Woman of Straw (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Oct 08, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Basil DeardenRelease Date(s)
1964 (August 28, 2024)Studio(s)
United Artists (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B+
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
Woman of Straw stars Sean Connery after he had achieved fame in the first two James Bond films. It’s a stylish British thriller with an attractive co-star, a first-class supporting cast, and lush locations.
Charles Richmond (Ralph Richardson, Khartoum) is an enormously wealthy, aging tycoon known for cruelty and condescension toward those he deems beneath him. Ailing and confined to a wheelchair, he spends his days complaining and shouting at his servants, including the two Black men who cater to him every waking moment.
Richmond’s nephew Tony (Connery) has hired a new nurse, Maria Marcello (Gina Lollobrigidia, Trapeze), to care for his uncle. She has had experience dealing with difficult patients and refuses to be bullied. The old man can’t help admiring her ability to stand up to his rantings, and takes a liking to her. But she can’t see herself working for such a brute and decides to leave.
Tony apologizes to Maria for his uncle’s boorish behavior and tries to convince her to stay. In fact, he has a lucrative plan that might benefit them both. Richmond and Tony’s father were brothers. When Tony’s father died, Richmond married Tony’s mother. She later died and Tony has been acting as his uncle’s assistant and companion ever since. Now the uncle is pretending to be dissatisfied with Tony and has eliminated him from his will. If Maria can get Richmond to marry her, she would inherit everything and Tony would ask only a sizable chunk of cash as his share of the arrangement. Reluctant at first, she’s won over by Tony’s assurances and his romantic overtures.
All goes as planned and Uncle Charles and Maria eventually wed. But from this point, unforeseen events threaten to undermine what seemed to be a fool-proof plot, and Tony and Maria must determine how to proceed.
Director Basil Dearden unfolds his tale in leisurely fashion. There’s a lot of dialogue in the screenplay by Robert Muller and Stanley Mann and many of the scenes look rather stagey, but the performances are so engaging that the film never sags.
Connery, looking as dashing as in the Bond films, is a cool, collected Tony. Yet we can see him seething under his slick surface as his Tony caters to his uncle’s whims but quietly resents the old man. His early scenes feature little dialogue, but his expression suggests that there’s more to Tony than a dutiful relative. In scenes with Lollobridgida, Connery’s eyes are intense and his manner self-assured as he lays out his plan.
Lollobridgida is a lovely leading lady with an aura of decency that works well for her character. Director Dearden shows her in close-ups frequently and we can see that she’s thinking, evaluating, forming opinions, and assessing the character of the Richmond men. Her shock and disgust at the elder Richmond’s manner of dealing with his servants speak to her sense of right. She also conveys dignity and strength of character, as well as a willingness not to judge hastily.
Richardson has a field day as Charles Richmond. This is the kind of role in which the character is painted with very broad strokes. His Charles is king of his domain, and he savors his unchallenged power. He make Charles reprehensible, especially in a sequence in which, to teach his dogs tricks, he orders his two Black servants to get down on the ground to demonstrate how to jump over an object. Some of his more challenging moments occur in the final third of the film, in which he’s virtually silent.
Woman of Straw was shot by director of photography Otto Heller on 35 mm Eastmancolor film with spherical lenses and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Contrast and clarity on the Blu-ray are very good with a vibrant, diverse color palette that’s especially effective in showing off Gina Lollobridgida’s Dior gowns. One gown—a shimmering gold and silver spangled sheath virtually lights up the screen. The interior of the Richmond mansion features dark woods, shelves of books, a large desk, and an elevator for getting Uncle Charles and his wheelchair to the second floor. Complexions are rendered flatteringly, with Lollobrigida’s skin smooth and flawless. Scenes on the yacht open up the picture nicely, and a bad storm at sea, shot in the studio, looks authentic.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 Mono LPCM. English SDH subtitles are an available option. Dialogue is clear and easily understood. Richardson, a trained stage actor, speaks distinctly, with a clipped upper-class British accent, while Tony’s manner is more conversational. Lollobridgida has a slight Italian accent, which works for her role as an Italian nurse working in England. The sound design is most dramatic when Richmond’s yacht is caught in a terrible storm. Driving rain, lightning flashes, and huge amounts of water pouring onto the vessel convey the danger the ship is in, and a rescue at sea adds emotional heft.
Bonus materials on the Region-Free Blu-ray release from Imprint Films include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historians Lee Pfeiffer, Tony Latino, and Paul Scrabo
- A Touch of Class: Gina Lollobridgida and Woman of Straw (15:03)
- Man of Props: Interview with Propman Dickie Bamber (11:29)
- Gallery (5:53)
Audio Commentary – Exteriors of the Richmond estate were filmed over three or four days. The interiors are reproductions of a British estate built at Pinewood Studios outside London. At the time Woman of Straw was made, Gina Lollobridgida was more famous than Sean Connery. She was voted the sexiest woman in Italy. When Sophia Loren entered the scene, there was professional competition between the two women. During the making of the film, Connery and Lollobridgida didn’t get along. Voluptuous Italian women in films usually had scenes in which they were scantily clad or in sexy lingerie. The commentators compare certain scenes in Woman of Straw to those in the Bond films. The public was reluctant to see Connery in roles other than James Bond, and many of his non-Bond films either did moderate business or were failures at the box office. His contract with the Bond film producers allowed him to do other pictures between the Bond movies. He was eager to do Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie, but he found Hitchcock to be in a dark, dour mood throughout filming, and the film bombed. Immediately after Woman of Straw, Connery made Goldfinger, considered one of the best of the Bond pictures. He had later success with The Anderson Tapes and Murder on the Orient Express. Director Basil Dearden wanted to make films of social significance and worked as an apprentice at Ealing Studios, eventually making Victim, a sympathetic view of homosexuals. He also directed the big-budget Khartoum, starring Ralph Richardson. Dearden was offered the opportunity to direct a Bond film but declined because he wasn’t interested. The offer was an acknowledgment of the respect in which the industry held him. Lollobridgida could act. Her career fizzled as she aged and a newer generation of bombshells like Raquel Welch and Elke Sommer were coming up. In the 1970s her career was in decline, but she became a world-respected photographer and was active in left-wing politics, even running for office in Italy. The commentators read excerpts from the novel by Catherine Arley on which the film is based.
Touch of Class: Gina Lollobridgida and Woman of Straw – The actress started as a model, did bit parts in films, entered the Miss Italy contest in 1946, worked as an extra, graduated to larger roles, and was once under contract to Howard Hughes. She appeared opposite many leading men in such films as Beat the Devil (with Humphrey Bogart), Crossed Swords (Errol Flynn), Trapeze (Burt Lancaster), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Anthony Quinn), Solomon and Sheba (Yul Brynner), and Come September (Rock Hudson). She managed to avoid type casting by appearing in all kinds of films. Woman of Straw was a return to 1940s women’s pictures. A mystery plays out when a woman enters a toxic household. Maria Marcello is a modern woman; she refuses to put up with Charles’ cruelties and thoughtlessness. The New York Times is quoted as having called the film a “pseudo Victorian romance that Alfred Hitchcock long ago laid to rest.” The film exploits sad associated conventions to provide astute commentary on the British class system. Maria won’t allow Charles Richmond to dominate her. She isn’t easily broken or gaslit. A “gothic mystery,” the film provides a unique role for Gina Lollobridgida.
Man of Props: Interview with Propman Dickie Bamber – Bamber, a worker at Pinewood Studios, relates a number of anecdotes about the filming of Woman of Straw. He says that Sean Connery looked just like James Bond because he was Bond. When the wheelchair that Ralph Richardson sat in had to be moved, Richardson had to remain in it so as not to disturb the microphones and other technical equipment underneath his lap blanket, which would have to be reset every time the actor got up.
Gallery – In slideshow format, posters, lobby cards, color and black & white photographs, and production photos from Woman of Straw are shown.
Booklet – The 12-page Exhibitors’ Campaign Book reproduction contains advertising materials, suggestions for movie tie-ins, newspaper layouts, newspaper articles focusing on the stars, and two full-page black & white photographs of Sean Connery in his role as Tony Richmond.
Woman of Straw resides in the shadow of Sean Connery’s James Bond movies and that’s a shame, since the film is a well-made, well-acted psychological thriller that creates a good deal of suspense as the plot introduces several surprises along the way. Gina Lollobridgida does an excellent job as the outsider entering the perverse world of the Richmonds, and the script is both intelligent and tension-filled. There’s considerable chemistry between the two stars, but Ralph Richardson dominates when he’s on screen. Eye candy is provided not only by Ms. Lollobridgida but also by the Majorca location and the film’s lush production design. This is an unjustly overlooked film that’s well worth a look.
- Dennis Seuling