Sweet Bird Of Youth

Williams's steamy play gets the Richard Brooks whitewash--as with CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Instead of Newman's hustler getting castrated, it's the original stage piece that gets emasculated here. Newman, Page, Sherwood, and Torn repeat their Broadway roles, and Hollywood replaced Sidney Blackmer, Diana Hyland, and Martine Bartlett with Begley, Knight, and Dunnock--all in good form. Admittedly, Brooks was under orders to make changes to the play in order to secure approval from the Production Code. But he doesn't allow the expert cast to go to the mat like they need to.

Newman is a gigolo who thinks he can make it in film; all he needs is a break. In Florida, he me...