Amanda Wingfield (Katharine Hepburn) plays the part of Southern belle, ignoring her failed marriage and troubled background. She smothers her grown children: Tom (Sam Waterston), a would-be author, and Laura (Joanne Miles), a daughter beset by a physical handicap and crippling shyness. Amanda enlists Tom to find Laura a "gentleman caller," eager to rescue Laura from introversion. Tom invites Jim O'Connor (Michael Moriarty), who makes a genuine connection with Laura, but the evening doesn't go quite as planned.
While Glass Menagerie occasionally trims or telescopes Williams' script (notably excising Tom's opening monologue), it's generally a faithful rendering. Williams reportedly based the Wingfields on his own family, which may explain his rich characterization. Amanda in particular is well-handled. On one level she is a delusional biddy, but she genuinely loves her children and mourns her own failings. Rather than a domineering monster she's a flawed, tragic figure. Such sensitivity is a world apart from A Streetcar Named Desire's brutal melodrama.
Menagerie provides an insightful portrait of damaged people shielded from reality. Everyone crafts elaborate fantasies, from Amanda's tales of bygone youth to Laura's world of glass animals. Laura pretends to attend a community college when she's really too shy to show up. Tom dreams of "adventure" but only experiences them through the movies; his writing career is a dud and his escape plan languishes in secret. Jim interjects a shot of sanity: modestly ambitious and self-aware, he's comfortable in a way.
Menagerie's heart is Laura and Jim's long conversation. Rarely has an introvert's plight been so poignantly rendered: Laura can't relate to people, taking immense pride instead in her glass collection while longing from afar. Any interest or affection, even Jim's well-meaning boosterism, is interpreted as romance - leading to inevitable disappointment. Fully without intending to, Jim's outreach to Laura (coupled with Amanda's reaction) probably slammed her further into seclusion. It's an everyday tragedy with deep, everyday resonance.
Katharine Hepburn gives arguably her best late-career performance. If Hepburn struggles to muffle her trademark accent, she provides the grating exuberance and manic desperation to make Amanda fully-rounded, sympathetic if not likeable. Sam Waterston conveys boiling torment while an understated Joanne Miles sells Laura's overwhelming awkwardness. But Michael Moriarty might give the strongest performance, charmingly awkward and unexpectedly sensitive.
The Glass Menagerie works despite being little more than a filmed play. Of course, it helps that the play itself is excellent. No frills, just a great story handled by good actors.
Part of the Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon, hosted by Margaret Perry. Many thanks for inviting me to participate!