Acting Tennessee Williams

My friend Dan Callahan reviews a new book called Tennessee Williams and Company: His Essential Screen Actors, the title alone gives me a buzz of adrenaline and almost nervousness. I get nervous when I get excited. Author John DiLeo analyzes the film performances of Tennessee Williams’ plays, in what sounds like exquisite detail, a book that makes you want to see all those movies again. Some of the performances are still controversial, and people fall into camps, fierce camps – pro Vivien Leigh and anti, pro Geraldine Page and anti, pro Kim Hunter and anti … the list goes on and on. People feel proprietary about Tennessee Williams. I suppose I do, too. (Ahem.) In my tribute piece for Paul Newman, I analyzed one moment he has in Sweet Bird of Youth, a moment when he is suddenly stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of a piece of music. I love detailed breakdowns of a performance, why someone thinks something works. It is not as easy as you think. Many critics say something is good or bad without saying why. Or, they can talk about the cinematography and the direction and the music – and analyze why those things work or don’t – but the actors are described as “effective” or “miscast” or “good” or “in over his/her head” without another word about it. Acting is mysterious, even to those who practice the craft, but I sure appreciate the attempt to talk about WHAT someone is doing, and WHY it works. You have to have an eye like a surgeon. You have to look for things other people might miss, or take for granted. Small glances, breaths, gestures … these things are very revealing about how an actor is working, and thinking about the part. For me, a small look given by an actor can explain the entire character to me, the entire movie. From Dan’s excellent review, (and he is one of those critics who knows how to talk about acting, he’s one of the best), it seems like this is the direction DiLeo goes, and I cannot wait to read the book.

Go check out Dan’s review.