Tag Archives: Tennessee Williams

On This Day: March 24, 1955: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened on Broadway.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened on Broadway on this day, in 1955. Critic Brooks Atkinson, one of Williams’s staunchest supporters, wrote: “[The play seemed] not to have been written. It is the quintessence of life.” Ben Gazzara became … Continue reading

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On This Day: December 3, 1947: A Streetcar Named Desire opened on Broadway

Blanche Dubois, scene 1, in Streetcar Named Desire: “They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at – Elysian Fields!” Tennessee Williams lived in New … Continue reading

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October 2022 Viewing Diary

Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation (2020; d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland) Fascinating dual portraits. No “talking heads”. The entire thing is made up of their own voices, told in talk shows, or interviews. Amazing footage I’ve never seen before. Christine … Continue reading

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Dynamic Trio #35

Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, and Tennessee Williams

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Dynamic Duo #35

Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando, 1948

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“All creative art must rise out of a specific soil and flicker with the spirit of place.” — D.H. Lawrence

“Whoever reads me will be in the thick of the scrimmage, and if he doesn’t like it – if he wants a safe seat in the audience – let him read somebody else.” — D.H. Lawrence, 1925 D.H. Lawrence was … Continue reading

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Four Things About Thornton Wilder

“I was an old man when I was 12; and now I am an old man, and it’s splendid.” — Thornton Wilder on his 70th birthday It’s his birthday today. A couple stories: 1. Peter Hunt (once Executive and Artistic … Continue reading

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Music Monday: Fugitive Kinds: Scott Walker, Marlon Brando, Tennessee Williams, by Brendan O’Malley

My talented brother Brendan O’Malley is an amazing writer and actor. He’s wonderful in the recent You & Me, directed by Alexander Baack. (I interviewed Baack about the film here.) His most recent gig was story editor/writer on the hit … Continue reading

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Recommended: Biographies

For starters: My recommended Fiction books My recommended Non-Fiction books BIOGRAPHIES: American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, by Joseph Ellis I’ve written a lot about Joseph Ellis’ work here. While I love David McCullough’s work so much, Ellis is … Continue reading

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December 2018 Viewing Diary

Swimming with Men (2018; d. Oliver Parker) A rather slight little comedy about men forming a synchronized swimming team. I reviewed for Ebert. Zama (2018; d. Lucrecia Martel) One of the best films of the year (I saw it after … Continue reading

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