I was privileged to see the original off-Broadway production starring acclaimed actress Sada Thompson, and I also saw her immediate replacement in the role of Beatrice, Joan Blondell. I also caught a touring company a few years later in which Shelley Winters played Beatrice (not my favorite actress by a long shot) and she was just fine in the part. After viewing Ms. Winters in the role, I was convinced that this was so perfectly written a piece that nobody could ever mess it up. Then the movie came out. I have always had a great deal of respect for both Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and was eagerly looking forward to what they could do with so meaty a drama. I saw the film as soon as it opened, and was mystified and extremely disappointed when I saw how totally they destroyed what on stage was a piece of pure poetry and made it into a shallow, dreary soap opera. The allegory between the title and the situation of the characters was completely removed, as was a good deal of the best dialogue. The fragile, heartbreaking relationship between Beatrice and her daughters became something ugly, morbid and downright depressing. The original play ended on a very hopeful note, as the observer realized that Tilly, if no one else, would survive her bleak surroundings to become a fully nuanced and interesting person. The dismal tone of the film left me drained and actually quite annoyed that this beautiful, very real and poetically written play could be transformed into such a depressing and altogether banal film. All I kept thinking as I left the theatre was, "Why did they have to change it so much? It's been ruined". The only positive note for me was the retention of the wonderful character actress Judith Lowry (who must have been over 90 when the film was made) as Nanny. Ms. Lowry was the original Nanny in the off-Broadway production and, although her character had virtually no lines, her wonderful presence alone was enough to bring a smile to the faces of the audience. Again, as a fan of both Newman and Woodward, this was a total disappointment.
