The Rose Tattoo

Plays are meant to be seen more than to be read. After reading Tennessee Williams' "The Rose Tattoo", I needed to see a dramatization of the work to bring it to life. The wonders of Instant Video allowed me to turn immediately to this celebrated 1955 film adaptation of Williams' play. Williams himself wrote the screenplay for the film with the assistance of Hal Kanter. Daniel Mann directed the film and a young Burt Lancaster played the male lead, Alvaro Mangiacavallo. But the film will always be remembered for the fiery, sultry performance of Anna Magnani (1908 -- 1973) as Serafina Delle Rose, the grieving widow whose heart comes passionately back to life in the course of the drama. Williams had modeled the character of Serafina on Magnani and tried unsuccessfuly to get her to play the lead in the Broadway production. The movie version marked her first appearance in American film. Magnani won the Academy Award for best actress together with the BAFTA, Golden Globes, National Board of Review, and New York Film Critics Circle Awards. The film was nominated for best picture. Williams wrote of Magnani's performance in the film:"Anna Magnani was magnificent as Serafina in the movie version of Tattoo. She was as unconventional a woman as I have known in or out of my professional world, and if you understand me at all, you must know that in this statement I am making my personal estimate of her honesty, which I feel was complete. She never exhibited any lack of self-assurance, any timidity in her relations with that society outside of whose conventions she quite publicly existed.. [s]he looked absolutely straight into the eyes of whomever she confronted and during that golden time in which we were dear friends, I never heard a false word from her mouth." (From Williams' Memoirs and reproduced on WIKI)Set in a small Louisiana town with a large population of Italian immigrants in the early 1950s, the film is a romance. Serafina, a seamstress and immigrant from Sicily, had been passionately and sensually in love with her husband whom she continues to idolize after his death. The couple have a young daughter, Rosa. On the day that Serafina learns she is pregnant, her husband dies while smuggling a load of contraband in a truck of bananas. Rumors that Serafina resolutely ignores arise of her husband's infidelity. For three years, Serafina mourns, becomes overweight and despondent, and refuses to leave the house. She becomes alarmed over her daughter's virtue when Rosa meets a young sailor, Jack Hunter, on the day she graduates from high school. Serafina also gets into a fight with her neighbors when they mock the faithfulness of her dead husband. On that same day, Serafina meets a young truck driver Alvaro, "with the body of my husband and a face like a clown." She becomes physically and emotionally attracted to Alvaro with all his buffoonery and crudeness and raw sexual energy. She gradually comes to love and relish life again. Serafina accepts both her own sexuality and the sexuality of her daughter.The play and the film are full of erotic symbolism, particularly of roses and of the rose tattoo. The movie was filmed in Key West where the small cottage in which Serafina lived still stands as a landmark. In addition to Magnani's award, the film received Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography as well as nominations in five other categories. The music by Alex North, which received one of these nominations, was particularly effective.It was valuable to read the play and to see Williams' own adaptation for the screen. Serafina's husband does not appear in the play but he does appear briefly onscreen in the film, including a fiery scene of his fatal accident. More importantly, the film bows to the sexual mores of the day for the screen. It softens or eliminates several highly-charged erotic scenes involving the physical relationship between Serafina and Alvaro. In the process, it weakens the key symbolism of the rose tattoo. With these bowlderizations, the film captures the heart of Williams' play with its script and with Anna Magnani's portrayal of the wildness, sexual repression, and sexual awakening of Serafina Delle Rose.John Lahr's biography, "Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh" moved me to revisit the works of Tennessee Williams. His book discusses the play "The Rose Tattoo" at length. Before reading the book, I had not seen the film or read the play. They both are beautiful works in their genres and deserve to be seen and to be better known.Robin Friedman

And now it is part of my library of films.

Brilliant performance by Anna. Burt comes on 3/4 of the way into the movie. In Anna’s words he is a clown with the body of her husband. The story is a brilliant character study. Very Italian and ethnic real characters. The women are spot on, the men are charictures Ill defined or absurd. The daughter plays an early Natalie wood role. The pain and lament of Anna’s loss is poignant. I knew a woman like her and she was a torrent of emotions, anguish and formidable strength. you wonder where the author knew such people. Very dramatic

Anna Magnani perfectly portrays Tennessee Williams "Serafina DellaRosa", the love lost heroine of his beautiful play.Her portrayal is completely touching and awe-inspiring. I recently shared this film with a very accomplished actor friend who had never seen it, and his reaction was "wow." This is one of my all-time favorite films, and I consider Magnani's performance, for which she rightfully won the Academy Award as best actress, to be one of the most beautiful ever filmed. She says more with her eyes then most actors could ever convey in a whole script.Filmed on location in old Key West, it is steeped in the sleepy, humid atmosphere of that wonderful place. Watch for the bar-fight scene, where Magnani walks in to confront her dead husbands mistress. You will spot the mustachioed Tennessee Williams at the bar. His long-time lover, Frank Merlo, to whom he dedicated the book version of this play, "To Frankie, In Return For Sicily", is also in the fight scene.You can still visit Tennessee's little house in Key West,though it is not on any tour nor open to the public, just ask the locals. You may see the little plaque "the Rose Tattoo", on the gate.If you haven't seen this film (or even if you have), sit on the floor with a glass of red wine & someone you love, and watch the beautiful Anna Magnani create magic from Tennessee Williams equally magical "love play to the world", as he called it.

This film is an oddity. Anna Magnani won the Academy Award for her performance in this film. Certainly, she plays an unusual character facing life transitions but it will make you scratch your head. It is an over-emotional display in most cases. Burt Lancaster plays a part he is not suited too and butchers the accent. The mother-daughter relationship is weak. So, why the four? We found it interesting to see a period piece. To see, the discrimination faced by immigrant populations, the challenges of facing single motherhood in a time it wasn't done and watching a persons challenged make decisions based on a need. The script, if updated, still speaks to loneliness and grief is an unusual way.

A brilliant performance by Anna Magnani that kept my eyes riveted to every move she made. Like Marlon Brando,she has a magnetic appeal and is so raw & real in this role,a well deserved Oscar win in a time when winning an Oscar was true proof of excellence at an actor’s craft!Burt Lancaster was a very amusing over-the-top buffoon character. The interaction between Rose & Senor Eat-a-Horse was pure electric!!I just saw the current Broadway production of this play-turned film in 1955...this film is far superior. And this has all to do with Senora Magnani’s magnificently perfect performance. No one can play this role like she did in this phenomenon film!!

Ordered this for a friend and she loves it. I told her to make a list so I can purchase more for her

Very good movie well acted by all. It's nice to see some of the different types of roles Burt Lancaster took on. The only thing that disappointed me was it's a DVD-R that's the reason I couldn't give it 5 stars.

This DVD is a wonderful and enhanced black and white transfer off a grand Tennessee William's work, which he did the finescreenplay for, the film he was very proud off.

I bought this item for my mum, it plays ok on her region 2 DVD, I know she'll enjoy the movie. Thanks Amazon

Oscar winning performance for the great Anna magnani Warnerarchive dvd is excellent english subtitles

Anna M is as good as she always is - takes a while to get used to Burt Lancaster but overall a good old fashioned classic.

DVD arrived without any problem, very pleased with my purchase.