Natalie Wood just never seemed to get a break. For an actress with an obvious talent, one that can usually carry a picture, her later career seems saddled with pictures that could have been good yet just do not come off. An excellent example is This Property is Condemned. Just a glance at the credits will convince you that the result of so many talents, (Tennessee Williams, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford, Kate Reid, Francis Coppola, John Houseman, Ray Stark, James Wong Howe), the picture has got to be a classic. Unfortunately, this is far from the case. The result of so much talent ends up a mishmash of patched together themes, uneven editing and reactions that do not fit the characters.
One problem is the fleshing out of the original one act play, pulling in additional material that does not seem to match the first half of the film. Laden with long drawn out pans of Wood wandering New Orleans, the movie stumbles to a clumsy ending made only worse by the 'let's take care of all those loose ends' epilogue with Mary Badham as Wood's younger sister. What could have been a taut and emotionally devastating film results instead with the viewer wondering how could so many great talents create something so flat and lifeless? Natalie Wood however is wonderful and a joy to watch and makes the best of the poor script handed her. Equally good is Mary Badham, a special treat to watch in what I believe is the only film she made other than her amazing turn as Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird. If I had to pick just one thing that condemned the movie all together-the music. Some of the sappiest and inappropriate background soundtrack I have ever heard in my life. When the film cries out for a subtle dramatic score the viewer is presented instead with calliope tunes better suited for a circus themed comedy.
One problem is the fleshing out of the original one act play, pulling in additional material that does not seem to match the first half of the film. Laden with long drawn out pans of Wood wandering New Orleans, the movie stumbles to a clumsy ending made only worse by the 'let's take care of all those loose ends' epilogue with Mary Badham as Wood's younger sister. What could have been a taut and emotionally devastating film results instead with the viewer wondering how could so many great talents create something so flat and lifeless? Natalie Wood however is wonderful and a joy to watch and makes the best of the poor script handed her. Equally good is Mary Badham, a special treat to watch in what I believe is the only film she made other than her amazing turn as Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird. If I had to pick just one thing that condemned the movie all together-the music. Some of the sappiest and inappropriate background soundtrack I have ever heard in my life. When the film cries out for a subtle dramatic score the viewer is presented instead with calliope tunes better suited for a circus themed comedy.