I caught only the last hour of this play taped for PBS. This play is well written and somewhat outdated but it displays the enormous, beautiful talent of Dame Rosemary Harris (She's not damed yet but she should be)she's beautiful and very talented. She's one of the great divas of the theatre overall. Then there is Eva LaGallienne who is one of the great acting divas of all time. Eva and Rosemary should have earned Emmys for their roles as mother and daughter. They were totally into characters. It's worth $30 to order it now. It wasn't until I recently read more about Eva LaGallienne who should have had more roles in her lifetime that brought her fame and happiness. She was respected for her caliber in the theater but it never transferred to film or television because of her sexual orientation. She never denied who she was attracted too and she should be remembered that the true passion of her life was truly the stage. That's how I will remember Eva's legacy is that the stage is where she belonged most.
3 Reviews
Excellent translation of the stage play to the small screen.
fisherforrest11 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I know that's true because I happened to see the play produced on stage by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland recently. It's no secret that this excellent family drama was suggested by the antics, tribulations and frantic life of the Barrymore clan of thespians. Lionel isn't included for some reason, but the rest of them are all there, agonising about not getting parts, planning an extensive tour even at advanced age, frantically escaping to Europe to avoid lawsuits, and planning to leave the stage to get married. One of them does, the youngest, but obviously regrets it later on. Another plans to marry, but at the end she obviously isn't going to.
The principal people we see beyond in-laws and such are the matriarch played by Eva LeGallienne, "Julie", who presumably represents Ethel Barrymore, played exquisitely by Rosemary Harris, and the daughter of "Julie", limned rather petulantly by Mary Layne. Rosemary doesn't much resemble Ethel, but when we come to "Tony" we get a surprise. He looks one heck of a lot like John Barrymore, and acts like him, too. Pay attention to the scene near the end when "Julie" realises the big business tycoon she plans to marry is a shallow nincompoop aside from business. That settles it, she stays in the theatre. Don't worry that this looks like a filmed play. That's what it is. The set used in the Ashland production looks almost exactly like the one in this made-for-TV filming. It's a lot of fun.
The principal people we see beyond in-laws and such are the matriarch played by Eva LeGallienne, "Julie", who presumably represents Ethel Barrymore, played exquisitely by Rosemary Harris, and the daughter of "Julie", limned rather petulantly by Mary Layne. Rosemary doesn't much resemble Ethel, but when we come to "Tony" we get a surprise. He looks one heck of a lot like John Barrymore, and acts like him, too. Pay attention to the scene near the end when "Julie" realises the big business tycoon she plans to marry is a shallow nincompoop aside from business. That settles it, she stays in the theatre. Don't worry that this looks like a filmed play. That's what it is. The set used in the Ashland production looks almost exactly like the one in this made-for-TV filming. It's a lot of fun.
"I am a stepping stone for no one!"
mark.waltz17 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
If ever there was a family ripe for parodying in the golden age of Broadway, it was the grand family of Broadway itself, the Barrymores. I'm surprised that when this opened in 1927, playwright George F. Kaufman didn't convince either John or Ethel Barrymore to step into the roles spoofing themselves. This is a filmed version of the 1975 revival, a big hit for a legendary cast led by Eva Le Gallienne, Rosemary Harris and Ellis Rabb as the matriarch of a grand theater family and her two children. Somehow brother Lionel managed to get left behind in the parody, but perhaps how they avoided legal action. There's also an uncle, his shrewish wife, and Harris's daughter who has announced that she wants to live a normal life which of course turns this family on its axis, considering that they obviously feel that the world revolves around them.
Obviously the Royal Family of Broadway is a royal pain for anyone who knows them, but they have been kowtowed to for so long that no amount of therapy could cure them if that attention stopped. This is a lavish production that is probably going to be a big shock for "Aunt Mae" fans of the early "Spider Man" movies. It's the year before Rosemary Harris won acclaim as the matriarch in the TV miniseries "Holocaust", and more than 30 years later, she would return to this play to portray matriarch Fanny.
A beautiful set shows the austentatiousness of this lifestyle, and how these actors continue to act even when they are not on stage. To see legendary stage performers spoofing their own profession is an absolute delight, and having seen Harris as recently as 2018 on Broadway (as Mrs. Higgins in a revival of "My Fair Lady") and other roles playing a very eccentric, narcissistic character unlike her image is a thrill. Mary Layne, Mary Louise Wilson and Rosetta LeNoire deserve shout-outs as the youngest member of the family, demanding in-law and maid, with LeNoire not adding unnecessary sass to her part but getting laughs none the less.
Obviously the Royal Family of Broadway is a royal pain for anyone who knows them, but they have been kowtowed to for so long that no amount of therapy could cure them if that attention stopped. This is a lavish production that is probably going to be a big shock for "Aunt Mae" fans of the early "Spider Man" movies. It's the year before Rosemary Harris won acclaim as the matriarch in the TV miniseries "Holocaust", and more than 30 years later, she would return to this play to portray matriarch Fanny.
A beautiful set shows the austentatiousness of this lifestyle, and how these actors continue to act even when they are not on stage. To see legendary stage performers spoofing their own profession is an absolute delight, and having seen Harris as recently as 2018 on Broadway (as Mrs. Higgins in a revival of "My Fair Lady") and other roles playing a very eccentric, narcissistic character unlike her image is a thrill. Mary Layne, Mary Louise Wilson and Rosetta LeNoire deserve shout-outs as the youngest member of the family, demanding in-law and maid, with LeNoire not adding unnecessary sass to her part but getting laughs none the less.
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