This Property Is Condemned (1966)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

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

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
Bruce Watson	...	Lin Tate
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ralph Roberts	...	A boarding house tenant (uncredited)
Nick Stuart	...	Railroad Conductor (uncredited)

Directed by
Sydney Pollack

Writing credits
Tennessee Williams		(play)
Francis Ford Coppola		(writer) (as Francis Coppola) &
Fred Coe		(writer) &
Edith R. Sommer		(writer) (as Edith Sommer)
David Rayfiel		uncredited

Produced by
John Houseman	....	producer
Ray Stark	....	producer

Original Music by
Kenyon Hopkins

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe

Film Editing by
Adrienne Fazan

Production Design by
Stephen B. Grimes		(as Stephen Grimes)

Art Direction by
Philip M. Jefferies		(as Phil Jefferies)
Hal Pereira		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
William Kiernan

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Sugar Blymyer	....	hair stylist: Ms. Wood (as Maryce Bates)
Edwin Butterworth	....	makeup artist
Gary Morris	....	makeup artist (as Garrett Morris)
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Clarence Eurist	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eddie Saeta	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Harry Lindgren	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special photographic effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ann Landers	....	costumer: Ms. Wood
Ted Tetrick	....	costumer: men

Other crew
Dominic Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)
Ruth Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Seven Arts Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1970) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

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:

Tennessee Williams was so dismayed by the film made from his play he threatened to have his name taken off the credits.

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:

Happy Birthday to You

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.