BOOTLEG FILES 835: “Stevie” (1978 British film starring Glenda Jackson and Mona Washbourne).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On VHS video.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Hello, Criterion Collection?
The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby can be credited with writing the single most irresponsible and the single most beneficial movie reviews of all time. The irresponsible review was his November 1980 slam of “Heaven’s Gate” – the vitriolic fury that he hurled at Michael Cimino’s Western epic was the ultimate example of critical overkill, and his wrath was so powerful that it set off the chain reaction that brought down the film’s studio, United Artists.
But eight months after Canby’s roasting of “Heaven’s Gate,” he used his prominence to rescue a film that nearly became lost to oblivion: the British production “Stevie,” directed by Robert Enders and starring Glenda Jackson as the poet Stevie Smith. “Stevie” opened in Los Angeles in 1978 and received Golden Globe nominations for Jackson and her co-star Mona Washbourne, but distributor First Artists saw no commercial value in a wider release. By the time Canby saw the film, it was playing in a brief and barely promoted run at the Thalia, a Manhattan art house that specialized in obscure and mostly unwanted features.
The strength of Canby’s glowing review convinced The Samuel Goldwyn Company to pick up the U.S. rights that First Artists jettisoned. The film had a well-received art house release during 1981 and Jackson picked up awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review while Washbourne was honored by the National Board of Review and the Boston Society of Film Critics.
Unfortunately, “Stevie” seems to have tumbled back into obscurity – it had a VHS video release but has yet to be seen on a commercial DVD or Blu-ray and I can’t recall the last time it was ever televised in the U.S. And while it can be seen on Amazon Prime if you have a ScreenPix subscription, the best way to see it is in an unauthorized 11-part posting to YouTube; some DVD bootleg sites also sell the film. Glenda Jackson’s passing last month made “Stevie” a topic of social conversation among many movie lovers, and perhaps that could have an effect similar to Canby’s review of encouraging a wider release.
“Stevie” is based on Hugh Whitemore’s play, which starred Jackson in a London stage production and on British radio. The film adaptation adheres to the source’s theatrical roots, complete with Jackson breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the viewer. But unlike other filmed plays – such as the American Film Theatre productions and Robert Altman’s forays into adapting stage dramas – “Stevie” never feels stodgy or claustrophobic. This is a testament to Whitemore’s brilliance with capturing the essence of Stevie Smith’s distinctive view of the world – when Smith’s poetry is laced into the proceedings, the effect is so subtle that it is easy to wonder where Smith’s writing end and Whitemore’s resumes.
On the surface, Smith seemed like a very unusual subject for coverage: she spent her adult life in a somewhat dull London suburb in a small home that she shared with her maiden aunt (Washbourne), who prepared her meals and did the housekeeping while Smith worked as a secretary in a publishing company. Her employer was unusually accommodating, as Smith worked on her poetry in the office in between her duties. Smith’s life was mostly uneventful – she was a sickly child who was hospitalized with tuberculosis, and when she matured she only had two serious relations. One is recounted in a Jackson monologue, with Smith rejecting a German suitor because of her negative feelings to his countrymen during the 1930s. The other is a scene with Alec McGowan as her would-be fiancé Freddy – his silly-ass demeanor, complete with tennis racket, is wholly antithetical to Smith’s cerebral demeanor, and their courtship ends badly.
The relationship between Smith and her aunt – who is referred to as her “lion aunt,” but never by a first name – is the heart of “Stevie.” While Stevie has a running commentary with the viewer, the aunt is oblivious that she is a character in the drama. Washbourne’s aunt is doting without being obsessive – she finds no fault with her niece, except when she can’t decide what condiment to have a lamb dinner – and her inevitable aging and decline in health is touchingly framed as Smith becomes the caregiver.
But beyond the relationship, Smith was a complex personality. The film touches briefly on her failed attempt at suicide and her death-focused poems – most notably “Not Waving But Drowning” – are shared. Trevor Howard appears throughout the film in brief snippets, identified only as “The Man,” and he recites Smith’s work is a clear, unsentimental recitation. He also has a scene as a car-owner friend of Smith who is supposed to take her to a party – her prickly personality and the mild bickering on whether she will be staying over at her host’s home is the one section of the film that is unpleasant.
It is to Jackson’s credit that she mined Whitemore’s text to create a fully dimensional and always fascinating character in Smith. She emerges as a raconteur with a delightfully off-kilter view of her world – her recollection of receiving a medal from Queen Elizabeth is hilarious – but she always seems just a few words away from acknowledging her world may not have been what desired. As Howard’s character notes after her failed suicide: ““Death, that sweet and gentle friend, failed to respond to her summons. Life continued.”
“Stevie” will not appeal to the filmgoer who was weaned on comic book adventure movies. But for those who appreciate the English language and are eager for a literate consideration of the human experience, the film is a gem.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.
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