The Sound and the Fury (1959) YTS

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

Well the principal casting here is quite bizarre

Well the principal casting here is quite bizarre. It's really Yul Brynner who struggles to convince as the Russian-born, adopted, head of the "Compson" family - a supposed southern states gentleman having to come to terms with the fairly profound changes in the local hierarchy and in their own personal, dwindling, fortunes. Despite the fact that most of the rest of this family have long given up and taken to the bottle or just cannot cope with the realities, he is still determined to restore things to a semblance of their former glory. To that end he shares a vision with his niece "Quentin" (Joanne Woodward). She was abandoned by her mother - his flighty sister "Caddy" (Margaret Leighton) - at birth and so has developed an embittered but determined independent steak - and that comes with flaws and numerous errors of judgement! "Compson" is resolved to keep her from both predators and from herself - and a clash of personalities is soon looming! The story here is really quite derivative and the characterisations lightweight, delivering a story that has all the ingredients of a smouldering tale of the American south, but rather forgets to light the fire. Leighton delivers quite strongly here, I thought, as does an on-form Woodward - but in isolation they can't really rescue this from it's over-scripted doldrums. Great title but it disappoints, sorry.

Reviewed by MOscarbradley 6 / 10

This needs to be even trashier than it is.

A great source novel, a fine director, a terrific cast and two very good writers so what could possibly have gone wrong? Something obviously did for at best Martin Ritt's film of William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" never rises above camp which is fine by me just so long as you don't expect anything more than a trashy piece of Southern Gothic.This was a Jerry Wald production and was aimed at an adult audience or maybe just an adult American audience who took these shenanigans for granted, (its Deep South setting has always been a source of fascination). It's a family saga, (naturally), and set on some kind of plantation, (naturally), though perhaps the most interesting aspect is that the black servants are much more forward thinking than their white employers.A miscast Yul Brynner, (with wig), is the head of the household; Joanne Woodward, (too old for the part she is playing), is the rebelious young girl whose mother, (Margaret Leighton), abandoned her as a baby but who has now returned to the fold; Ethel Waters is the 'Mammy' character, Jack Warden is the 'idiot' uncle, Francoise Rosay is Brynner's mother and Stuart Whitman, the carny with an eye on Woodward. With such a disparate cast you could say they are a very strange family. On the plus side it certainly looks good; Charles G Clarke shot it in Cinemascope and it is certainly lush. It might have been better if it had been even trashier; as it is it's somewhat po-faced. If you must have Faulkner go with "The Tarnished Angels" or even "The Long Hot Summer".

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The Sound and the Fury

1959

Action / Drama

The Sound and the Fury

1959

Action / Drama

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Well the principal casting here is quite bizarre

This needs to be even trashier than it is.

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