The Sound and the Fury (1959)

Watching this adaption of William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury I can only wonder he must have thought of this abortion of his work. This film seems to have been influenced by Harold Robbins more than Faulkner.For one thing the novel is a far better subject for a mini-series as it takes place over a couple of generations and is written from several points of view, not the straight linear narrative we get here. Secondly the novel was updated to present day meaning 1959 Mississippi. The civil rights era was on in Mississippi in 1959 and the attitudes expressed here would have been lost in 1959. The novel came out in the late Twenties and some of the action went back a generation earlier.These Compsons are one dissolute bunch and the only one of the family holding them together is Yul Brynner as Jason because heaven forfend he realizes they're not rich any more and that big mansion has gas and electric bills that need paying. He actually works for a living. The hope of the family may be Joanne Woodward as Quentin who is the illegitimate daughter of the most dissolute of all the Compsons Margaret Leighton.Leighton has been living away from the family and the genteel Mississippi folks she's been brought up with because of her disgrace with Woodward's birth. But she comes back and that sets off a whole chain of events that causes everyone to reevaluate how things are going for the Compsons.Ethel Waters did her last role in The Sound And The Fury as the family maid. Her family even in the servile position that blacks had in Mississippi in those days is still stronger than the Compsons even Yul Brynner. Too bad no musical number got worked into the script for her.The cast is a superbly talented one and they do their best with a hard to recognize Faulkner work, but the film as a whole comes up way short.

I've been longing to see this Southern Classic since last year. Thanks to YouTube. Actually, I prefer watching the movie version than the original Faulkner novel, which is too confusing and complex. After reading through some of the previous comments, I thought this movie was really as bad as they said.In fact, however, different people have different views. The movie plot is mostly taken from the Jason Compson part, and I was glad that it centers on Miss Quentin rather than her mother, Caddy(I never find her character that attractive from the book)Joanne Woodward was already 28 when she played Miss Quentin, but she was quite convincing as a 16-year-old girl with her short blonde hair and tiny body, mischievous, optimistic and tough at the same time. Maybe you might think that picking handsome, charismatic Yul Brynner as a southern patriarch is kind of weird, but friends, they changed the original Jason character into Cajun French, and having that thick European accent is normal and compelling enough. I must say that Brynner is no doubt a very good actor, especially when he reveals his expressions with his beautiful, intensive brown eyes. The ice-cream eating scene between Brynner and Woodward is really tender when he gazes at her, asking "Can't You?" right after she smilingly says she could not imagine Jason would be in love with someone. Moreover, the kissing part between Jason and Quentin is one of the most underrated passionate romance scene I have ever seen on screen. It is both romantic and hilarious as we watch Quentin hugs Jason back because she is finally infatuated with her tyrannical yet gorgeous non-blood related guardian.Supporting actresses Ethel Waters and Margaret Leighton also gives fabulous and brilliant performances. I find Leighton as classy as ever in the Caddy role. For Faulkner Fans, you may find this movie absurd. On the other hand, you may see this Martin Ritt Film as interesting and enthralling as possible.

One more in a long lineage of classic novels that have been very loosely adapted to the big screen, this colorful, but muddled, film suffers from a lack of focus and from miscasting. Woodward (pushing thirty, but portraying a teenager) plays the disenchanted, restless daughter of a woman who left her the day she was born, leaving her in the hands of a houseful of unhappy, emotionally-damaged relatives. Her uncle Beal is a broken-down alcoholic while her uncle Warden is a mentally deficient man-child. Her step-uncle Brynner runs the house with an iron fist, demanding acquiescence from all of them as his self-important and condescending mother Rosay brays on continuously. Attempting to keep the inhabitants in check is the devoted housekeeper Waters who has lived to see a once-great house decay into shambles as its owners have devolved from prominent citizens of the town into virtual flotsam. An already tense situation is escalated when Woodward takes up with carnival worker Whitman and her long-lost mother Leighton returns after a lengthy sojourn as a kept woman and a prostitute. What is one of the 20th century's most acclaimed literary works becomes a pot-boiling soap opera which has little or no point to it and threatens to break under the weight of some really poor casting decisions. Brynner is highly uncomfortable in this milieu, not aided by a head of artificial hair. He plays his role as if he's still The King of Siam, Bounine or Rameses and, despite his obvious grasp of authority, seems out of place most of the time. Woodward was just simply too old by this time to carry off her part, especially considering that "Peyton Place", a previous Jerry Wald production, had managed to find talented actors who were much closer to their characters' ages. She'd already been playing wives and mothers in other projects! Nonetheless, she does manage to turn in some decent acting throughout. Rosay is way, way over the top, screeching and bellowing every line in an unintelligible growl. At one point she threatens to stay in her room until she dies, as if the audience isn't already cheering for it to happen, and quick! Whitman is rather hunk-a-licious in a role that requires very little beyond that. Beal and Warden aren't displayed to any great effect though they don't embarrass themselves. Waters looks a bit silly in the opening sequence, but thankfully settles in to deliver a nicely grounded performance. There's also a decent cameo by Dekker as Brynner's co-worker/boss. The real draw here is a blowsy, damaged-flower turn by Leighton who brings a sense of tragedy and loss to her role while also staying interesting and captivating. Stepping in as a replacement for Lana Turner (!), she and Woodward bear enough of a resemblance to be believable as mother and daughter despite their differences in nationality. Leighton could just as well be portraying Blanche DuBois here and one can see that she'd have done well in that role also. Almost sure to disappoint fans of the novel, it's a film with a fascinating array of people, but without a strong enough script to support them. It takes quite a while to figure out who is who and who was married to who, and a bit too much is left up in the air. The implied happy ending seems queasy at best, considering the family circumstances of the couple. Still, it's always nice to see stars in action under the old studio system and witness the highly polished productions they churned out and fans of Leighton shouldn't miss this.

I have long wanted to see this film, knowing that it would be weird. I would think that viewers who have read the novel -- arguably, with Absalom, Absalom, Huck Finn, and Moby Dick, one of the four greatest American novels written -- would be, at the least, perplexed at the handling of this story, which could have, in the hands of a French New Wave director, been made into something that resembled the book. I had thought that Yul Brenner would be cast as Benjy. It gets all the more bizarre. Fascinating look at great literature meets hungry Hollywood. Of course, I may not be fair in that I thought Kubrik's take on The Shining was excellent, while King fans were outraged. Two Stars for its being made.