Hadn't seen this film until quite recently. Screenplay by Ernest Lehmann from the magnum opus by John O'Hara. A singular chore condensing that kind of novel into a 2.5 hour film. Directed by Mark Robson and starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Leon Ames and a small part by Myrna Loy.
Some things to say. I enjoyed the film, particularly in its splendid letterbox restoration; it was made while I was still a child. Newman more or less played the same parts. It was his schtick; from 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" right through to "Hud" and all his other roles as the restless, resentful and troubled brother/husband/criminal/son etc. The two deviations from type occurred with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting" - and possibly his minor role in "The Road to Perdition". Even in his few comedies, ("Rally Round the Flag, Boys") Newman seemed to have a chip on his shoulder in most of his roles. Joanne Woodward, on the other hand, had the more complex career and though she often played the vulnerable, sexually-repressed ingenue - her films provided a lesson in the best of American film acting. She is absolutely radiant in this film.
"From the Terrace" came from the post-war period of American growth, and it was typical of those kinds of films which contributed to American economic and cultural hegemony. Big business, corporate corruption and greed and the lengths people will go to arrive at 'the top' were popular tropes during this period. (In England too, as it happens.) "The Best of Everything", made the year before "Terrace" explored many of the same themes; conniving and needy women, predatory men, corporate ambition and the ruthless pursuit of power; women caught in the cross-hairs between middle class aspiration and the need to find self-expression. This often took a sexualized form. But the films almost always provided a moral salve; the 'redemption' of the central characters, with retribution and revenge for those who deviated from acceptable social norms. As was typical of the time, this redemption took the form of the trip to the altar for the women, promotion for the men (and sometimes women) and acceptance of their (often minor) roles by everybody else. The interstices between the private and the public worlds ultimately collided to become one . The message? The corporate world will own you once you aspire and that this entails rich rewards for those who comply and misery for those who choose the independent path. The more sophisticated the film, the more nuanced the message and the more sympathy aroused from the audience.
Unfortunately, "From The Terrace" isn't one of these! A great screenwriter like Lehmann simply couldn't make the plot and dialogue anything more than stereotypical and cliched. Except in the scenes between Leon Ames and Myrna Loy; between estranged husband and wife. She the alcoholic, neglected wife and he the domineering, repressed husband who runs the family like his steel business and who still grieves for the 'favourite son' who died some years earlier. It's a fine performance from Ames and not typical of his body of work. He morphs into an object of sympathy from the audience because of the subtlety of his performance. We all arrive at an understanding of the calamitous consequences of naked, come-at-any-price ambition but nothing had changed in the society as a consequence of our experiences with these characters. The film doesn't offer an alternative narrative.
The reward for characters in these films is a life of middle class affluence and acceptance, provided they can deal with the opportunity costs of conformity. (Today we have another kind of conformity, one based on trashing values and it's the dark side of those who fall by the wayside which now represents the dominant narrative.) I enjoyed the film despite its obvious flaws. And this only demonstrates the (sometimes) paradoxical gulf between critical appraisal and individual response.
A splendid score by Elmer Bernstein, demonstrating his versatility in all musical genres: here's the trailer. The music is better than the film.
"From the Terrace", 1960
Re: "From the Terrace", 1960
Don't forget a small appearance by a young and highly fetching Barbara Eden. 