This Property Is Condemned (1966)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (play)
Francis Ford Coppola (writer) ...

Release Date:

7 October 1966 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Alva wanted out in the worst way.

Plot:

A railroad official, Owen Legate comes to Dodson, Mississippi to shut down much of the town's railway (town's main income)...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Railroad | Mississippi | Railroad Track | 1920s

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win

Cast

Natalie Wood	...	Alva Starr
Robert Redford	...	Owen Legate
Charles Bronson	...	J.J. Nichols
Kate Reid	...	Hazel Starr
Mary Badham	...	Willie Starr
Alan Baxter	...	Knopke
Robert Blake	...	Sidney
Dabney Coleman	...	Salesman
John Harding	...	Johnson
Ray Hemphill	...	Jim
Brett Pearson	...	Charlie
Jon Provost	...	Tom
Robert Random	...	Tiny (as Bob Random)
Quintin Sondergaard	...	Hank
Mike Steen	...	Max

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:11 | West Germany:16 (f) | UK:12 (2004) | UK:X (1966) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated | Singapore:PG | Argentina:18

Filming Locations:

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Natalie Wood had to perform a scene standing in a small stream of water. She was so afraid of dark water that costar Robert Blake had to dive under the water, hold his breath and steady her legs so she could perform the scene.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A wall calendar shows it to be August, 1931. Natalie Wood and Robert Redford go to a movie that didn't come out until October, 1932

Movie Connections:

References One Way Passage (1932)

Soundtrack:

Wish Me a Rainbow

Natalie Wood & Robert Redford. Perfect.

This is one of Natalie Wood's best dramatic performances. She had been a major star for more than a decade when she made this film so it is hard to believe she was only 27. Her looks were the best they ever were.

Robert Redford was not a major star yet but his performance was equal to anything he did later.

This story is classic Tennessee Williams. I'm sure he only climbed out of a bottle long enough to write it and then crawled right back inside. It revolves around a railroad executive who travels the company line and trims the personnel fat during the great depression. He hits a small southern Mississippi town where one could cut the humidity and poverty with a knife. He has to decide which men to fire and which to keep. Then his very ordered and structured life gets complicated when he stays at a boarding house run by a dysfunctional family. He meets the oldest daughter, Natalie Wood, who is the local beauty. Great credit goes to casting and whoever scouted and selected the site location.

The supporting characters are superb in their roles as examples of the worst people we've ever run into. Everyone except Redford's character is living in total denial. They're all shallow losers.

Weird flick. Great, but weird. Depressing, but weird.