This Property Is Condemned

Sydney Pollack's tawdry potboiler, adapted from a one-act play by Tennessee Williams, was rife with production problems, culminating in Williams' failed attempt to have his name removed from the credits. The story is set by a framing device as thirteen-year-old Willie Starr (Mary Badham) sits on an abandoned railroad track with her friend Tom (Jon Provost) and relates the tale of her deceased older sister Alva (Natalie Wood). Alva is a beautiful woman living in a small Mississippi town in the 1930s with her manipulative mother Hazel (Kate Reid), the owner of a boarding house. Hazel wants Alva to marry the well to do Mr. Johnson (John Harding), but Alva has fallen in love with a good-looking stranger from New Orleans, Owen Legate (Robert Redford), who is in Mississippi to lay off railroad workers. Hazel is opposed to their love affair and when Owen is beaten to a pulp by a gang of workers, he decides to leave town and take Alva with him. But Hazel fools Owen into thinking Alva is engaged to Mr. Johnson. In retaliation, Alva marries Hazel's loutish lover J.J. (Charles Bronson). The next day, she abandons J.J. to meet Owen in New Orleans. Her mother, incensed at Alva's betrayal, sets out to ruin her daughter's reputation by exposing her marriage to J.J. to the world. — Paul Brenner

AMG Review:
You would think that any project with talent like Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack, Tennessee Williams, James Wong Howe, and Francis Ford Coppola would have to be at least above average, but This Property Is Condemned proves that this is not necessarily the case. Property fails as incisive drama, but even worse, it fails as lurid melodrama. It's tawdry and a potboiler, but those words at least imply a kind of fun and a modicum of liveliness. Property is flat and tired, and in spite of the fact that it keeps trying to be steamy, it's not really very sexy. Much of the blame rests with the screenplay, which — in spite of a few flashes of Williams fire — just lies there without going much of anyplace. Pollack's direction is similarly lackluster, but even more damaging is the casting of Natalie Wood in the key role. Wood tries very hard, but she's not the sensual wild child/woman that the part demands. Redford is better, but also a bit bland; much better are Kate Reid and Charles Bronson, who imbue their characters with the life and passion that the leads lack. But the best — and only truly exceptional — thing about Property is the beautiful, evocative lensing of Howe. Creating gorgeous, textured shots of a deserted rail line or a sepia-toned New Orleans evening, Howe's work gives life to Property — and even makes you forget Kenyon Hopkins' intrusive and irritating score. — Craig Butler