A Delicate Balance | |
---|---|
Directed by | Tony Richardson |
Written by | Edward Albee |
Produced by | Ely Landau |
Starring | Katharine Hepburn Paul Scofield Lee Remick Kate Reid Joseph Cotten Betsy Blair |
Cinematography | David Watkin |
Edited by | John Victor Smith |
Distributed by | American Film Theatre |
Release date |
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Running time | 133 minutes |
Countries | United States Canada United Kingdom |
Language | English |
A Delicate Balance is a 1973 American-Canadian-British drama film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick, Kate Reid, Joseph Cotten, and Betsy Blair. The screenplay by Edward Albee is based on his 1966 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name.
The film was the second in a series produced by Ely Landau for his American Film Theatre, [1] a subscription-based program of screen adaptations of notable stage plays shown in five hundred theaters in four hundred cities.
The film spans three days in the life of Agnes and Tobias, an upper middle class couple who share their comfortable suburban Connecticut home with Agnes' acerbic alcoholic sister Claire. It is matriarch Agnes who helps the trio maintain a delicate balance in their lives, held together by habit, shared memories, and considerable consumption of dry martinis.
The seemingly peaceful facade of their existence is shattered with the arrival of longtime friends Harry and Edna who, suddenly overcome by a nameless terror, fled their home in search of a safe haven. The couple is followed by Agnes and Tobias' bitter, 36-year-old daughter Julia, who has returned to the family nest following the collapse of her fourth marriage. Their presence leads to a period of self-examination, during which all six are forced to explore their psyches and confront the demons hidden there.
Roger Ebert called the film "a fine, tough, lacerating production", and added, "Richardson's cast could hardly be better". [2]
TV Guide rated the film two out of four stars, calling it "unfortunately stiff, dull, and extremely stagy". [1]
Kate Reid was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story (1939) and Sabrina Fair (1953). He then gained worldwide fame for his collaborations with Orson Welles on three films, Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and Journey into Fear (1943), which Cotten starred in and for which he was also credited with the screenplay.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, which earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer.
Cecil Antonio Richardson was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and playwrights during the 1950s, and was later a key figure in the British New Wave filmmaking movement.
David Paul Scofield was an English actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, Emmy, and Tony for his work. Scofield established a reputation as one of the greatest Shakespearean performers. He declined the honour of a knighthood, but was appointed CBE in 1956 and became a CH in 2001.
Lee Ann Remick was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Days of Wine and Roses (1962).
A Delicate Balance is a three-act play by Edward Albee, written in 1965 and 1966. Premiered in 1966, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1967, the first of three he received for his work.
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Betsy Blair was an American actress of film and stage, long based in London.
Daphne Katherine Reid was a Canadian actress, whose career spanned over fifty years and hundreds of roles across both stage and screen. She was described by the book Inspiring Women: A Celebration of Herstory as "the finest actress ever developed in Canada".
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