Desire Under The Elms

A young Anthony Perkins was yet to be eternally typecast with Psycho (1960) but his stab here at playing a raw farmhand (he appears to be channeling James Stewart) hardly points to a great screen future. And if you can believe that Sophia Loren (appearing for the first time in an English-speaking film) would fall for him then you won't mind the sets that look like the cut-outs they are, nor the literary dialogue.

Based on an early Eugene O'Neill play dealing with an Oedipal wrangle between Perkins's character and his self-centred, Bible-bashing father (Burl Ives in an engagingly over-the-top performance), the film keeps close to its stylized theatrical origins. This approach misfires however as the performances are not strong enough to hold one's attention, something which is only highlighted by the lack of a convincing visual setting.

 

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