Tea and Sympathy (1956)

72% of users liked it
(912 ratings)

1956's Tea and Sympathy is a diluted filmization of Robert Anderson's Broadway play. The original production was considered quite daring in its attitudes towards homosexuality (both actual and alleged) and marital infidelity; the film softpedals these elements, as much by adding to the text as by… More 1956's Tea and Sympathy is a diluted filmization of Robert Anderson's Broadway play. The original production was considered quite daring in its attitudes towards homosexuality (both actual and alleged) and marital infidelity; the film softpedals these elements, as much by adding to the text as by subtracting from it. John Kerr plays a sensitive college student who prefers the arts to sports; as such, he is ridiculed as a "sissy" by his classmates and hounded mercilessly by his macho-obsessed father Edward Andrews. Only student Darryl Hickman treats Kerr with any decency, perceiving that being different is not the same as being effeminate. Deborah Kerr, the wife of testosterone-driven housemaster Leif Erickson, likewise does her best to understand rather than condemn John for his "strangeness." Desperate to prove his manhood, John is about to visit town trollop Norma Crane. Though nothing really happens, the girl cries "rape!" Both John's father and Deborah's husband adopt a thick-eared "Boys will be boys" attitude, which only exacerbates John's insecurities. Feeling pity for John and at the same time resenting her own husband's boorishness, Deborah offers her own body to the mixed-up boy. "When you speak of this in future years...and you will...be kind." With this classic closing line, the original stage production of Tea and Sympathy came to an end. Fearing censorship interference, MGM insisted upon a stupid epilogue, indicating that Deborah Kerr deeply regretted her "wrong" behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 2 min.
Directed By: Vincente Minnelli
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: May 1, 1957 Wide
On DVD: Nov 28, 1990
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Though stale, betraying its theatrical origins (Kazan did it on stage), Minnelli's version still reflects the sexual and social anxieties of the McCarthy era as well as of his own life.
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television
Remarkable early report on The War on Homosexuals.

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Cast

            Deborah Kerr as Laura Reynolds

            John Kerr (II) as Tom Robinson Lee

            Leif Erickson as Bill Reynolds

            Edward Andrews as Herb lee

            Darryl Hickman as Al

            Norma Crane as Ellie Martin

            Dean Jones as Ollie

            Jacqueline de Wit as Lilly Sears

            Tom Laughlin as Ralph

            Ralph Votrian as Steve

            Steve Terrell as Phil

            Kip King as Ted

            Jimmy Hayes as Henry

            Richard Tyler as Roger

            Don Burnett as Vic

            Robert Alexander as Pat

            Paul Bryar as Alex

            Del Erickson as Ferdie

            Sol (Saul) Gorss
            
            Harry Harvey Jr.
            
            Mary Ellen Hokanson as Mary Williams

            Byron Kane as Umpire

            Ron Kennedy as Dick

            Peter Leeds as Headmaster at Bonfire

            Dale Van Sickel as Burly Man

            Robert Ellis as Boy

            Peter Miller as Pete
See full cast

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