Sweet Bird of Youth (1962 film)

Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1962 American drama film starring Paul Newman and Geraldine Page, with Shirley Knight, Madeleine Sherwood, Ed Begley, Rip Torn and Mildred Dunnock in support. Based on the 1959 play of the same name by Tennessee Williams, the film was adapted and directed by Richard Brooks.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ed Begley), and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Geraldine Page) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Shirley Knight). The film version was sanitized, although Chance was still gigolo for hire. The ending was heavily altered from the explicit sexual mutilation scene depicted in the conclusion of the original stage version.

Plot
Handsome, young Chance Wayne returns to his hometown of St. Cloud, Mississippi, a chauffeur and gigolo to a considerably older film star, Alexandra Del Lago. She is needy and depressed, particularly about a film she has just finished making, and speaks of retiring from the acting world.

Chance, once a waiter at the local country club, had gone to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune at the behest of St. Cloud's most powerful and influential citizen, "Boss" Finley, who had duped him into leaving town to pursue fame and fortune as a way of keeping him away from his beautiful daughter, Heavenly.

A political kingpin, Finley enjoys putting Heavenly on display as a model of purity and chastity. His ruthless son, Tom Jr., aids his father's ambitions in any way he can. He, too, is unhappy to have Chance Wayne back in town.

Desperate to have Alexandra further his fantasy of becoming a star, Chance has become her lover. He goes so far as to blackmail her with a tape recording, on which she speaks openly of a dependence on drugs. Alexandra defies him, becoming irate at the realization that Chance's romantic interests in Heavenly are more important to him than her own needs.

Just when Alexandra is at her most vulnerable, she learns from major syndicated gossip columnist Walter Winchell that her performance in the movie she's just made is being raved as the best of her career, and the picture appears to be a certain success. Meanwhile, Finley's discarded mistress, Miss Lucy, exposes Finley's underhanded tactics to the government authorities. Chance, who has been repeatedly warned to stay away from Heavenly and leave town immediately, refuses to do both. Repudiated by Alexandra, and obsessed with his fate, he stages a scene outside the Finley mansion, and is cornered there by Tom, Jr., and his gang of thugs. Determined to ruin Chance’s “meal ticket” once and for all, Tom, Jr., smashes his face in with the crook end of his father’s cane. When Heavenly returns home and discovers Chance lying in a heap in their driveway, she defies her father and runs off together with Chance.

Cast

 * Paul Newman as Chance Wayne
 * Geraldine Page as Alexandra Del Lago
 * Shirley Knight as Heavenly Finley
 * Ed Begley as Tom "Boss" Finley
 * Rip Torn as Thomas "Tom" J. Finley Jr.
 * Mildred Dunnock as Aunt Nonnie
 * Madeleine Sherwood as Miss Lucy
 * Philip Abbott as Dr. George Scudder
 * Corey Allen as Scotty
 * Barry Cahill as Bud
 * Dub Taylor as Dan Hatcher
 * James Douglas as Leroy
 * Barry Atwater as Ben Jackson
 * Charles Arnt as Mayor Henricks
 * Kelly Thordsen as Sheriff Clark
 * William Forrest as Bennie Taubman
 * Roy Glenn as Charles
 * Les Tremayne as Trailer Narrator (voice)

Development
The film was written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. The adaptation of the original play by Tennessee Williams went through several drafts, with Brooks unsure how to film the play's controversial ending in which Chance is castrated by Finley's hoods. The castration was cut from the film and replaced by Finley's son clubbing Chance in the face with a cane, followed by Chance and Heavenly escaping together.

Reception
The film was a hit, making almost $8,000,000 on a $2,000,000 budget.

The film also was one of Roger Ebert's top films of the decade, and held a score of 74% on Rotten Tomatoes based on a total of 19 surveyed critics.