Word: wallach
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Since drunk scenes in comedies have a way of being funny independently of their context, why not turn out a play that consists almost entirely of drunk scenes? Why not, in fact, write Drink To Me Only? Well, two jokers named Abram S. Ginnes and Ira Wallach have done it. When they finish rewriting, they might well have on their hands a piece of farce of cataclysmic jocularity...
...Ginnes and Mr. Wallach have little in the way of taste or style, but, providentially enough, they have got Tom Poston to play the bibulating barrister. The idea of watching an actor stumbling and mumbling for nearly two hours is not an intrinsically attractive one, but Mr. Poston bears up beautifully under his incredibly heavy load. His sober scenes are mediocre, but as soon as he is suitably fueled he takes off like a rocket. He delivers quick wisecracks and long monologues with conviction and beautiful timing, but nothing he says is funnier than his silent, abstracted attempt...
...hooted for lack of any, had his first professional Manhattan hearing. In The Chairs, dubbed "a tragic farce," an aged couple who live in a sort of wave-washed fortress give a party for a horde of guests who are only so many chairs. After the old man (Eli Wallach) has delivered a "message" about the world, he and his wife throw themselves into the water. Swimming in symbolism, The Chairs readily enough suggests people's enisled fate in life's estranging sea, their efforts to flesh their daydreams, enforce their beliefs, communicate, be remembered. Providing playfully humorous...
...every now and then. At RKO Keith. The Great Man is dead. Long live his greatness? Jose Ferrer snoops around tensely, and says no. A tidy film. At the Beacon Hill. Baby Doll doesn't deserve all the publicity but contains three brilliant performances--by Eli Wallach, Karl Malden, and baby-blond newcomer Carrol Baker. Kazan's direction is outstanding, but Tennessee Williams' contributions to the film are weak. In the suburbs. The Rainmaker involves Lancaster, Hepburn (the elder), and drought in a mildly engaging evening. It rains, after a while. At The Saxon...
Kazan's most important contribution to the film, apart from getting remarkable performances from his actors, was to turn Williams' sweaty study of degeneracy into a comedy. Always searching for humor among the dirt, Kazan has his principals--Carroll Baker, as Baby Doll, Karl Malden, as Meighan, and Eli Wallach, as Vacarro--explore the comic sides of their characters. His direction is brilliant and the three performers, who give unanimously superb performances, prove once and for all that Kazan's rather nervous brand of naturalistic acting is quite suitable for comedy. The director's interpretation unquestionably improves the script, even...