All Fall Down

A film about a family and the adoration inside it. Clinton is sixteen and worships his older brother Berry-Berry. The brother has left home; he drifts from town to town, does not work, takes up with women, and now and then sends word asking for money. The family waits for him like a star. The mother defends her son in every situation. The father drinks and has withdrawn to his corner of the basement. The house is built on that imbalance. Then Echo comes to stay. She is around thirty, calm and honest. Clinton attaches himself to her. Then Berry-Berry comes home. The subject is how a family erases itself to protect one person. The breaking of Clinton's adoration is at the centre of the story. The screenplay is by William Inge; the source is James Leo Herlihy's novel. Warren Beatty plays Berry-Berry, Eva Marie Saint plays Echo, Angela Lansbury the mother and Karl Malden the father. John Frankenheimer directed. A hard example for anyone who likes American family drama of the 1960s and character studies. Before you watch, know this: the film forgives nobody and events go to a painful place.