David and Lisa (1962) Film Review C

David and Lisa
DIRECTOR: Frank Perry
Screenwriter Eleanor Perry based the film on the second story from the two-in-one novellas “Jordi/Lisa and David” by Theodore Isaac Rubin. Rubin was an American psychiatrist and author whose work she had read while doing her master’s degree. His specialty was psychoanalysis, then at its zenith in The United States. Many of his beliefs have now fallen out of favor. From today’s vantage point, the movie, despite its sensitive moments, seems dangerously simplistic and naive. Like “Rebel Without a Cause,” the parents are blamed for everything. This is especially true of Dullea’s mother, who thinks of her son only regarding her needs and expectations.
Nevertheless, when the movie was released, it became an art-house sensation, particularly in New York. When the 35th Academy Awards (1962) nominations were announced in early 1963, to everyone’s surprise, Eleanor and Frank were nominated in their respective categories. Eleanor joined the esteemed list of Vladimir Nabokov (“Lolita”), William Gibson (“The Miracle Worker”), Robert Bolt, and Michael Wilson (“Lawrence of Arabia”), and the winner Horton Foote (“To Kill a Mockingbird”) in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. At the same time, Frank found himself in the company of Pietro Germi (“Divorce Italian Style”), Arthur Penn (“The Miracle Worker”), Robert Mulligan (“To Kill a Mockingbird”), and the winner, David Lean (“Lawrence of Arabia”) in the Best Director category.
Despite its superannuated view of both the causes and treatments of mental illness, Eleanor’s screenplay was adapted into a stage play in 1967 and an Oprah Winfrey-produced TV Movie in 1998.

STREAMING: Amazon, Apple, YouTube

https://thebrownees.net/eleanor-perry-felt-violated-as-husband-frank-took-the-credit

Popular Articles

There Was A Crooked Man (1970) Film Review    B+

There Was A Crooked Man (1970) Film Review B+

Hume Cronyn and John Randolph are our happy and well-adjusted gay couple. Yes, they fight and bicker all the time. However, they are clearly madly in love with each other.

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Film Review  A+

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Film Review A+

In “Kind Hearts and Coronets”: Alec Guinness has fun playing all eight (or nine) of the unfortunate D’Ascoynes, including Lady Agatha D’Ascoyne. The photograph shows Dennis Price with Joan Greenwood who plays that little minx Sibella.

Subscribe for the latest reviews right in your inbox!