Jack Clayton directed this adaptation of Penelope Mortimer's novel (the screenplay written by no less a literary figurehead than Harold Pinter!), and it's apparent right from the gauzy, solemn opening that you're in for a double-dose of heavy dramatic cinema. Anne Bancroft plays a thrice-married woman who shuts down emotionally after discovering husband number three has been unfaithful. Clayton and cinematographer Oswald Morris give this marital attack a formidable black-and-white look, with nimble (though occasionally exasperating) editing taking the action back and forth from the present to the past. The lofty picture is rather highfalutin, with stony characters one must examine hard in order to grasp completely. Although overrated by most professional critics, the film was certainly ahead of its time, setting the stage for marital blow-outs like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Shoot the Moon". However, even with fine actors in the cast, it's awfully dreary and unreachable. ** from ****
Review of The Pumpkin Eater
