Hollywood, the factory of mass entertainment, has occasionally felt the need to produce films that are, for want of a better word, 'worthy'.
There are notable exceptions of course in the case of Sidney Lumet, William Wyler and Daniel Mann but generally the attempts to bring plays to the screen are hampered by cinema's constraints and compromises.
Of all the ancient Greek dramatists it is the works of Euripides with their psychological penetration and destructive passions that have had the greatest influence on future dramatists and Eugene O'Neill's play 'Desire under the Elms' is inspired by the tragic love triangle of Phaedra, Hippolytus and Theseus. Adapting O'Neill for the screen has long been a thorny problem and has resulted in more misses than hits. This particular film, directed by Delbert Mann, must I fear, fall into the 'miss' category.
Burl Ives, although a far cry from the 'tall and gaunt' Ephraim of O'Neill's imagining, is simply stupendous in the role. 1958 was to be an annus mirabilis for him as he also gave us Big Daddy and picked up an Oscar for his Rufus in 'The Big Country'. Anthony Perkins as his son Eben is fine and utilises his rather neurotic persona to great effect. The weak link is the casting of Sophia Loren whose character's name has been changed, unsurpisingly, from Abbie to Anna. Of the five films she made for Paramount this is by far the most challenging. It is not that she is bad in the role but it comes too soon in her career. She certainly has the talent but lacks the skill to tackle such a complex character. That skill of course would develop under the guidance of her 'Svengali', Vittorio de Sica.
Delbert Mann has mainly kept the piece within the proscenium arch but the staginess is all too apparent and the overall effect is both lame and tame. He is alas totally out of his depth in this material and the commercially cynical attempt to capitalise on La Loren's sexual charisma has done the original no service whatsoever. Oh well, that's Hollywood!
Of all the ancient Greek dramatists it is the works of Euripides with their psychological penetration and destructive passions that have had the greatest influence on future dramatists and Eugene O'Neill's play 'Desire under the Elms' is inspired by the tragic love triangle of Phaedra, Hippolytus and Theseus. Adapting O'Neill for the screen has long been a thorny problem and has resulted in more misses than hits. This particular film, directed by Delbert Mann, must I fear, fall into the 'miss' category.
Burl Ives, although a far cry from the 'tall and gaunt' Ephraim of O'Neill's imagining, is simply stupendous in the role. 1958 was to be an annus mirabilis for him as he also gave us Big Daddy and picked up an Oscar for his Rufus in 'The Big Country'. Anthony Perkins as his son Eben is fine and utilises his rather neurotic persona to great effect. The weak link is the casting of Sophia Loren whose character's name has been changed, unsurpisingly, from Abbie to Anna. Of the five films she made for Paramount this is by far the most challenging. It is not that she is bad in the role but it comes too soon in her career. She certainly has the talent but lacks the skill to tackle such a complex character. That skill of course would develop under the guidance of her 'Svengali', Vittorio de Sica.
Delbert Mann has mainly kept the piece within the proscenium arch but the staginess is all too apparent and the overall effect is both lame and tame. He is alas totally out of his depth in this material and the commercially cynical attempt to capitalise on La Loren's sexual charisma has done the original no service whatsoever. Oh well, that's Hollywood!