Stevie

Stevie Smith was a poet. She was very good at turning words into barbs. Her own life, though, was surprisingly conventional. She lived in a London suburb with her aunt. Her days went in housework, in writing verse and in talking with her aunt. Her body was tied to that drudgery while her mind kept trying to get out. She spoke sharply against religion and against middle class values. She could not find happiness with a man who was interested in her either. The film is adapted from the play of the same name by Hugh Whitemore. Stevie talks directly to the camera at times. There are flashbacks, and a friend narrating as well. Glenda Jackson won a New York critics award for the part. Mona Washbourne took the supporting award. Glenda Jackson and Mona Washbourne appear in the hundred and two minute film, a British production Robert Enders finished in 1978.