Word: countesses
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...olden days, after the end of World War II, there dwelt in the Bavarian Alps a countess of extreme pique and doleful countenance (Angela Lansbury). Or so the celluloid scribes of Something for Everyone inform us. Looming up in the mists was her former abode, a massive castle that would have excited the imagination of a Winston cigarette ad campaigner. The countess's present quarters were on the castle grounds in a palatial lean-to that the countess shared with her gay son and a daughter who had once been voted the Ugliest Duckling beyond the Valley...
...countess jaunted about in her sole remaining Horch-Pullman, her feudal subjects tried to gladden her heart by tugging their forelocks and putting on displays of their simple country pastimes, such as munching sausages, guzzling beer and blowing flugelhorns. To no avail. The countess subliminally yearned for some wunder-myth of a man who would kiss the castle back to life-with money-so that she could re-enter it in grand style and give way to those mad, scandalous fantasies that constantly invaded her mind, such as gorging on imported strawberries...
...interconnections between layers rather than their contribution to an overall theme. The politicial layer lies nearest the surface, but it is little more than a hand-puppet to the film's sexual politics. It is oddly believable when Vittorio's aide Carlo, caught in the arms of a Countess by his lover, warns her that if she too wants to make it she must behave more coyly...
Consider the skeleton on which Shakespeare has hung his play. Helena is the orphaned ward of the Countess of Roussillon, and is in love with the Countess' son Bertram, who is above her in station. When he goes to the King's court, she follows. The King has been pronounced incurably ill, but Helena promises to cure him in return for the hand of any lord she chooses. The King recovers in two days, and she picks Bertram, who wants none of her. He is forced to marry her, but leaves at once to fight in the Italian wars...
...most remarkable performance in this entire production is that of Eva Le Gallienne as Bertram's mother. the Countess of Roussillon-which Shaw quite arguably called "the most beautiful old woman's part ever written." Although this is Miss Le Gallienne's first appearance at the Festival, she brings to it well over a half century of professional stage experience. She manages to convey all the warmth and wit and wisdom of this aristocratic lady who is fully aware of her ward's virtues and her son's defects. One cannot begin to describe what she can do with...