Eugene O'Neill may be considered one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century but apart from "Long Day's Journey into Night" you would never guess if from the films made from his plays. The epic "Mourning Becomes Electra" came out in 1947 under the turgid direction of Dudley Nichols. It was O'Neill's transference of "The Orestaia" to a post-Civil War New England and it's unbelievably bad with a great cast foundering on the almost unspeakable dialogue and it lasts forever. Amazingly both Rosalind Russell and Michael Redgrave were nominated for Oscars and more amazingly still Russell was the favourite in her category, (she lost to Loretta Young). Actually Redgrave isn't that bad, considering it may be the worst part he was ever given, and he did win the National Board of Review's Best Actor prize. This is the kind of filmed theatre in which the actors all shout at the top of their lungs so as to be heard at the back and as if by shouting the lines it gives them relevance. It doesn't and this monstrosity should be avoided like the plague.
Review of Mourning Becomes Electra
