I have watched this film several times. It still holds its power over me. Earl Holloman, made "Giant" in 1956, "The Rain Maker" and now here he is again, doing a great job. Bravo Earl. Stood next to him at Sherman Oaks Tower Records, and out of respect, didn't say a word. If you like them, you allow them, their private lives. They know you know who they are, and are grateful, you don't bother them. The best zoo in the world, this Hollywood community?
Geraldine Page deserved an Oscar. Yes, "Sweet Bird of Youth" is fine as well, but in "Summer and Smoke", she is brilliant as Alma.
Ms. Page carries the film alone.
Tennesse Williams, said, "He was all the women in his plays", and I believe it.
Ahhhh...the battle with the flesh and the Soul, timeless struggle, that no one seems to win, completely. Life happens between rounds, somewhere in the middle perhaps? Elmer Berstein's score is haunting and one of my favorites, next to his "To Kill a Mockingbird". See his website.
Alma represents the part of our collective psyche, that fights our sensual wild desires, that eventually, becomes "intergrated" into our whole self. The battle is white hot, on some summer nights. Summer is a sensual season, as our armor, mask, are shed, from the heat of the night, exposing our flesh, that screams to get loose, and thrive. Winter, where this battle resolves, allows these desires to be blanketed by heavy clothes, brisk winds, and we bury our self to put to sleep our pseudo-selves.
Summer seems to be a favorite season for Tennessee Williams, "streetcar Named Desire", again sweat, blood, and tears, leave us naked with our demons of desire. In the hot Southern nights, where Bible passages, do not quiet the beast, blood fires burn hot, and white linen grows damp with passions.
"Summer and Smoke" changes me a little each time I allow myself, to become enmeshed in its desperate struggle. "Night of the Iguana" again, a hot summer night, seems to finally, release us, from "Summer and Smoke" and we are redeemed, refreshed, anew...from "the night of the blue devils". Bravo to the cast for this splendid theatrical presentation on film.
Geraldine Page deserved an Oscar. Yes, "Sweet Bird of Youth" is fine as well, but in "Summer and Smoke", she is brilliant as Alma.
Ms. Page carries the film alone.
Tennesse Williams, said, "He was all the women in his plays", and I believe it.
Ahhhh...the battle with the flesh and the Soul, timeless struggle, that no one seems to win, completely. Life happens between rounds, somewhere in the middle perhaps? Elmer Berstein's score is haunting and one of my favorites, next to his "To Kill a Mockingbird". See his website.
Alma represents the part of our collective psyche, that fights our sensual wild desires, that eventually, becomes "intergrated" into our whole self. The battle is white hot, on some summer nights. Summer is a sensual season, as our armor, mask, are shed, from the heat of the night, exposing our flesh, that screams to get loose, and thrive. Winter, where this battle resolves, allows these desires to be blanketed by heavy clothes, brisk winds, and we bury our self to put to sleep our pseudo-selves.
Summer seems to be a favorite season for Tennessee Williams, "streetcar Named Desire", again sweat, blood, and tears, leave us naked with our demons of desire. In the hot Southern nights, where Bible passages, do not quiet the beast, blood fires burn hot, and white linen grows damp with passions.
"Summer and Smoke" changes me a little each time I allow myself, to become enmeshed in its desperate struggle. "Night of the Iguana" again, a hot summer night, seems to finally, release us, from "Summer and Smoke" and we are redeemed, refreshed, anew...from "the night of the blue devils". Bravo to the cast for this splendid theatrical presentation on film.