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Friday, May 30, 2008

THE ROSE TATTOO (1955)

Opening up his own play (w/ an assist from Bob Hope specialist Hal Kanter!), Tennessee Williams created a hybrid that leaks dramatic tension and human comedy from his unmatchable sex-hungry, life-affirming farce. Anna Magnani may have been his original B'way choice for self-deluded widow Serafina, but megger Daniel Mann is unable to keep her from erupting like Old Faithful in every damn scene. No major star of his era pushed himself farther off type than Burt Lancaster and if he’s hopelessly miscast as the inept new lover, he’s endearingly winning. (Eli Wallach did the part on stage and his film debut in BABY DOLL offers a close variant on his perf.) James Wong Howe has a blast shooting in the fine grain B&W VistaVision process, but Mann’s directorial choices all come off as either too much and too little.

CONTEST - Be the first to name the Oscar winning actress who triumphed as a most unlikely Serafina in the original B'way cast and win our prize, a MAKSQUIBS Write-Up of whatever NetFlix DVD you choose. (Hey! No Googling. We're looking for good guesses. Remember, it's a most unlikely choice.)

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