Product: Under Milk Wood [VHS] (1973)
Rating: 3.0
Bad idea well executed.
I own this on videotape, but will not, probably, be getting the DVD.UNDER MILKWOOD is a play for voices, originially written for radio, and frequently done as a readers' theater piece by college and community groups. (By doubling parts one can do it with a fairly small cast, and the constumes, scenery, and props are minimal.)Why then, would one even consider doing it as a film, that most visual of media? A videorecording of a proper readers' theater production might have some pedagogical value, but it would be a rather dull film considered as film. But this shoehorning it into a full cinematic treatment was totally wrongheaded from the beginning.I'm giving it three stars only because of the cast; they were all very talented people and obviously were doing the best they could under the circumstances. The only exception was Elizabeth Taylor, and that wasn't really her fault; (a) so much of her part was cut that one couldn't really get a valid impression of her conception of Mrs. Probert and (b) she was miscast--but she probably would have been even worse miscast as any of the other female parts! As it was, it was obvious that she was really trying hard, but had too much going against her.As for the cuts--and there were many--why, if they were so pressed for time that they had to cut so much, did they introduce that totally unnecessary and gratuitous 'Norma Jean' interlude?Don't waste your money; get a proper, audio version.