Tea and Sympathy (1956) Film Review. A-

DIRECTOR: Vincente Minnelli

BOTTOM LINE: Tom Robertson Lee (John Kerr), a sensitive young man at a boys’ prep school, is bullied for not fitting into traditional masculine norms. The only person who shows him compassion is Laura Reynolds (Deborah Kerr), the coach’s wife, whose sympathy blurs into intimacy, raising questions about gender expectations, sexuality, and emotional connection.

The consensus today is that even if Deborah’s character, the mistress of a household of college boys, manages to “save” Tom from his sensitive (read homosexual) tendencies by seducing him, she cannot save herself from the fact that she married a gay man, Bill Reynolds (Leif Erickson) and is trapped in a loveless union. Bill has taken the opposite road from Tom. He is hyper-masculine, preferring the company of men to women.

In many ways, the film has aged well. What could not be said under the Hayes code (according to Deborah, the words homosexual, gay, or queer were never mentioned during the entire production, not even or especially by gay director Vincente Minnelli) gives it a beauty and delicacy, especially in Deborah’s sublime performance.

Both John Kerr and Deborah Kerr reprised their roles on the Broadway Stage.

Adapted from the play by Robert Anderson.

Cinematography: John Alton

MGM

STREAMING: Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+

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