Word: screenplay
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Osborne's greatest distinction is his ability to write long, furious, bitterly hilarious monologues, using common speech in a new and corrosively expressive manner. In Nigel Kneale's screenplay, with "additional dialogue" by Mr. Osborne, the brillant, obscene rhapsodies that lit up the play have been ruthlessly cropped, in an attempt to meet the demands of what is always said to be a "visual medium," and nothing can compensate for this loss...
...Richard Nash, a major Broadway playwright, has fashioned an excellent screenplay, remarkably faithful to DuBose Heyward's libretto. And Oliver Smith has captured the flavor of Catfish Row in an authentic-looking, yet properly stylized set. The color, the lighting, Irene Sharaff's costumes--all beautiful. Andre Previn (winner of last year's Academy Award for his work on Gigi) did the arrangements, which bring a new fullness to the Gershwin score. They are lush in the best Hollywood tradition, but never maudlin...
Robert Hamer's restrained direction and Paul Beeson's camera work are fine. The film's only major fault is the screenplay, written by Hamer from an adaptation by Gore Vidal. It's a pity Vidal wasn't allowed to do the whole job. Hamer's script leaves a number of loose ends and unclear motivations; and the denouement is both trite and inexcusably abrupt. But the picture is worth seeing for its performances...
Actually, it is difficult to take offense at any particular passage in the screenplay. The discussions are conducted with verbal propriety and legal objectivity, and every one of them is necessary to the development of the theme. But it is possible to object to the theme itself, and to suspect that the moviemakers picked it principally because it offered opportunities for sensationalism. Nevertheless, the film displays an attitude toward sex that is more wholesome than the merely sniggering spirit that prevails in many a movie; and for those who can stand the straight talk, it provides a memorable exhibition...
Marty (at the Brattle, Wednesday and Thursday). This is the Oscar-winner about just plain folks, with Ernest Borgnine in the starring role, and Paddy Chayevsky responsible for the screenplay. The picture has had many, many imitations, but none has succeeded in matching the original...