Themes: Age Disparity Romance, Self-Destructive Romance, Unrequited Love
Main Cast: Vivien Leigh, Warren Beatty, Coral Browne, Jill St. John, Lotte Lenya
Release Year: 1961
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
Vivien Leigh plays Karen Stone, a middle-aged actress whose career is in a tailspin. To assuage her hurt feelings, Karen goes on a vacation to Rome with her husband, who dies en route. Her best friend (Coral Browne) compassionately arranges for a young Italian escort (read: gigolo) to keep Karen from wallowing in her grief in Rome. The man hired for the task is sneering, contemptuous Pablo di Leo, played by Warren Beatty. Despite Pablo's rude behavior, the lonely Karen throws herself at him, showering him with expensive gifts and demanding his undivided attention. This being an adaptation of a Tennessee Williams novel, Blanche Dubois --er, Karen Stone must pay the piper for her eleventh-hour surfeit of passion; she is dispensed with by an "Angel of Death" in the form of psycho Jeremy Spencer. More operatic than dramatic, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone represents the only feature-film directorial effort of experimental-theatre maven Jose Quintero; his assistant was future Bullitt helmer Peter Yates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is a hauntingly beautiful, if somewhat predictable, adaptation of the Tennessee Williams novel of the same name. Director Jose Quintero, who made his name as a stage director of Williams and Eugene O'Neill, gives the story a confining, claustrophobic feeling, despite its extensive use of gorgeous Italian outdoor locations. While this is initially effective, it grows a bit wearying and also negates the impact of the film's conclusion; by not sufficiently altering the mood during Mrs. Stone's adventure into love so that the audience can believe that perhaps things could turn out well, her desertion and desolation do not pack the wallop they should. This is not at all the fault of Vivien Leigh, who gives a stunning performance. Her Stone is a beautifully detailed, fully realized character, informed with sadness and melancholy, which makes her eventual embrace of love all the more moving. Leigh's underlying fragility has rarely been put to better use than here. Warren Beatty's performance is not so assured; while his accent is definitely problematic, the larger problem is that he doesn't seem to have fully understood the character. This is not the case with Lotte Lenya, whose Contessa is delicious, a captivating and conniving barracuda. Although it is a bit slow and occasionally smacks of artifice, Mrs. Stone is still a moving and affecting character study. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Herbert Smith - Art Director, Pierre Balmain - Costume Designer, Bumble Dawson - Costume Designer, Jose Quintero - Director, Ralph Kemplen - Editor, Richard Addinsell - Composer (Music Score), Douglas Gamley - Musical Direction/Supervision, Richard Addinsell - Songwriter, Paddy Roberts - Songwriter, Bob Lawrence - Makeup, Roger Furse - Production Designer, Harry Waxman - Cinematographer, Louis de Rochemont - Producer, John Jarvis - Set Designer, Gavin Lambert - Screenwriter, Jan Read - Screenwriter, Tennessee Williams - Play Author
This article is about the 1961 film. For the 2003 TV film, see The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (TV). For The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone, see The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (disambiguation).
Karen Stone (Vivien Leigh), an actress, and her businessman husband are off on holiday to Rome. Her husband suffers a fatal heart attack on the plane. Karen Stone decides to stay in Italy and rent a luxury apartment in Rome. She is soon introduced by the Contessa Magda Terribili-Gonzales (Lotte Lenya) to a young Italian man, Paolo (Warren Beatty). They soon embark on a passionate affair, with disastrous consequences.
