Not the best of Tennessee Williams (actually a short play that has been turned into a full-sized screenplay), THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED has NATALIE WOOD as Alva, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks whose brief love affair with a traveling railroad man (ROBERT REDFORD) ends tragically.
Wood and Redford carry much of the film, but their performances are quite theatrical and work against the realistically tawdry hotel backgrounds of a sleazy Southern town. Still, they're impressive enough to overlook the flaws, but it's the atmosphere of the story that grabs you from the beginning and holds interest throughout.
It's typical Williams, perhaps in a minor key, and Natalie's Alva does bear some relation to his most famous creation, Blanche duBois, who also sought escape in New Orleans. Natalie is glowingly gorgeous for all of her close-ups and does manage to give her character dimension despite some highly theatrical moments. Redford is a good match for her, and both were still at the height of their physical prime.
The rather downbeat characters surrounding them and the dismal looking atmosphere may have prevented the film from having a large following, but it's got some striking moments for Wood and Redford that make it all worthwhile.
Wood and Redford carry much of the film, but their performances are quite theatrical and work against the realistically tawdry hotel backgrounds of a sleazy Southern town. Still, they're impressive enough to overlook the flaws, but it's the atmosphere of the story that grabs you from the beginning and holds interest throughout.
It's typical Williams, perhaps in a minor key, and Natalie's Alva does bear some relation to his most famous creation, Blanche duBois, who also sought escape in New Orleans. Natalie is glowingly gorgeous for all of her close-ups and does manage to give her character dimension despite some highly theatrical moments. Redford is a good match for her, and both were still at the height of their physical prime.
The rather downbeat characters surrounding them and the dismal looking atmosphere may have prevented the film from having a large following, but it's got some striking moments for Wood and Redford that make it all worthwhile.