This Property Is Condemned | Natalie Wood, Robert Redford | Depression Era In Backwoods Dodson,...

This Property Is Condemned | Natalie Wood, Robert Redford | NatalieWoodClassic

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This Property Is C...

	This Property Is Condemned Natalie Wood, Robert Redford Paramount, 2003 average customer review:based on 58 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Depression Era In Backwoods Dodson, MI- Williams Masterpiece

Inspired by the great Tennessee Williams' one act, two person play of the same name, brought to the screen by sreenwriter Francis Ford Coppola and directed by Sydney Pollack, "This Property Is Condemned" is a sordid, sick, and ultimately sad story of the Starr family trying to make a go of running a boardinghouse minus their runaway father during depression era in a small backwater town called Dodson in the state of Mississippi. Told in flashback sequence from the jaded eyes of a young pre-adolescent who has experienced and seen too much in her short life, Willie Starr who idolizes her older sister, Alva and "main attraction" of Dodson... When Mr. Owen Legate, (Robert Redford) railroad official, struts into the small town from big city New Orleans, he has with him a suit pocket plumb full of pink slips for a good majority of the railyard workers. It will certainly be the undoing of the small town and the families who live there. Owen rents a room in the Starr boardinghouse and comes to know the oldest daughter, town flirt, dreamer and screaming to get outta Mississippi, Alva Starr, played to sheer perfection by Natalie Wood. Alva's mother has a relationship "of sorts" with a snake of a man named JJ, played very understatedly and well by a young Charles Bronson. JJ is really hot after young, beautiful and promiscuous Alva, not Alva's 43 year old dried up horrible witch of a mother who plays Alva's pimp during the entire movie. Owen gets to know Alva in more ways than one as they start a torrid love affair. This ignites her mother's and the whole town's revenge upon Owen and Alva. Repressed desires of ALL KINDS, sultry women, sweltering weather and a handsome stranger... this CERTAINLY IS Tennessee Williams territory. Highly Recommended! Happy Watching!

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NatalieWoodClassic

I'm a huge Natalie Wood fan,and I love this film.She was so sexy in it,and there are so many huge stars in the movie just starting out.Your really going to enjoy this movie if you've never seen it before,and its timeless.It looks like it could have been filmed today.

Star Power Add Value To This Property

Director Sidney Pollack surrounds his two top stars with a great cast of actors and in so doing created a small masterpiece of this story of a Mississippi Camille. He recreates the depression era south with meticulous detail and creates an atmosphere of steamy nights and sweltering days at a dilapidated rail line boarding house that is on it's last legs. In this one of his early films he shows that he is about to become one of the great directors of Cinema.

The adaptation of the play by Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Coe, and Edith Sommer crackles with the music of William's dialog. All the elements of a William's female character on the edge of her fate and dreaming of a better life are blended and expanded by the writers.

Robert Redford as Owen Legate, the railroad "spotter" who changes everyone's lives when he arrives with pink slips for most of Dodson Mississippi turns in another strong performance. He is practical man without dreams of his own. Owen is cool, surgical and disassociated from his own feelings. Only the dreamy and deluded magic of Wood's Alma can open his heart and eyes to the possibilities of love. He and Natalie Wood have a palpable chemistry as they circle and spar their way into a star-crossed love affaire.

Kate Reid as Alma's scheming middle-aged mother hit's the nail right on the head in her hard and sometimes funny performance. Her manipulation of Alma into an unacknowledged succession of love for pay relationships with the male boarders of her house is chilling to witness. She is a monster of a mother who hangs around to catch the discarded crumbs of Alma's spurned admirers. When faced with the possibility that this may end she tears at her daughter using every thing in her arsenal of lies to hold her life together and to keep the men in her bed.

The part of Alma's batty little sister is played by Mary Badham, most famous for her role as Scout in "To Kill A Mockingbird." She is perfect for the roll and adds a touch of madness at the end which is so right for the story.

In the small roll of J.J. Charles Bronson, on the edge of breaking out into major rolls brings an animal sensuality to the screen in his scenes with Wood. His craggy face is still and cagey as he sizes up Redford, bemused when confronted with Kate Reid's unwanted advances. In the skinny dipping scene with Natalie he takes her in his arms with tender menace and yet there is a neediness in his eyes that belies his lack of trust in even her, the woman he would have at any price.

All of these great actors lend support to the wonderful showcase of Natalie Wood as Alma. She was one of the rare childhood stars that flourished as an adult actress. Beautiful and talented she did her best work in the early to mid 1960's. "This Property Is Condemned" is her film all the way. She is at once softly sensuous, charming, and when her dreams and fantasies are boxed into a corner by her mother she becomes ferocious. Her scene with Kate Reid, where the mother is begging Alma to stay with her is incredible in its drama and Wood's ability to let it all go and give the scene the power it needs. As mentioned before her chemistry with Redford is electric and never more so than in the scene where she angrily confronts him only to be thrown against the bedroom door and kissed into an admission of her desire for him. She shines throughout the picture proving that she is indeed an actress of not only rare beauty but a staggering talent.

There are only a few flaws, such as, with all the meticulous attention to detail of the 1930's the women in the film are coiffed in height of mid-sixties hairstyles. Not until the 70's did moviemakers even attempt to leave this practice behind.

All the talents involved lift this minor play to a level to stand with any of the great works by Williams. "This Property Is Condemned" is a must have for any film collector who enjoys great performances by real stars and a solid story.

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Riveting!

Natalie Wood and Robert Redford are wonderful together. This was actually Ms. Wood's favorite movie. Check out 'Inside Daisy Clover', she teams with Redford again.

Excellent film