Different from the others (1956)

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Movie
German title Different than the others
Original title Tea and Sympathy
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1956
length 122 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Vincente Minnelli
script Robert Anderson
production Pandro S. Berman for MGM
music Adolph German
camera John Alton
cut Ferris Webster
occupation

Unlike the others (original title Tea and Sympathy ) is the title of an American film drama from 1956 by Vincente Minnelli . The play Tea and Sympathy (German title loner ) by Robert Anderson , who also wrote the script, served as a literary model . The leading roles are cast with Deborah Kerr and John Kerr , leading roles with Leif Erickson and Edward Andrews .

action

Tom Robinson Lee, now a successful writer and married, is returning to his former boarding school after ten years for a student reunion. He also goes to the house and the room in which he lived at the time. And he remembers ...

His father had sent him to this boarding school to his friend Bill Reynolds, so that Tom could raise him to be a "man". In the house run by Bill, various students are accommodated, with whom he spends time and this in a "male" way, as Bill thinks, namely with sporting activities, which include swimming and mountaineering in particular.

Tom doesn't fit into this environment at all. He is a loner, reads books and also likes poetry and prefers classical music. While the other boys measure their strength on the beach, he sits with the teachers' wives and talks to them about sewing and cooking. This earned him the nickname "Sister Boy" ("Zimperlieschen").

Bill's wife Laura, who is adored by Tom, is the only one whom the young man trusts. She, too, has sympathy for the 17-year-old, who reminds her so completely of her first husband who died in the war. He was like Tom in many ways. He was also not “male” in the usual sense, had cultural interests and he was afraid of being considered cowardly by others. Laura has been married to her second husband Bill for a year. Laura and Tom discuss many of his problems over a cup of tea. They also talk about his participation in a play in which he took on a role in women's clothes. But it doesn't come to that because his father forbids him to participate and he has to refuse.

In one sport, Tom is superior to the others: in tennis. But his classmates do not want to admit it and assume that he can only win by "tricking". And when he wins another game against a student, they even speak of a “mixed individual”.

The evening of the pajama fight is approaching, in which younger cohorts, including Tom, have to defend themselves against older ones. Tom doesn't even get to fight back. Because some have closed a circle around him in order - as they explain - to protect their "little pinch". But much more humiliating for Tom is that he doesn't get to fight either. Finally Ralph, one of his roommates, has pity, breaks the ring and rips off his pajamas. Now the fight begins after all, and Tom has to flee from the overwhelming forces.

The evening has consequences. Ted, Tom's roommate, has to move to another house on his father's instructions. Laura's attempt to prevent this remains unsuccessful. At least the two boys have a discussion about how Tom could be better received by the others. But it also becomes clear that the young people only make big sayings with regard to girl acquaintances. They were bragging about it, but had never actually been with a girl. But that is exactly what would impress others, Ted is convinced. They'd be amazed.

Tom can't get rid of the thought. A female is quickly found, Ellie Martin, a waitress, a bit older, but definitely the right one. He makes an appointment with her on the phone. Laura, who happened to witness the conversation, tries to hold Tom back by all means. It even goes so far that she confesses her love to him, and a kiss occurs between the two of them. But in vain, Tom breaks free and goes to Ellie. However, he is so clumsy that his attempts end in disaster, and Ellie laughs at him and even calls him "Sister Boy". Then Tom runs into the kitchen, grabs a knife and wants to harm himself. Ellie's roommate overpowers him and turns him over to the school police.

Tom is expelled from school. Bill and Laura reproach each other for having gotten to this point with Tom. But nothing has been right in their marriage for a long time either; even after their honeymoon they were becoming more and more distant. They are just too different, she, the sensitive one, he, the - apparently - tough one who prefers to be with his boys. Laura goes looking for Tom and finds him at his favorite place in the forest outside the school grounds. They hug and love each other, then Laura says wistfully: "Sometime later, when you will tell about this moment - and you will - speak nicely about it."

Tom has returned to the present. He leaves his room and looks for Bill, who is still in charge of this house. Bill isn't the same anymore. He is tired, apathetic, and now even listens to classical music. He has a letter from Laura for Tom that she never sent. Only now does he learn that Laura never returned to her husband after she was with him.

production

prehistory

The three main actors Deborah Kerr, John Kerr (who is not related to Deborah Kerr, even if he has the same last name) and Leif Erickson took on their roles in the film, which they had already played 700 times on Broadway from September 1953 . Deborah Kerr had received the Donaldson Award for best actress of the year and a special award for best actress for her debut on Broadway. John Kerr also received the Donaldson Award and also received the New York Critics Award for best actor. The play not only celebrated triumphs on Broadway, but was also one of the most frequently performed pieces in the German theater scene in the 1950s.

In his autobiography, Minnelli quotes a letter from Anderson in which Anderson deals with the subject matter of the film. There is talk of essential masculinity, which also consists of gentleness and consideration and not just raw strength. He also protested against the idea that a man is only a man if he can carry Vivien Leigh up a spiral staircase. Another point is the tendency of a mass of individuals to ally against someone who is different from them. Another important point is that it takes more than tea and sympathy when a person is in great trouble.

The film topic sparked years of discussions with the production code administration regarding the inclusion of homosexuality, adultery and prostitution, which at the time forbade the depiction of adultery and any representation or even inferences about sexual permissions. After the success of the play, people racked their brains about the extent to which one had to adapt a script in order to obtain approval, since the original story would be rejected as unacceptable. Eventually it was agreed that Tom shouldn't be homosexual, just different from the other boys.

Daily Variety reported on December 16, 1953 that Anderson was considering starting an independent company to produce a version of the play contrary to the rules of the Hays Code . Production should have been directed by Elia Kazan and supported by The Playwinghts Company, the theater company that produced the play on Broadway. In April 1954, the New York Times reported that Anderson was planning to direct the film with an independent production company on the East Coast. MGM then bought the film rights to the play in July 1954. According to Daily Variety , Anderson is said to have received $ 100,000 for the rights and another $ 300,000 if he submits a script approved by the production code administration. A script that was then revised was again refused approval. The studio appealed the decision. After further back and forth and the promise to insert a sequence in which Tom would later be presented as happily married, the film finally received the coveted code seal and a B rating on July 20, 1956 (morally objectionable) .

Production notes, background

The production company was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was shot in color and Cinemascope between April 12 and the end of May 1956. According to an article in the New York Herald Tribune in July 1956, the beach scene on Zuma Beach in California was filmed.

The final version of the film differed from the original, for example, in that Tom and Bill harbored latent homosexual tendencies, but no scene was shot in which Tom swims naked with his homosexual music teacher. In addition, a flashback has been added to the film in which, after ten years, Tom receives Laura's letter, written at the time, stating that she did not lead a happy life (as a punishment for her committed adultery, so to speak).

Although Leif Erickson had already played the role of Bill on Broadway, MGM would have liked to see Burt Lancaster in the role.

Soundtrack

  • The Joys of Love (based on the song Plaisir d'Amour )
    • written by GB Martini and Richard Dyer-Bennett
    • Talk: John Kerr in the voice of Gene Merlino

reception

publication

The film premiered in New York on September 27, 1956. He was seen in France from November 5, 1956. In 1957 it was published in the following countries: Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands (International Film Week in The Hague); in Finland and the United Kingdom (London). It came into cinemas in Austria in November 1957 and in the Federal Republic of Germany on November 1, 1957. On October 31, 1957, the censored version of Anders als du und ich (§ 175) premiered in Germany, a film with the same basic theme treated: A possibly homosexual boy finds his way on the "right" path through sexual intercourse with a young girl.

The film was also released in Turkey and Denmark in 1959, in Spain (Madrid and Barcelona) in 1969 and again in France in 2011. He could also be seen in Bulgaria, Brazil, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the Soviet Union.

criticism

After its release, the film received mostly positive reviews, despite the Los Angeles Times review claiming it would disappoint fans. The New York Times described Tea and Sympathy as "strong and sensitive", but also as "unnecessarily prudish".

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) spoke of an outdated coming-of-age melodrama directed by Vincente Minnelli from Robert Anderson's adaptation of his own piece, which is theatrical and overly long and cannot convince with its drama.

Kino.de wrote that Tom in the play was openly homosexual and estranged from his father and his classmates. However,Hollywood's Production Code forced Anderson to weaken and make changes in the script, which dragged on for three years "because they were reluctant to accept Deborah Kerr's adultery." Vincente Minnelli hinted at Tom's latent homosexual inclinations in his production, but indecision triumphs over subject matter. In Europe they did not understand all the excitement.

Cinema said, "because homosexuality was taboo in the 50s, Minnelli had to withdraw" and drew the conclusion in his review: "Well played, but wonderfully uptight and coded."

"Film adaptation of a Broadway success by Robert Anderson, which loses its explosiveness and psychological depth through overly careful handling of the material despite good actors."

- Lexicon of international film

"Psychologically and mentally inadequately in-depth film (...) linked to a story of adultery that causes strong reservations."

- 6000 films. Handbook V of the Catholic Film Critics, 1963

Awards

Deborah Kerr was nominated for Best Actress for the NYFCC Award at the 1956 New York Film Critics Circle Awards and was nominated for Best British Actress for the BAFTA Film Award at the 1958 British Film Academy Awards , but had that to Heather Sears ( Esther Costello ) Check. John Kerr had received the Golden Globe Award for Best Young Actor a year earlier .

literature

  • Robert Anderson : loner. Play in 3 acts (original title: Tea and Sympathy ). German by HH Carwin . Bloch, Berlin 1954, 151 pp. [Stage manuscript]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Tea and Sympathy Notes at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ a b c Tea and Sympathy Articles at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ Tea and Sympathy Original Print Info at TCM (English)
  4. ↑ Tea and Sympathy sS archive.usccb.org (English). Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  5. ↑ “Different from the others”: Courageous drama by Vincente Minnelli - Hollywood is groping its way to homosexuality,
    see p. kino.de. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  6. ↑ Unlike the other sS cinema.de (with 6 film images). Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  7. ↑ Different from the others. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 7, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ↑ 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958 . Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism, 3rd edition, Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 23.