ShangLuda Admirable film.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

jarrodmcdonald-1 Rosalind Russell's Lavinia is engaged in a vicious war with her mother (Katina Paxinou) over the death of her heroic father (Raymond Massey) in this adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra from RKO studios. The drama intensifies when a brother, played by Michael Redgrave, returns from battle in the Civil War. He is soon drawn into simmering family entanglements. With his sister, he commits murder against their mother's lover to avenge the father's death. The film offers an eclectic array of acting styles, though Dudley Nichols' direction seems to skillfully weave all the elements together. Kirk Douglas gives a standout performance in a supporting role, but it's the ambitious interpretation of family justice and the explosive recriminations that characters continually experience which render it a riveting story, a riveting film– and an undeniable masterpiece.

JohnHowardReid The full British version of this movie is now available on an excellent Image DVD, but I must admit I was disappointed. I'm very glad I wasn't subjected to the original USA release version of 173 minutes, but in my opinion the British release of 159 minutes is still too long. I would have eliminated the whole of the final act, namely the whole of the Kirk Douglas episode which is not only an anti-climax and a poor recapitulation of events we have already witnessed, but actually a complete waste of time. I think the melodrama reaches the right climactic height and comes to a really satisfying conclusion before Kirk Douglas finally has his say. Mind you, it's not Kirk's dialogue that is so boring, but Rosalind Russell's. She is forced to recapitulate sentiments and speculations that she has already broached far more effectively in previous confrontations earlier in the play. And although director/screenwriter Dudley Nichols allows Russell tends to dominate the action, she is forced, alas, to play one of the least interesting characters. Only Henry Hull has an equally boring role, but he's in the movie for only a fraction of the time allotted to Miss Russell, and what's more, he shares just about all his scenes with other players. I was also not always happy with Katina Paxinou's interpretation. I thought she handled most of her scenes very astutely indeed, but at other times I felt she was giving a performance more suitable for a stage presentation. By contrast, Leo Genn opted for the opposite approach and tended to underplay his role. Mind you, he has an extremely difficult part but he approaches it the way he would on a stage. When his character is playing a deceptive role, he attacks it with vigor. When he wants to present Adam Brant free of deception, he underplays – as he would in a theatre. Unfortunately, this stratagem doesn't always work in movies – and for me, it didn't work here. But that's the way it struck me. You may think differently and feel that Genn handled both aspects of his characterization extremely well. Raymond Massey, of course, is perfect as always; but I wasn't over-happy with Michael Redgrave who seemed to pass up many of his opportunities in order to keep the spotlight on Rosalind Russell. As I intimated above, Rosalind Russell was already dominating the movie and she really needed someone to bring her down to size occasionally. Only Katina Paxinou had a good try at this, but I felt at times that director Dudley Nichols in collaboration with cameraman George Barnes and make-up artist Gordon Bau, was doing his best to sabotage Katina's efforts to upstage Roz.

marvy42 One of the most ridiculously absurd movies I've ever seen. The acting is so completely over the top that I'd rate silent film emoters as being more subtle. The dialog is laughable; it's difficult to imagine that O'Neill wrote respected plays after seeing this monstrosity. It seems like the cast were told to get into costume and then treat the filming as a vacation from acting. I first saw the movie about 40 years ago and could barely believe how bad it was. I gave it another chance last night and it hadn't improved one bit. I have no problem comparing it to "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Of the entire main cast, only Nancy Coleman (Hazel) seems to display some minimal acting talent (and that's probably only due to her role being relatively small). Rosalind Russell and Michael Redgrave are more bizarre than tortured; Raymond Massey has seemingly given up; Katina Paxinou a raving beauty that men would kill for???? (be still, my lunch). Henry Hull (Seth) is the only cast member who at least tries (but fails miserably) to have a regional accent. That's well over two hours that I could have spent more profitably in a coma.

bkoganbing Mourning Becomes Electra did for Rosalind Russell what Nightmare Alley did for Tyrone Power. It established her as an actress with range not previously realized and in her case she got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. But it was an absolute financial flop.Dudley Nichols in his adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's marathon play about the Mannon family of New England managed to get it down to almost three hours in length. In its first release that's about how long it was and later when the public proved indifferent to it, it was cut further rendering it totally unintelligible for O'Neill purists.Rosalind Russell had a three picture deal going with RKO films and one of those films she wanted to do was Sister Kenny whom she had met and was very impressed with. According to her memoirs Dudley Nichols agreed to help with Sister Kenny if she would do Mourning Becomes Electra. She actually wanted to play the role of the mother that Katina Paxinou did, but had to settle for daughter Lavinia. The film got good critical acclaim and should have stayed in the art house circuit. But RKO put it in general release and it lost money big time. Russell's Sister Kenny biographical film also went the same route and she also got an Oscar nomination. However when Howard Hughes bought RKO he took one look at the red ink beside both of those films and told her to forget that third picture on the deal. No more art house stuff would come out of RKO while Hughes was in charge.O'Neill work is always long on characterization, but this one could have been better. A very static camera was at work here, always filming scenes from a single perspective. Both the films of Long Day's Journey Into Night and The Iceman Cometh though they are both taking place on one set are far better done for the cinema than Mourning Becomes Electra.Russell mentioned that her best accolade was a handwritten note from Eugene O'Neill himself about how much he liked her performance. It was better than the Academy Award that everyone thought she would get, but Loretta Young got for The Farmer's Daughter.Michael Redgrave was nominated for Best Actor, but he also lost to Ronald Colman for A Double Life. It was back to the British cinema for him after this.Russell and Redgrave are brother and sister, children of Raymond Massey and Katina Paxinou. Paxinou has a lover on the side in Leo Genn who's also courting Russell. Russell finds out and sets loose a whole chain of events that witness the destruction of the family. Kirk Douglas and Nancy Coleman are another brother and sister named Niles who get involved with the Mannon offspring. This was an early film for Douglas, had he been a bigger movie name then, he might have taken on the role Redgrave had.No matter how badly executed Mourning Becomes Electra was for the screen if I had a note from Eugene O'Neill praising my performance, that would be all the accolade I'd ever need.