A View From the Bridge | An Outstanding Poignant Drama

A View From the Bridge | A Masterpiece

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A View From the Br...

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Sidney Lumet had to film Arthur Miller's controversial play in Europe--in both French and English--because of the playwright's politics. In this English-language version, Raf Vallone is a rugged Brooklyn longshoreman who is taken aback with co-worker Raymond Pellegrin's interest in his teenage niece. But Vallone has trouble admitting to himself--or anyone else--that he has an unhealthy affection for the girl. Maureen Stapleton, Jean Sorel, Vincent Gardenia and Harvey Lembeck also star. 110 min. NOTE: This movie has been manufactured by a small but reliable supplier and is 100% guaranteed. While this movie has not been digitally restored and may not be nearly as good as a big studio restoration, we offer this kind of product when it is the only print available and collectors ask us for it, regardless of quality.

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An Outstanding Poignant Drama

I just watched the film after not seeing it for more than 40 years. The screenplay, the acting, the B&W cinematography are excellent. All of the actors- lead and supporting- are excellent, especially Raf Vallone and Carol Lawrence.

The only negative is not the film, but the quality of the VHS tape. Perhaps I shouldn't complain, since the video is listed as unavailable. I bought the tape, listed as new, from Movies Unlimited through Amazon. It presents the film in total, but there is bad static in certain places and the picture could have been sharper. Nevertheless, it is very worthwhile to buy.

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A Masterpiece

It's too bad that this movie has been overlooked and left to languish for so long. As of 2008, it's only been available in this slightly corrupted VHS version. I hope this classic gets rescued soon, is re-mastered onto a DVD, and includes a Director's commentary by Sidney Lumet. Lumet is at his absolute gritty, streets-of-New-York best here and it would be valuable to hear his reflections about the making of the film.

The movie is an adaptation of an Arthur Miller play. I'm not sure why this play never became as famous as Miller's "Death of a Salesman." Perhaps it's because this play-become-movie came out at a time when Arthur Miller's career was in eclipse as a result of charges made before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the height of the Cold War scare. Or perhaps "Death" is regarded as the quintessential American drama because it deals with our preoccupation over making a sale.

However when I watched this movie again for the first time in many years, I saw that it too in fact has a secondary theme very relevant to today's American life and America's current political concerns. It shows the precarious life of illegal immigrants. In this case, it's the life of Italian immigrants who come to the U.S. hoping to work hard and save money, all the while existing under the threat of being picked up by immigration authorities and deported.

But the problems of illegal immigrants are only a subsidiary, pretext theme here. The real drama centers around an uncle's too-great fondness for the niece he has raised as his ward. This uncle is no Dateline-style sexual predator though. The sexual tension between uncle and niece is at least initially innocent enough. However when one of the two illegals who moves in with the family falls in love with the niece and threatens to take her away into a grown-up world of her own - the uncle turns ruthless. The terrible tension then revolves around how far this man will go in his attempts to prevent his niece's marriage.

The acting here is superb, one of the finest ensemble performances ever captured on film. Carol Lawrence in her first starring role strikes just the right note as the niece who has grown into womanhood. Maureen Stapleton is perfect as the knowing wife. But it's Raf Vallone as the uncle who turns in the central tour de force performance. He's a man tortured by what he can't admit, even to himself. He is buffeted into powerful savagery by his incomprehension, by his denial, of his real motives.
Even if this slightly fading VHS version is a little difficult to watch in spots, it's a must-have.

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