Plays adapted to Film

I've been using these last few weeks until I resume teaching to work as much as possible. I've also resumed my viewing of films from the 50s. I recently watched 2 classic films adapted from popular stage plays: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor and Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder". The staging of the actors is very theatrical, and the scenes of dialogue are often long and uncut. Both stand out as quite counter-cultural in 2008. "Cat" takes place on a southern plantation with happy black servants, while "Dial M" portrays female characters as week and needy. Still- these were good films to watch....

Both movies have a great 50s look to them in the costuming and sets. "Dial M" is a far superior film with some great Hitchcockian suspense and some great camera angles. "Cat" is interesting as a 50s film because its all about a disfunctional family coming to grips with the their problems. New images to be posted soon...