Sweet Bird of Youth poster & wallpaper

Charles Lucia, Cheryl Paris, Ed Begley

Adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play about a young man dreaming of stardom who meets up with a has-been movie star and they travel to his small home town to find the girl he left behind (and pregnan...( read more  read more... )t), only to be awaited by her ready-to-kill him irate, corrupt politician of a father.

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44% liked it

423 ratings

Critics

75% liked it

16 critics

Unrated, 120

Directed by: Nicolas Roeg, Richard Brooks I

Release Date: October 1, 1989

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DVD Release Date: July 12, 2005

Stats: 16 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (16)

  • MGMboy
    November 8, 2009
    MGMboy
    In the original film version of "Sweet Bird of Youth" Geraldine Page made the role famous opposite the stunningly cast Paul Newman. It was a great film of a great Broadway hit. Why make it again many may wonder? How could you top that gem in the MGM lexicon of late 50's Tennessee...( read more) Williams filmed versions of his master works.

    Cut to the 1980's and Elizabeth Taylor who in many ways at the time was not so big a movie star as she had been but was much in demand on television. Slimmed down and revitalized after the 1970's age of fat she was in her final bloom of beauty and at the top of her talent. A woman playing a star who really understood more than anyone alive what being a star of mega wattage meant. She had lived it, survived it and was triumphing over it. She was the anti Alexandra Delago who nearly had become Alexandra Delago but somehow managed to swerve and avoid that porcupine in the road of fame and live to tell about it. She was perfect casting for this T.V. movie of the play. And she had an understanding of Williams' poetry having done, "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Boom".

    The supporting cast turns in some fine performances. In particular, Rip Torn, and Valerie Perrine shine in their roles. Mark Harman is just the right age to play Chance Wayne a gigolo on the edge of losing his looks and too obsessed with the past to take the one last opportunity Alexandra offers him to become what he thinks he wants to be, a star.

    But it is Taylor's movie all the way. From her incredible early close-ups at the beach cabana to her final scene she commands the role as no other actress of her generation could. She inhabits the roll with a worldly understanding that under the monster that Alexandra has become there is still a human being who can reach out to help another even if it is too little too late. She also brings to the film a reality from her real life that no other actress, even the best method actresses around could muster. This adds a glittering and chilling edge to the performance. It is brilliant work in a lesser medium by a star and actress who was the master of blending fact and fiction as no one else quite can.
  • MargyNCIS
    December 16, 2008
    MargyNCIS
    A role that gave us a chance to see the depth of Mark Harmon's talent as the amoral, but not overly bright, Chance Wayne. A powerful movie, but like anything of Tennessee Williams, sordid and ultimately unpleasant.
  • jamesbondcrazy007
    September 3, 2008
    jamesbondcrazy007
    Not as good as I'd hoped it was going to be but interesting nevertheless. Good ending but I really didn't want it to happen!
  • Ghw12158
    August 27, 2008
    Ghw12158
    skip this and see the original
  • lday
    June 12, 2006
    lday
    Disappointing adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play.

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Sweet Bird of Youth Trivia

  • How long had Alexandra been away from the screen in Sweet Bird Of Youth ?  Answer »
  • What does Chance Wayne do for a living in Sweet Bird Of Youth ?  Answer »
  • What is Chance's "speciality "in Sweet Bird Of Youth ?  Answer »
  • Which of Alexandras husbands had been a prince in Sweet Bird Of Youth ?  Answer »
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