Search - The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Not For Children Movie Release: 1961 DVD Release: 05/02/2006 Format: DVD - Color,Soft-Matted WSE for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 44 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Drama, Romance, Romantic Drama

Vivien Leigh plays Karen Stone, a middle-aged actress whose career is in a tailspin. To assuage her hurt feelings, Karen goes on a vacation to Rome with her husband, who dies en route. Her best friend (Coral Browne) compassionately arranges for a young Italian escort (read: gigolo) to keep Karen from wallowing in her grief in Rome. The man hired for the task is sneering, contemptuous Pablo di Leo, played by Warren Beatty. Despite Pablo's rude behavior, the lonely Karen throws herself at him, showering him with expensive gifts and demanding his undivided attention. This being an adaptation of a Tennessee Williams novel, Blanche Dubois --er, Karen Stone must pay the piper for her eleventh-hour surfeit of passion; she is dispensed with by an "Angel of Death" in the form of psycho Jeremy Spencer. More operatic than dramatic, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone represents the only feature-film directorial effort of experimental-theatre maven Jose Quintero; his assistant was future Bullitt helmer Peter Yates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vivien Leigh - Karen Stone
Warren Beatty - Paolo di Leo
Coral Browne - Meg
Jill St. John - Barbara Bingham
Lotte Lenya - Contessa Magda Terribili-Gonzales

Jose Quintero's The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) has been given a handsome film-to-video transfer for the Warner Home Video DVD release -- the non-anamorphic letterboxed (1.85:1) image is beautiful, the Roman settings and Harry Waxman's cinematography captured in glowing terms, and in exceptionally vivid clarity; there are also enhancements for 16 x 9 presentation. The audio is mastered a bit low in volume, but that's solved easily enough, and the movie is genuinely brought to life anew on this disc. The only bonus features are an original trailer, which is window-boxed, and the documentary "Mrs. Stone: Looking for Love in All the Dark Corners." The latter offers good presentation of the background to the movie, by way of Tennessee Williams' life (as presented by biographer Donald Spoto) and the relationship between actors Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty (presented by Beatty biographer Suzanne Finstad) and the roles that they were playing; co-star Jill St. John also makes an appearance in the documentary. The 35 chapters are more than adequate to break down the 104-minute movie. The disc opens to a simple dual-layer menu that is easy to use and offers quick access to the bonus features. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide