Review of Mourning Becomes Electra

The full British version of this movie is now available on an excellent Image DVD, but I must admit I was disappointed. I'm very glad I wasn't subjected to the original USA release version of 173 minutes, but in my opinion the British release of 159 minutes is still too long. I would have eliminated the whole of the final act, namely the whole of the Kirk Douglas episode which is not only an anti-climax and a poor recapitulation of events we have already witnessed, but actually a complete waste of time. I think the melodrama reaches the right climactic height and comes to a really satisfying conclusion before Kirk Douglas finally has his say. Mind you, it's not Kirk's dialogue that is so boring, but Rosalind Russell's. She is forced to recapitulate sentiments and speculations that she has already broached far more effectively in previous confrontations earlier in the play. And although director/screenwriter Dudley Nichols allows Russell tends to dominate the action, she is forced, alas, to play one of the least interesting characters. Only Henry Hull has an equally boring role, but he's in the movie for only a fraction of the time allotted to Miss Russell, and what's more, he shares just about all his scenes with other players. I was also not always happy with Katina Paxinou's interpretation. I thought she handled most of her scenes very astutely indeed, but at other times I felt she was giving a performance more suitable for a stage presentation. By contrast, Leo Genn opted for the opposite approach and tended to underplay his role. Mind you, he has an extremely difficult part but he approaches it the way he would on a stage. When his character is playing a deceptive role, he attacks it with vigor. When he wants to present Adam Brant free of deception, he underplays – as he would in a theatre. Unfortunately, this stratagem doesn't always work in movies – and for me, it didn't work here. But that's the way it struck me. You may think differently and feel that Genn handled both aspects of his characterization extremely well. Raymond Massey, of course, is perfect as always; but I wasn't over-happy with Michael Redgrave who seemed to pass up many of his opportunities in order to keep the spotlight on Rosalind Russell. As I intimated above, Rosalind Russell was already dominating the movie and she really needed someone to bring her down to size occasionally. Only Katina Paxinou had a good try at this, but I felt at times that director Dudley Nichols in collaboration with cameraman George Barnes and make-up artist Gordon Bau, was doing his best to sabotage Katina's efforts to upstage Roz.