The Glass Menagerie (1973)

Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, Michael Moriarty

Sam Waterston, and the late, great Kate.

I'm not really sure what this is... I think that originally it was a Broadway production, and then they took the cast and filmed it too. Anyway, it's on dvd, and you can rent it, which by my definition, makes it a movie.

Glass Menagerie stars Katharine Hepburn and Sam Waterston in it which is more than reason enough to watch it. Personally, I'm a fan of Tennessee Williams' work, but I would say that even if one were ambivalent towards him, the performances alone are reason enough to give this a view. It was fun to see Hepburn grouped with this younger generation of actors; for some reason it's too easy to dismiss the faces of the Golden Age of Cinema as 'personalities' and not 'artists', and seeing her in the context of some of the better actors of the 70's helps her credibility in my own eyes.  She's actually quite good.

For those of you not forced to read it in high school, the story goes something like this: Tom, the narrator, lives with his mother, Amanda, and his sister, Laura, in a rundown apartment in St. Louis. The entire play takes place in said apartment. Claustrophobic yet? There are only four players in all; the first three I've already mentioned. The last is a suprise, and he comes at the end.

Glass Menagerie is about dysfunctional family relationships -- none of the characters seem to be able to communicate with each other properly. They are stuck in a rut; they live in one enclosed place with each other, do not really interact with the outside world in any meaninful manner, they are dependent on each other for all of their needs, most of which are not being met. Their conflicts take on a repetitive quality; it's the same thing over and over again, and nothing ever gets resolved.

Low production values, but you won't care.  Katherine Hepburn is distracting as the mother because we know her too well.  Sam Waterston is superb.  It seems that when he's cast right and working with a good team, he can be very good indeed.  Michael Moriarty, an actor who I usually like, was creepy-weird, but not in a good way.