Summer And Smoke

In 1952, Geraldine Page starred in this Williams play. It took nine years for it to get to the screen, and if it weren't for Page's luminous performance, there would not be much to recommend the movie. Williams had dealt with this character before under another name in THE GLASS MENAGERIE. She is supposedly based on his sister, who ultimately went insane. What the title means is anybody's guess. Director Glenville staged the London version of the show and was brought in to handle the movie but didn't have much understanding of the oppressive southern upbringing depicted in the script. Perhaps his direction made sense when Englishmen and women spoke the lines in the...