Based on the play "Orpheus Descending" by Tennessee Williams directed by Sidney Lumet with an exceptional cast: Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton and Victor Jory. I saw it for the first time when I was still in my teens and I had an opaque, sticky memory of the film so when somebody suggested to see it on DVD I knew we were in for an opaque, sticky evening but, as it happens, I was dead wrong. "The Fugitive Kind" is riveting with an opening monologue by Brando that is astonishing. A 1960 Brando when he had still, I imagine. hopes to be the actor, the man he wanted to be. There is an animal innocence in his eyes in his moves. The magnificent Magnani, who learned her lines phonetically because she didn't know English presented Brando with a challenge as an actress and as a woman. I hear it wasn't pretty but the result is a feast for the eyes and the ears. The film may not be perfect but I don't think the original material was either so what we got here is a unique opportunity to see this enormous artists giving their whole. That alone makes it a collectors item.

When I first saw this film during it's initial release in 1959, I was magnetized by the odd chemistry between the moody, semi-articulate Marlon Brando in his snake-skin jacket and the searching intensity of Anna Magnani, playing the frustrated wife of sweaty Victor Jory, a grinning, sweating mask of Death, incapacitated upstairs. There was nothing quite like the mixture of poetic symbolism, the fevered acting styles from the cast, and the evocation of a dusty little Southern town.The critics at the time didn't know what to make of this film, probably looking for the happy predictability of the usual 1950's time-passer, and it went largely ignored, certainly by the public, and pretty much by everyone else. As time has passed, the intensity of contributions from everyone on the set is palpable, especially the wonderful lighting effects that make this oddball Tennessee Williams play (on stage it was Orpheus Descending) especially cinematic. It is a distinctive and fascinating portrait of the oddball strain in a changing nation and rich with some memorable encounters. How can you not want to go "jukin" with Joanne Woodward, looking as she does like Blanche Dubois after she escaped the asylum? I think the film only gets better with time, but would caution those who want realism or expect sweet resolutions to stay away from the film. It is vintage Tennessee Williams, with life's fragile losers the focus, the tale heavy with symbolism, the climax certainly not a cheerer-upper.

"The Fugitive Kind" plays like Tennessee Williams' B-side, the second-half of a "Streetcar" double feature... Director Sidney Lumet does a fantastic job tapping into the loneliness, desire, and humanity that were the hallmarks of Williams' writing. And Brando is still smoking from his "Streetcar" heat...Marlon was still in his golden era, and he's the reason to see this movie. His performance here is pure sexual magnetism, as he effortlessly plays a man whose every move oozes eroticism. How much so? At one point in the movie Anna Magnini watches him walk by with a cigarette in his hand and blushes, asking why he's so dirty. At another point, he confesses his gift/curse for being able to "wear women down." Let the levees break...This is the Brando everyone talks about, and every tired cliché is absolutely true: you cannot take your eyes off him. Smoldering, strong, and yet embarrassingly vulnerable- both physically and emotionally. This is the stuff dreams are made of.Joanne Woodward gives a brilliantly naked performance as a beatnik, and she reminded me strongly of Jessica Lange. Anna Magnani is suitably raw, and Victor Jory appropriately evil.The show here is Marlon, and if you don't know why he's considered the best film actor of all time, just take a look at him here.GRADE: B

"The Fugitive Kind" stars 4 Oscar winners. By the time the moved came out, Joanne Woodward, Marlon Brando and Anna Magnani had already won. Maureen Stapleton would win in the supporting actress category 22 years later. Nonetheless, with these great thespians plus an added excellent performance by Victor Jory, the film is done in due to the relentless writing of Tennessee Williams.As soon as we see a Williams production, we know it's about Louisiana, drifters coming into a town and a plethora of emotional instability compounded by the neurotics on the part of the characters. "Fugitive Kind" falls right into this.Joanne Woodward looks like her eyes were punched out here. She appears too young for the part here and she amazingly disappears through most of the middle of the picture.I must say that Anna Magnani's English is far better here than in her award winning "Rose Tattoo," as well as the wonderful "Wild is the Wind."As far as Brando is concerned, he is again another Stanly Kowalski, but this time far saner, though quite vulnerable to the tragedy that befalls him.Magnani has never been more earthy and Maureen Stapleton's performance as a sympathetic character is understated and quite brief.