The Fugitive Kind (1960)

[professorwho]

14 January, 2020

https://www.criterion.com/films/17998-the-fugitive-kind

Four Oscar-winning actors—Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, and Maureen Stapleton—sink their teeth into this enthralling film, which brings together the legendary talents of director Sidney Lumet and writer Tennessee Williams. A smoldering, snakeskin-jacketed Brando is Val Xavier, a drifter trying to go straight. He finds work and solace in a southern small-town variety store run by the married, sexually frustrated Lady Torrance (Magnani), who proves as much a temptation for Val as local wild child Carol Cutrere (Woodward). Lumet captures the intense, fearless performances and Williams’s hot-blooded storytelling and social critique with his customary restraint, resulting in a drama of uncommon sophistication and craft.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
High-definition digital restoration, approved by director Sidney Lumet, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Interview from 2009 with Lumet
Three Plays by Tennessee Williams, an hour-long 1958 television presentation of one-act plays, directed by Lumet and starring Ben Gazzara and Lee Grant, among others
Program from 2010 discussing Williams’s work in Hollywood and The Fugitive Kind
PLUS: An essay by film critic David Thomson
Cover by Ron Lesser