I don’t really think too often about Tennessee Williams’ women, but in the last couple of weeks I have seen a movie, The Loss of the Teardrop Diamond and a play A Streetcar Named Desire so his women have been on my mind. In anticipation of seeing Cate Blanchett in Streetcar (which by the way was one of the BEST performance on stage EVER) I pulled out my old copy of the play off the shelf and on the cover was a picture of Marlon Brando. But then I saw the play and I was reminded — it is all about Blanche.
It made me think more about Williams and his women. He seriously had a knack for writing these southern women who just couldn’t fit into the culture, who were stultified and driven mad when the constrictions of their world closed in on them. Bryce Dallas Howard is Fisher Willow (love that name) the latest Williams incarnation in the newly discovered script that Williams wrote directly for the screen, The Loss of the Teardrop Diamond. The script was found by actress Jodie Markell who fell in love with it and set about making this film her directorial debut.
Howard is very interesting as a young woman who tries to play by a lot of the rules of her stature in 1920s New Orleans but at the same time chafes at those same rules. She just doesn’t fit in and wants to get the hell out, but at the same time knows she’s stuck.
Film also includes performance by Ellen Burstyn as a woman who wants to die with dignity, Mamie Gummer and a brief cameo by Ann Margaret.
Film opens today in NY and LA.
Williams was strongly influenced by women in his life, especially his younger sister (whom he had based Laura Wingfield in “The Glass Menagerie” on) and his controlling, dominative mother, who was also a source of inspiration for his plays.
He is definitely a woman’s playwright and I love him for that.
I saw The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond a few months ago, and while I usually like Williams’ work and there were some great actors in it (Burstyn especially) I did not enjoy it much. I found it visually beautiful, but I don’t think the screenplay worked that well as an actual SCREENplay. I felt like it could have worked better on a stage. It was like they had all the right ingredients, but they just didn’t come together as a whole.
This was may be very shallow of me, but I also found it distracting that Howard was visibly pregnant when the character was not.
OOOh please do tell more about that film…when and where did t come out? Is it rentable now?
I love Williams, especially after calling NOLA my home for so long (my spirit is still there).
Yes, his female characters have always been interesting and complex.
Yes yes yes
I’ve had an unhealthy obsession with Tennessee Williams since High School, and I also adore Amy Adams, so I’ll definitely be checking this out when I get a chance.
*Bryce Dallas Howard–not Amy Adams lol
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