Search - The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

This first film directorial effort of actor Simon Callow is based on a novel by Carson McCullers -- which, in turn, was adapted for the stage by Edward Albee in 1964. Vanessa Redgrave plays a powerful Southern matriarch who, sequestered in her café/general store, holds her home town in the palm of her hand. Redgrave's benevolent despotry is threatened by the arrival of her hunchbacked cousin, Cork Hubbert (in the role played on stage by dwarf actor Michael Dunn), and her jailbird husband Keith Carradine. Unable to remove this threat to her authority by her usual means, Redgrave is reduced to challenging Carradine to a bare-knuckle fight! Carson McCullers' fascination with the disintegration of the Old South coupled with her preoccupation with the grotesque requires delicate handling (as witness Heart Is a Lonely Hunter). Callow works overtime keeping things controlled and tasteful; unfortunately, this results in a very mannered and stilted production, all too obviously betraying its stage origins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vanessa Redgrave - Miss Amelia
Keith Carradine - Marvin Macy
Cork Hubbert - Cousin Lymon
Rod Steiger - Rev. Willin
Austin Pendleton - Lawyer Taylor

1991

In Competition ()

Berlin International Film Festival

Simon Callow

These movies have the touch and feel of The Ballad of the Sad Cafe...
16	Kramer vs. Kramer (PG)
1	Scenes From a Marriage [Criterion Collection]
19	Nothing in Common (PG)
3	The Heartbreak Kid [Fullscreen] (PG)
4	Tex [Widescreen/Fullscreen] (PG)
1	A Handful of Dust (PG)
1	Autumn Sonata [Criterion Collection] (NR)
4	Interiors [Widescreen/Fullscreen] (PG)
8	Same Time, Next Year (PG)
12	The Prince of Tides (R)
2	Strangers in Good Company (PG)
53	Summer School (PG-13)
17	The Accidental Tourist (PG)
6	Cyrano de Bergerac (PG)
6	The Four Seasons (PG)
116	What About Bob? (PG)
14	The Goodbye Girl (PG)
5	Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (PG-13)
These movies have the subject or theme of The Ballad of the Sad Cafe...
7	The Women (NR)
8	Treasure of the Sierra Madre [Special Edition] (NR)
2	Unfaithfully Yours [Criterion Collection]
S	Too Late for Tears
21	The Maltese Falcon (NR)
S	Cause For Alarm!
13	Mortal Thoughts [Widescreen/Fullscreen] (R)
3	The Heartbreak Kid [Fullscreen] (PG)
2	Zandalee (NR)
S	Falling From Grace (PG-13)
19	She-Devil (PG-13)
7	Gas Food Lodging (R)
70	Casablanca (PG)
S	The Fugitive Kind (NR)
These movies share cast/crew with The Ballad of the Sad Cafe...
26	Postcards from the Edge (R)
5	Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (PG-13)
16	Howards End (PG)
19	A Room with a View (NR)
3	Maurice: The Merchant Ivory Collection
47	Amadeus (PG)
1	The Good Father (R)
2	Prick Up Your Ears (R)
2	Sinatra (NR)
16	Doctor Zhivago (PG-13)
5	Choose Me (R)
3	Daddy's Dyin'... Who's Got the Will (PG-13)
2	Crisscross (R)
2	The Bostonians (PG)
These movies cover the same subjects as The Ballad of the Sad Cafe...
1	Stanley Kramer Box Set (NR)
1	A Delicate Balance (PG)
These movies are similar to The Ballad of the Sad Cafe...
25	The Grapes of Wrath
3	The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (G)
3	Of Mice and Men (NR)
S	Reflections in a Golden Eye (NR)