Sweet Bird of Youth
Director: Richard Brooks
Year Released: 1962
Rating: 2.5
Paul Newman's driven - but aging - lover boy dreams of being a star in the pictures, so he attaches himself to Geraldine Page's aging actress in the hopes of exchanging his physical affection for her to propel him to glory - his real interest is in Shirley Knight, but she's got a crazy father (Ed Begley, cutting the mustard) who won't let him near her. Some of the more 'shocking' elements were removed for Safe Old Hollywood - that damned castration probably couldn't have gotten past the sensors (but the Moroccan hash certainly did!) - which is understandable, but what isn't is how it handles its flashbacks, fumbling between the past and present. The flamboyance of the performances go with the territory (Tennessee would have had it no other way), and almost all of the characters - except for Knight's blonde vixen - are completely odious; some viewers are under the impression this is one of Newman's finest roles.
