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Whistle Stopper - The Whisperers (1966)
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $17.22
Your Save: $ 2.76 ( 14% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: MGM/UA Home Video
Starring: Edith Evans, Eric Portman, Nanette Newman, Avis Bunnage, Gerald Sim
Directed By: Bryan Forbes
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786304559475
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 630455947X
Label: MGM/UA Home Video
Manufacturer: MGM/UA Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM/UA Home Video
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Running Time: 105
Studio: MGM/UA Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1966
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "Are you there?"
Comment: Dame Edith Evans has perhaps her best movie role as Maggie Ross, a 76-year-old British woman who lives in a small flat and collects assistance. Maggie has paranoid delusions -- she thinks that there are people communicating with her through her water pipes, that the woman living upstairs is a slave being held captive, and that people are watching her. She also believes that she is an heiress whose inheritance has been delayed. When her ne'er do well son stops by for a rare visit and hides some ill-gotten money in her flat, Maggie finds it and thinks that it's her inheritance, which triggers a series of unfortunate events.
"The Whisperers" is all Dame Evan's show. Her performance perfectly captures the confusion, fear, and loneliness of her character. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, losing to Katharine Hepburn, and she won the same award at the Golden Globes. I also think the movie pretty accurately portrays dementia, although that word is never explicitly used. Unfortunately, that's the highlight of "The Whisperers." It's a depressing movie without any humor, and the other characters are largely without redeeming qualities, making the movie rather slow going and unpleasant. I can't say that I enjoyed the movie. Nevertheless, the film is worth a look for Evan's performance; I can also imagine the movie being used in classes dealing with dementia. "The Whisperers" isn't available yet on DVD; a situation I hope the movie studio will remedy soon.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Movie
Comment: I loved this movie. Edith Evans is wonderful in it. The plot is low-key but just sit back and marvel at Evans. She dominates the screen with a very powerful performance. The supporting cast is equally fine. Bryan Forbes did a great job of directing and adapting the novel that the movie was based on. Evans really should have won the Best Actress Oscar for this movie. She was robbed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Become a fortunate inheritor, you will be surrounded by many, many friends!
Comment: Bryan Forbes, (the same who admired in Séance on a wet afternoon) strikes again with this unforgettable black comedy around a very aged and lonely woman, believing to hear voices in everywhere. She nevertheless, maintains a kind correspondence with a male widow, until a sudden fortune comes to her, and (Oh miracle) everybody love her:
Sinister and merciless parody.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Edith Evans the realist
Comment: Known for her flamboyant Restoration comedy stage (and occasional screen) performances, Edith Evans in this film gives a small, detailed performance of social realism, completely unsentimental and without vanity, that is one of the best 60s 'kitchen sink' dramas on film. It is not a movie about a woman sitting in a room hearing voices all day, as the title and description will usually lead you to believe. It is a moving, lively and sad depiction of old age without money, and the fumbling ineffectiveness of the social welfare system to help; an English equivalent of Gorky's 'The Lower Depths'. It could use a touch of Chechov's compassionate humor. Evans was nominated for an Oscar and lost to Katherine Hepburn for her rather smug performance in 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'. Pity. Evans, who could be quite glamorous, is entirely without vanity here. If she were an American, you would hear this performance talked about in hushed tones at the Actor's Studio.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but Great
Comment: This film is very unusual and interesting because we are never sure what's happening. Eric Portman plays an old scoundrel
with the cool intelligence of an outstanding actor. The supporting cast is good. The flaw? Edith Evans. She goes
from being ridiculous to tedious to foolishly sad. Her character
is overdone and impossible to feel sorry for. Otherwise a great
movie.
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