Neill’s Desire under the Elms stars Sophia Loren as Anna, who intrudes into a theatrical version of 19th-century New England, marries Ephraim Cabot (Burl Ives) and has a child by his son, Eben (Anthony Perkins).

Delbert Mann’s movie is intriguing, even quite fascinating, but also stagey and hesitant, since Hollywood seems out of its depth tiptoeing in the halls of culture, though the attractive actors make quite a little headway, particularly the ebullient Ives.

Also in the cast are Frank Overton, Pernell Roberts (in his film debut), Rebecca Welles, Jean Willes, Anne Seymour, Roy Fant and Charlotte Knight.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7143

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