Valentine Xavier (Marlon Brando) is a moody, guitar-playing drifter.   He arrives in a small Mississippi town and takes a job in the local general store, run by Lady Torrance (Anna Magnani) and her brutal invalid husband, Jabe (Victor Jory).

It isn’t long before Val has not only attracted the interest of local, spoiled rich tramp, Carol Cutrere (Joanne Woodward), but has also begun a passionate affair with Lady, an involvement that has tragic consequences for everybody involved.

CRITIQUE

The Fugitive Kind is classic early Marlon Brando, who received a million dollar paycheck for his participation in this picture.  The problem is that, watching this renowned actor at the height of his popularity, one can’t help but feel that he is “doing a Marlon Brando cliché’,” rather than making the character of Valentine Xavier live and breathe.

Part of the trouble is the script, which was freely adapted by Tennessee Williams and Meade Roberts from Williams’ Battle of Angels and its rewrite, Orpheus Descending.  Both versions of the play were unsuccessful during their New York engagements.

This is not one of Williams’ better plays.  It contains no unforgettable characters like Blanche DuBois, Stanley Kowalski or “Big Daddy,” and its ending is a downer.  Actually. most of Williams’ plays have unhappy conclusions, but in most cases, when Hollywood brought them to the big screen, the endings were, arguably, more upbeat.  That is not the case with this independent 1960 production.

On the other hand, even a less than superb Tennessee Williams play has it’s poetic moments that mesmerize, such as Brando’s scene in which he tells about the little bird that flies on the wind and only touches earth when it dies.

Masterfully directed (within the confines of the script) by Sidney Lumet, The Fugitive Kind is a morose drama that crackles with several fine performances, in particular those of Woodward as a lost soul crying for help and Magnani as a woman who has been forced to keep her strong emotions pent up inside for all of her life.

THE VIDEO

The restored picture is crisp, sharp with no apparent flaws.

THE AUDIO

The Mono soundtrack is clear.  Indeed, you can even understand Brando when he mumbles.

THE EXTRAS

The 2-disc DVD contains:

A recent on-camera interview with director Sidney Lumet.

Hollywood and The Fugitive Kind, a half-hour retrospective documentary about the making of the film.

Three Plays by Tennessee Williams, a 1958 1-hour television show, featuring a trio of the author’s 1-act plays.  Williams introduces each play and Sidney Lumet directs.

The set also contains a booklet with an essay by David Thomson, “When Sidney went to Tennessee”.

FINAL THOUGHT

This is a good production of one of Tennessee Williams’ lesser works.