Main Cast: Eva Marie Saint, Warren Beatty, Karl Malden, Angela Lansbury, Brandon de Wilde
Release Year: 1962
Country: US
Run Time: 111 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
In one of his first roles, Warren Beatty plays a callous, self-involved young man who is idolized by his younger brother Brandon DeWilde. When Beatty and DeWilde's parents Karl Malden and Angela Lansbury take in Eva Marie Saint as a boarder, Beatty makes violent love to the poor (but not entirely unwilling) girl. Saint becomes pregnant, a contingency which brings out the absolute worst in Beatty. When he deserts her, she kills herself. Only at this point does DeWilde (who has worshipped Saint from afar) realize that Beatty has feet of clay. Attempting to kill his older brother, DeWilde relents when he decides that Beatty is more pathetic than evil. Playwright William Inge adapted the screenplay for All Fall Down from a novel by James Leo Herlihy. So dependent is this film on its stark black and white photography that the currently available colorized version is tantamount to sacrilege. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Constance Ford - Mrs. Mandel; Barbara Baxley - Schoolteacher; Evans Evans - Hedy; Jennifer Howard - Myra; Madame Spivy - Bouncer; Albert Paulsen - Capt. Ramirez; Paul Bryar - Manager of Sweet Shop; Colette Jackson - Dorothy; Carol Kelly - Flame; Henry Kulky - Sailor; Robert Sorrells - Waiter in Sweet Shop
The film follows the wealthy Willart family. Berry-Berry Willart (Warren Beatty) is idolized by younger brother Clinton (Brandon De Wilde), despite Berry's hedonistic lifestyle and irresponsible ways. After their parents, Ralph and Annabel Willart (Karl Malden and Angela Lansbury) take in a young Echo O'Brien (Eva Marie Saint), Berry is drawn to her. Berry deserts Echo when she becomes pregnant, driving the girl to suicide and destroying Clinton's view of his brother.
