As playwright Eugene O’Neill is the sole writing credit, this seems to be less based on his play as it is a slightly abridged version of it. Very autobiographical, the play was published posthumously. Many details of the characters closely match those of his immediate family, including the house it is set in.
The father (Ralph Richardson) was a promising actor who gave up the sage for love. His tightfistedness is responsible for many of the family’s problems. The mother (Katherine Hepburn) became addicted to morphine prescribed during a difficult childbirth. The eldest son (Jason Robards) is a drunken layabout, rebelling against his father’s pressure to be that great actor dad could never become. And youngest son (Dean Stockwell) has tuberculosis and may die, unless dad springs for one the high class sanatoriums.
Jason Robards was very familiar to me from his later career, but exactly where I can’t say. It was interesting to see him at the youthful age of … 40? Of course Dean Stockwell will always be remembered as Al from Quantum Leap. It was quite strange seeing him as a handsome young man instead of as, well, as Al.
Even compared to other stage play adaptations, this is an amazingly talkie film. Individual family members come and go to allow various combinations for scenes. There is a maid who gets little screen time, a cook who gets none, and a driver who appears only in the distance.This is entirely a story about the family. Eugene’s family. It is engaging, and the performances, while very theatrical, are very good. Except for Stockwell's. I feel he was a bit out of his league, here.
Some of the interactions were strange, however. They seemed all over the place. During a single conversation two people would go from sarcastic, to shouting, to emotionally bonding, to angry again, all without a clear reason. It was a little annoying. In the end, nothing is really resolved, but I suppose they understand each other a bit better. Another viewer might think differently. AMRU 3.
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