...this may account for the strange structure of the plot and the relative short appearance of Lauren Bacall.
Strange how this movie should begin with a conversation between a mentally sick young man (John Kerr) and one of the shrinks's wife (Gloria Grahame).And what do they talk about? Madness and Van Gogh."The cobweb" was a true forerunner of "lust for life" in which Minnelli would depict the great painter's life.And if the message is not clear enough,the main subject of the movie,the bone of contention is the library drapes which the psychiatric hospital patients -who will get better whereas the staff won't !-are (or are not) to decorate with their paintings.
John Kerr,although a supporting character ,is akin to many a Minnelli young hero:he does not know where he stands like the young man of "tea and sympathy" (another Kerr part with another Kerr (Deborah) as co-star)who searches for a -sexual-identity ,like Theron (George Hamilton) in "home from the hill" is ill-at-ease in a disturbed family,like Davie (Hamilton again) the young actor in search of a model in "two weeks in another town".And let's not forget that in " four horsemen of the Apocalypse", Karl Boehm 's character finds his way in Nazism!And John Kerr's character ,in "cobweb" is OUR victim,says shrink Widmark ,a victim of our meanness,our tensions,our quarrels .The hospital becomes a place where they are always at each other's throat ,a society in miniature,this society where Vincent Van Gogh (the young patient may be Minnelli's sketch)will live .(strange future)
Stephen Harvey claims that 30 minutes were edited out. During almost two hours ,the movie revolves around drapes -the last picture is sheer genius:it's maybe a young VVG sleeping under the ugly drapes.The movie actually belongs to the sixties and sometimes recalls the abstract plots of Antonioni."Two weeks in another town" would show that MInnelli had completely ingested the new Italian cinema.
Widmark's character is ,on the other hand ,one of the positive heroes of Minnelli.Like George Peppard in " Home from the hill" who reconstructs a family,like Kirk Douglas in "two weeks..." who comes to term with himself,like Glenn Ford in "four horseman..." who sacrifices his life to fight Nazism,like Sinatra in "some came running" who understands finally what true love means(McLaine's moving prostitute),he understands that all this hassle (be it domestic fight with his wife or the drapes) builds a cobweb where one of their patients gets caught.
If "cobweb" is somewhat disappointing,when compared to all the other works I mention,outside of the "producers's cut ", it's because the characters -who are numerous ,and played by veterans like Gish or newcomers like Strasberg ,fresh from her father's actor's studio - do not have room enough to shine.This hospital is not big enough for all of them.But you are going to tell me that if it was ,then there would not be any quarrel.And no plot.
I wish we could see "cobweb" as Minnelli wanted it to be someday.
Strange how this movie should begin with a conversation between a mentally sick young man (John Kerr) and one of the shrinks's wife (Gloria Grahame).And what do they talk about? Madness and Van Gogh."The cobweb" was a true forerunner of "lust for life" in which Minnelli would depict the great painter's life.And if the message is not clear enough,the main subject of the movie,the bone of contention is the library drapes which the psychiatric hospital patients -who will get better whereas the staff won't !-are (or are not) to decorate with their paintings.
John Kerr,although a supporting character ,is akin to many a Minnelli young hero:he does not know where he stands like the young man of "tea and sympathy" (another Kerr part with another Kerr (Deborah) as co-star)who searches for a -sexual-identity ,like Theron (George Hamilton) in "home from the hill" is ill-at-ease in a disturbed family,like Davie (Hamilton again) the young actor in search of a model in "two weeks in another town".And let's not forget that in " four horsemen of the Apocalypse", Karl Boehm 's character finds his way in Nazism!And John Kerr's character ,in "cobweb" is OUR victim,says shrink Widmark ,a victim of our meanness,our tensions,our quarrels .The hospital becomes a place where they are always at each other's throat ,a society in miniature,this society where Vincent Van Gogh (the young patient may be Minnelli's sketch)will live .(strange future)
Stephen Harvey claims that 30 minutes were edited out. During almost two hours ,the movie revolves around drapes -the last picture is sheer genius:it's maybe a young VVG sleeping under the ugly drapes.The movie actually belongs to the sixties and sometimes recalls the abstract plots of Antonioni."Two weeks in another town" would show that MInnelli had completely ingested the new Italian cinema.
Widmark's character is ,on the other hand ,one of the positive heroes of Minnelli.Like George Peppard in " Home from the hill" who reconstructs a family,like Kirk Douglas in "two weeks..." who comes to term with himself,like Glenn Ford in "four horseman..." who sacrifices his life to fight Nazism,like Sinatra in "some came running" who understands finally what true love means(McLaine's moving prostitute),he understands that all this hassle (be it domestic fight with his wife or the drapes) builds a cobweb where one of their patients gets caught.
If "cobweb" is somewhat disappointing,when compared to all the other works I mention,outside of the "producers's cut ", it's because the characters -who are numerous ,and played by veterans like Gish or newcomers like Strasberg ,fresh from her father's actor's studio - do not have room enough to shine.This hospital is not big enough for all of them.But you are going to tell me that if it was ,then there would not be any quarrel.And no plot.
I wish we could see "cobweb" as Minnelli wanted it to be someday.