THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED

US, 1966, 110 minutes, Colour.
Natalie Wood, Robert Bedford, Charles Bronson, Kate Reid, Mary Badham, Robert Blake.
Directed by Sidney Pollack.

This Property 1s Condemned is based on a one act play by Tennessee Williams. It is set in the familiar Williams' territory of the Southern states. The time is the depression. As with other plays a condemned building serves as a symbol of decaying society (as in the floodbound home in The Seven Descents of Myrtle, Blood Kin). The building symbolises the railway junction that is closing down because of changes in production and carting.

Natalie Wood plays the Williams’ leading lady, the mixture of pride and sensuality and tragedy. Robert Redford (in pre-Sundance days) plays the hero quietly. The film is long and rather slow-paced, but most visits to Williams' country are interesting.

Sidney Pollack directed Castle Keep and They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

1. What is the meaning of the title?

2. Why did the screenplay make Willis tell the story, dressed in Alva's things, walking on the railway line?

3. Did the film communicate the way of life in the 30s, in a railway city, with the depression closing in?

4. Did you understand Alva's character, spoilt and beautiful, "the main attraction", selfish yet with a roving imagination, and wishing for better things for herself?

5. How did Alva show her character in her first meeting with Owen and her throwing herself at him? (and her reactions to Sidney, J.J., and Mr. Johnson)?

6. What kind of man was Owen? Was he likeable, attractive? Was he superior to the people of Dodson City?

7. What kind of woman was Mrs. Starr - the type of boarding house she ran, J.J., her plans for Alva and Mr. Johnson, her age?

8. What role did Willis play in the film? Was she a convincing charaeter: How did she contrast with Alva? Was she a typical tomboy? How did she relate to Owen?

9. How did the railway situation influence the drama? Was Owen doing the best he could? Did he feel for the men? Could he have done anything else? Was it fair for the men to bash him?

10. Why was Owen attracted to Alva? Why was she something special to him? Why did she protest so much? Discuss Owen's conversation with her when she was hiding in the garden from Mr. Johnson, What was the significance of the conversation in the old carriage - her dreams and fantasies, his lack of dream and vision and his "realism".

11. Was Mrs. Starr right in asking her daughter to live with Mr. Johnson? Why did Alva react so strongly against it? Why did Owen believe Mrs. Starr's phone call about Alva's willingness to go? Why did he hurt Alva?

12. Was Alva's marriage to J.J. credible as a reaction against her mother, a hurting and defying her mother, an escape from Mr. Johnson?

13. New Orleans was Alva's dream. How did the train trip, her walks in New Orleans and her meeting the people seem to her? Were they the fulfilment of her dream?

14. Were you glad she and Owen were reconciled? Was this the best thing for them? Was the ending inevitable? Why did her mother act in such a cruel way? Did she have grounds for revenge?

15. How did Owen react to the news of the marriage? Would he have forgiven her?

16. Was Alva's death too melodramatic?

17. How effective were the symbols. - e.g. the decaying house, the paperweight, the old carriage, the cemetery above ground in New Orleans, "Wish me a Rainbow", etc, ?

18. Was this a typical film presentation of the Southern States? Could this story have happened elsewhere?