Period of Adjustment

source: Period of Adjustment

Based on a play by Tennesee Williams, the story revolves around two couples-one that's fun to watch, and one that drags. Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad) and Jane Fonda play George and Isabelle Haverstick-a simple, bull-headed young buck and his high-maitenance southern belle bride who drop in on his 'ol war buddy (a handsome Tony Franciosa) married to an unhappy rich girl (Lois Nettleton fleshing out a very difficult role) around Christmas. Jim and Jane inject their characters with enough exuberance to shoot them to the moon; thus, they expose the rather bland quality in Ralph and Dorothea even though Tony and Lois are fine actors who do what they can. Director George Roy Hill tries to keep the action from being too stagy and is generally successful, though less so in the second half. The main attraction here is Fonda: playing a sweet, jittery mouse with surprising outbursts of anger, she turns in a memorable comic performance. The desperate phone call to 'Daddy', her initial introductory scenes with Hutton, a tragic attempt to get her 'little blue zipper bag', and the first meeting with the Baitz's dog are beautifully done with gusto. If you look at her work here along with Barbarella, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Klute, and Julia-you'll see she had that rare quality few leading movie stars have: the ability to be a damn good character actor. The movie's harmless fun and I recommend watching it under a blanket with a hot cup of cocoa, a roaring fire, and a lighted Christmas tree. Please read the review submitted by Eric Chapman. Enjoy!

Watched this again yesterday and I guess I never really paid much attention to it before. Even though I claim to dislike movies made based on Tenn. Williams plays, I have seen most of them (I dislike the intensity most of the time even though there are usually good performances that sometimes tend to be over the top--and this one is no exception.) However, I found this one a good film about 1950-1960's marriages before women realized they had other options. I laughed at Fonda, cringed at Hutton, sympathized with Nettleton but the greatest surprise was Tony Franciosa. Probably one of the best things about the movie was him. Although not exactly likable, he combined the sides of most men--mature by experience but a little despicable in intimate relationships. Mable Albertson and John McGiver were great in supporting roles as the disapproving in-laws. There was a couple of things in the movie that kind of bothered me though--and they are minor things. For one thing, if they're in the South, it's a pretty good bet that there's no snow at Christmas. I've lived in the South all my life and don't ever remember a White Christmas. But to the credit of the performers, they all have pretty good Southern accents. Another thing was Hutton's character. I had a hard time with him having such a beautiful wife (and Fonda does look great in this) and treating her so miserably. I realize it was all bravado but it still didn't sit well with me. Too much ego and not enough understanding. I suppose it was a reflection of the times but still wasn't pretty. It's hard to like someone who's pretends to be overconfident when it's obvious they have problems that need to be addressed. I guess it's called denial. A point in favor of the movie is that it wasn't set in the steamy South because that's one of the things that turns me off about Williams' movies based on his plays. Everyone seems to be required to be hot & sweaty. Yuck.

Nurse Isabel Crane (Jane Fonda) rushes to marry her patient, Korean War veteran George Haverstick (Jim Hutton). She's not happy that he had recently purchased a black hearse and they're driving away from their wedding in it. He quitted his job without telling her. His hands still shake from unknown afflictions. It's Christmas time. They're on their way to their Miami honeymoon but he's stopping in Tennessee to visit his war buddy Ralph Bates (Anthony Franciosa). Meanwhile, Ralph also his own problem within his marriage. I don't know how this is a comedy. The music cues and the directions keep trying to drive it into the comedic arena. I don't see how this can be a comedy. Non of these people are appealing. There is too much anger for that. Their problems are serious. Their dysfunctions are terribly unfunny unless getting your young son burnt is hilarious to you. Getting yourself burnt can be lots of hilarity but this is not that. This seems to be a lot closer to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I would be interested in treating this Tennessee Williams play as a much darker drama.

Jim Hutton has married young, beautiful, voluptuous Jane Fonda, but they don't get along, so at Christmas, they visit "war buddy" Tony Franciosa, who is also not getting along with his wife, Lois Nettleton. Jim confesses that he likes "little girls" because you don't have to "prove anything" and that what he really wants is to run off with Tony, so they can start a cattle ranch and "live like men." The homosexual subtext is bursting at the seams and the rank misogyny suggests that any man who marries without a chair and a whip is a fool. Williams always exhibited a strong talent for the tragic (see "The Fugitive KInd") but this is a comedy that is more uncomfortable than funny, in part because in the 1950s, it was a challenge to be truthful, a challenge unmet here. At least, Tom Williams knew what game he was playing. Of the play, he wrote: "The theatre has made its greatest artistic advance through the unlocking and lighting up and ventilation of the closets, basements and attics of human behavior and experience." If this movie is made again, I hope it is frank about the men and refrains from mocking and patronizing the women. Kudos to the actors, who try valiantly to foist this trash on an unsuspecting audience.

Jane Fonda had done three movies prior to this one ("Tall Story," "The Chapman Report," and "A Walk on the Wild Side"), but this was the first time she showed any talent. In a part that is said to have been tailored for Marilyn Monroe, Fonda is a nervous newlywed little southern belle who marries another nervous southerner (Jim Hutton) who just may be a virgin, himself. Tony Franciosa stands around doing his usual nothing, and the director doesn't know what to do with Lois Nettleton.

Stringbean doofus Jim Hutton and Hanoi Jane are newly married hicks. Despite being a full-fledged member of the Envirowackjob death cult and a bona fide traitor to American values, Fonda has never been physically ugly. So it's perplexing that Hutton would make his honeymoon a trip to see army buddy Tony Franciosa. Franciosa quits his job, which p2sses of his wife. Hutton quits his job and p2sses off Fonda. Before you know it, these two guys decide the cure for their troubles is to run off to Brokeback Mountain while their wives harp and flail. It's all so broad and over-caffeinated and tiring. Might have worked on stage when you're sitting in the back row. But it comes across as overcooked on the big screen. It's easily one of the most grotesquely feel-bad Christmas movies of all time. A farce that's closer to tragedy than it is to comedy.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie. OK, maybe it's not the most warm and fuzzy movie ever set on Christmas Eve, but the way it ended was beautiful. I really enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces in these roles - Tony Franciosa, Jane Fonda and Lois Nettleton, of course; but also Darin Stephens' mom from "Bewitched" as Dottie's mother, Timothy Hutton's Dad as George, "The Man" from "Chico and the Man" as the police sergeant, etc. Even the props were familiar - I have the exact same "Merry Christmas" banner that hangs on the Baitz fireplace, inherited from my parents! I loved the way that the carolers continued to get progressively drunker with every house they visited. This is a Tennessee Williams' "It's a Wonderful Life" if you ask me!

As the film opens we see right at the offset that the marriage between "shaky-hands"George(Jim Hutton;a problems that resulted from his war experience in Korea)and Isabel(a smoking Jane Fonda at the early part of her career)is rocky. But, the home they are headed for in Florida holds a marriage coming apart at the seams. Ralph(Anthony Franciosa)and Dorothea(Lois Nettleton)are having problems of their own. Ralph has had enough of his boss, and Dorothea's father, and tells him his thoughts about the crusty old man and where he can take this job. Other things underneath the surface, though, lead Dorothea to leaving Ralph such as his quitting his job, the way he wishes for his son be treated like a male than a sissy(I felt this was an intentional Tennesse Williams subtle plot point about parental homophobia)..his son is given girlie toys instead of a football or other more manly presents. We watch as these four characters face personal demons in a night of not only bitter feuding, discussion, and, most importantly, reflection. The main question is can both marriages survive? Like a lot of films based on plays, this shows characters searching their souls and trying to become honest with themselves and the faults that guide them into unusual terrain. We watch as they try and sort out their emotions by talking. We see an age-old ordeal in the Ralph and Dorothea marriage..the in-laws butting in and causing further conflict. That alone casts a foreboding shadow Ralph wishes to escape. Also, the "ugly duckling" aspect regarding how Dorothea feels about herself is also a little ordeal that plays out in the film as she questions whether Ralph wants to remain in a "love-less" marriage. George is a fragile man who met his wife Isabel in a mental hospital where doctors tried to find the reason for the consistent plague of shakes that take over his hands(it would probably acute to panic attacks that many suffer today). He talks a big talk, even tries to play out his aggressiveness, but he's weak and really does need Isabel even though he pretends to acts all macho. Isabel has such a wonderful personality, but her insistence to be heard and appreciated, at times, weighs a bit on George. So we see that each person has to come to terms with each other's faults and problems. This film has a tendency to over-exaggerate it's message(..and is a bit syrupy at times)and lays on the melodrama a bit thick. It still has a more adult theme to it and touches on some very important things every marriage faces. It's always interesting seeing Fonda in these early roles before she becomes engulfed in the hippie lifestyle of the on-coming Vietnam war.

This movie was a keeper. I loved the plot and the talented performers. Jim Hutton was one of the finest comedians in Hollywood, I miss him. He was taken from us too early. Hanoi Jane looked magnificent and turned in a fine performance. Lois Nettleton was a bright spot, also.