The Glass Menagerie *** (1973, Katharine Hepburn, Michael Moriarty, Sam Waterston, Joanna Miles) – Classic Movie Review 7564

Four first-class performances light up the excellent new script for television of Tennessee Williams’s play in director Anthony Harvey’s 1973 TV movie The Glass Menagerie. It won four Primetime Emmys.

Katharine Hepburn is battling the disadvantages of both age and strength of character, so she is not really ideally cast. But nevertheless she is very fine and moving in her TV movie début as the faded Southern belle Amanda Wingfield, while Michael Moriarty eats up the support role of the Gentleman Caller and won the Best Supporting Actor in Drama Emmy for it, and Joanna Miles won the Best Supporting Actress in Drama as Amanda’s daughter shy, crippled daughter, Laura Wingfield. Sam Waterston is solid as the reminiscing poetic son, merchant marine officer Tom Wingfield.

Moriarty won a second Emmy as Supporting Actor of the Year and Miles a second one as Supporting Actress of the Year.

The Glass Menagerie is directed by Anthony Harvey, runs 98 minutes, is made by Talent, is released by ABC, is written by Stewart Stern, based on the play by Tennessee Williams, is shot by Billy Williams, is produced by David Susskind, and is scored by John Barry, with Production Design by Terence Marsh.

It was filmed at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and at Universal Studios, California.

It follows the 1950 film version The Glass Menagerie (with Gertrude Lawrence) and it was filmed again by Paul Newman in 1987 (with Joanne Woodward) as The Glass Menagerie. Unlike the 1950 film, there is no opening up this time, with just the four characters of the play.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7564

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