Mourning Becomes Electra

Mourning Becomes Electra's movie Review:

   "Mourning Becomes Electra," the towering trilogy by Eugene O'Neill, has long since been tagged by drama critics as a masterpiece of the modern stage—as a play of "heroic proportions," of "burning beauty" and of "spiritual and emotional strength" it scarcely behooves a film reviewer to see it as less upon the screen, which is where it was finally deposited, with much formality, at the Golden last night.

     You can even watch Mourning Becomes Electra  growing in confidence as the film unfolds. An early sequence, almost entirely Nichols' invention, not only has Rosalind Russell's Lavinia following her treacherous mother Christine (Katina Paxinou) to the scene of her adulterous crimes, but the photography of these early scenes is powerfully, drawing on harsh light/dark contrasts and angular compositions to spike the power of the scenes.

    I enjoyed Mourning Becomes Electra, however much the film seemed like a dubious choice for a filmed adaptation, and I say this as someone who has considered trying my hand at adapting the play myself.