Wuchak Released in 1960 and directed by Sidney Lumet from Tennessee Williams' screenplay, "The Fugitive Kind" is a B&W southern Gothic drama starring Marlon Brando as loner minstrel Val "Snakeskin" from New Orleans in pursuit of a new life and the people with whom to live it. He stumbles upon a Mississippi town and gets a job at a mercantile store, which is run by a lonely passed-her-prime woman, Lady (Anna Magnani). While Snakeskin works the store downstairs, Lady's terminally ill husband is bedridden upstairs (Victor Jory). Joanne Woodward plays a histrionic beatnik while Maureen Stapleton is on hand as a housewife enamored by Snakeskin. R.G. Armstrong appears as the redneck sheriff.The first time I watched this movie (in 2008) I didn't much like it, probably because I wasn't familiar with Williams' stagey, melodramatic style of writing. However, after just viewing Williams' "The Night of the Iguana" (1964) and really appreciating it, I had a taste for more and so gave "The Fugitive Kind" a second chance. I'm glad I did because, this time, I was able to discern its highlights and got a lot more out of it.Marlon was in the midst of my favorite period of his career while filming this movie. Arguably his greatest films, "The Young Lions" (1958), "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961) and "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962), were all shot during this time. While "The Fugitive Kind" is easily the least of these it's worth checking out for a number of reasons, as long as you're in the mood for a talky adult melodrama. Like "The Night of the Iguana," this is a brooding rumination on the nature of existence. As such, there are numerous treasures to glean from the seemingly interminable dialogues. The movie's overlong and could've been tightened up, but the interspersed riches hidden within make it worth staying with, but you have to be a seasoned adult to appreciate it or, at least, mature for your years.Woodward's beatnik character is interesting as she's basically a hippie before hippies existed. Although her character is histrionic and somewhat annoying, some of her reflections are poignant, like in the interesting cemetery scene with Snakeskin. Emory Richardson is almost fascinating as Carol's silent black friend in a racist community. Some of their platonic imagery together is unexpected and intriguing for a film shot in 1959.Brando was 35 during filming and became the first actor to make $1 million for a single film (although Elizabeth Taylor earlier signed a $1 million contract for "Cleopatra," that movie wasn't released until 1963). Magnani was 51 and hot to sleep with the star, but Marlon didn't find her attractive which, needless to say, negatively affected the shoot. This is surprising because some of their scenes together are quite good. I incidentally had an Italian neighbor who passed away six weeks ago who was strikingly reminiscent of Magnani's character, both looks-wise and temperament-wise. So I know firsthand that people like her exist.The film runs 119 minutes and was shot in Milton, New York.GRADE: B

deickos This film brings together my favorite actors of all time Marlon Brando and Anna Magnani in such outstanding performances. By the way, Joan Woodward cannot fall behind and too performs exceptionally. This film should be taught in every drama school. We should not forget the great original play "Orpheus descending" by Tennessee Williams and the descent directing of Sydney Lumet. So many geniuses bundled together in this great movie!

spelvini There's something basically elemental about a character who wants to improve his life and who gets knocked down at every turn. This is the stuff of all the great stories of success in the modern world and The Fugitive Kind, with its religious and sexual imagery rides this theme to a glorified dramatic climax.In a slow southern town in Mississippi, entertainer Valentine "Snakeskin" Xavier (Marlon Brando) wanders into trouble when he tires of fast girlfriend Carole Cutrere (Joanne Woodward) and her friends and decides to start a new life. He finds work in a store belonging to Lady Torrence (Anna Magnani) a repressed Italian widow married to an overbearing racist. Lady pines for the old days when she and her first husband had an estate with fruit trees and supposed happiness. Husband Jabe M. Torrance (Victor Jory) is dying of cancer and tries to remain an obstacle to Lady's opening a new money-making addition to the failing store. When she enlists Valentine to be her partner, the relationship gets out of hand and the result is a tragic one for many.Tennessee Williams in his day was a popular writer for actors because he laid out very speakable lines, which were also incisive words that revealed the core of a characters needs and desires in ways that were completely acceptable regardless of the degradation of the characters spirit.Although the film abounds with monologues that exhibit the high-minded attitudes and values of the characters and the writer of the material, the Gothic southern landscape supports completely this verbose derangement of verbiage. Brando has moments in which he sears through the screen with his seemingly inept performance. It's hard to knock the actor no matter how caricatured his performances have become. In his day Brando was the man for actors precisely because he was able to sustain such performance for the camera.Anna Magnani as Lady Torrance delivers one of the best perfs of her life as the repressed wife of a southern racist. How this relationship began we can only guess, and that's not important. What we get from the coupling is the final outrage resulting from years of built-up hatred. Her dynamic interaction with Brando is one for the film historians (although it is reported that Brando wasn't impressed). For fans like me she can never deliver a flat performance.Director Sidney Lumet surely must have felt he was reining a glorious beast of a film with its hot star cast and edgy story. The Mississippi locale doesn't sound too much like the deep south- we can actually understand the characters speaking. The look of the movie feels like a lost world with a beautiful high-contrast black-and-white imagery that does a lot for the performances, although some long monologues of Brando talking about the religious flying creature of his soul may have you nodding off.No matter how you look at it The Fugitive Kind is a piece of Hollywood history that remains a testament to all involved, actors, writer, and director, and clearly shows how a period of studio filmmaking in America reached great heights. This remastered version shows the movie at its best.

Desertman84 The Fugitive Kind is a film that stars Marlon Brando,Joanne Woodward and Anna Magnani.The movie was written by Meade Roberts and Tennessee Williams that was based on the latter's play Orpheus Descending.It was directed by Sidney Lumet.The story has Marlon Brando as Valentine "Snakeskin" Xavier,a trouble- prone drifter who wanders into a deliciously Williamsesque Mississippi town. Here he becomes involved in the problems of alcoholic Carole Cutrere and unhappily married and sex-starved Lady Torrence.Then,he also runs afoul of Torrence's vicious and cancer-stricken husband. Sexual symbolism abounds in this tempestuous drama. It could have been a great movie considering the talent that surrounds the production such as Williams,Lumet,Brando,Magnani and Woodward but it turned into an slightly above average film. It drags for a while and it mundane for most part.It was probably more suited for the theater rather than cinema.What saves the movie is the excellent performance of Brando.Nevertheless,it still is a must-see for his fans.