A real screamer. Paul Newman is alcoholic former athlete fighting with his unloving father and his wife (Elizabeth Taylor). He won't sleep with Liz because of the death of Scooter, his buddy, which he blames on her. Weird plot--she sort of seduces Scooter to get Paul Newman (Brick) to see that his good friend isn't so good, but then changes her mind and doesn't sleep with him. (!?) Scooter then calls Paul Newman who hangs up on him--what a phone call I was thinking of sleeping with your wife and --. After Newman hangs up, Scooter jumps out the window. (All off screen.) At the end, Newman reconciles with both Dad and Liz, deigning to sleep with her. Ha! What a sacrifice!
"To all humankind, Tess was only a passing thought. Even to friends, she was only a frequently passing thought." Angel Clare is a good character. He's "enlightened," in so many ways, but when Tess's confesses her "crime," he reverts to ancestral form . . . Tess's "confession" comes earlier than I expected, right after Angel reveals that he has had a bad moment with a woman. Tess points out the similarity in their transgressions, though his is the only true transgression, expecting forgiveness. She doesn't get it. She returns to her mother . . . realizes she can't stay with her. Thoughts to suicide. Unhappiness that divorce is not possible. Departs. Tragic in that the two, if Angel could just see clearly, would indeed be a great couple, each adding to the other. Nature as a definite force involved in the tragedy. It's not neutral--when things go bad, the very skies mock Tess. Tess as unaware of the power of her bea...
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