Green Mansions (1959)

Absolutely Brilliant!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

In a year that she won critical acclaim, the N.Y.C. Film Critics Award and the 3rd of 5 Oscar nominations in "The Nun's Story," how in heaven did Audrey Hepburn manage to make such a clinker as "Green Mansions?"Tony Perkins flees a Venezuelan revolution and plots revenge. We never hear about this subject again and how he is going to go about extracting revenge for the killing of his father.Instead, we are subjected to his meeting with a tribe and he proves he is manly. He is sent off to kill a girl in the neighboring forest who killed the elder of Sessue Haywakawa's son. Hayakawa is briefly seen and does little to nothing in the film.We are subjected to fights, nice scenery and beautiful nature. Lee J. Cobb, who plays Hepburn's alleged grandfather isn't even the grandfather.If the tree she was hiding in went up in those spectacular flames, it is presumed that Hepburn was dead. She came back to him through nature. A first class stinker of major proportions.

It's easy to see why 1959 critics called it "muddled". The film, which is set in South America's jungles, manages to be an ecological statement (man should take care of his surroundings), a love story, a tale of redemption (in the film's first ten minutes, Abel (Anthony Perkins) sees his father killed and vows vengeance on the killers. Audrey Hepburn as Rima does her utmost in a near impossible part. Lee J. Cobb overacts as Rima's protector.MGM spent over one million dollars (a great deal of money in 1959) getting shots of South America to mix in with the main filming done on MGM's back lot. The mixing in of the shots is well done, but it's obvious what was shot at MGM and what were the South American jungle shots. Perkins is the voice of sanity in the film, because whenever the plot threatens to get too wispy, he brings it back down to earth. He has a scene where he serenades Rima with his lovely tenor voice. It was a pity that he was never in a film musical.If the film has a message it seems to be that true love never dies.

Perhaps Mel Ferrer was not the right director for this sort of whimsical fantasy. Whatever, the dreamlike quality of the forest settings (some real, some with painted backgrounds on studio sets), combined with lifeless direction and uneven script, makes this a disappointment from beginning to end.ANTHONY PERKINS, AUDREY HEBURN and LEE J. COBB are never able to flesh out their characters. Hepburn seems oddly miscast in a role requiring very little of her talent. Perkins does slightly better but again is hampered by a weak role that tries to give him a few heroics but fails to ignite any sparks with Hepburn or any of his co-players. Lee J. Cobb has the most substantial character to play and does it well enough.The whole film seems like a low point in the careers of all involved despite gorgeous Technicolor photography and an interesting background score. No wonder the public stayed away. The foolish ending with Perkins and Hepburn voicing some tired clichés about finding love is cringe-worthy. Summing up: A true misfire for all concerned.

How this comic book travesty of a film ever got past its early dailies without anyone getting fired or the film itself getting scrapped is probably testament to the star power of Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins in 1959. What a disaster in widescreen picture making. Abel (Perkins) on the run from a South American government makes his way deep into the interior jungle where he is captured by natives, He escapes death by going into a marathon monologue (honest) that dissuades his captors. Enter Rima the Bird Girl (Hepburn) accompanied by her doe sidekick. Abel is smitten but has to deal with her step father ( Lee J. Cobb as carnivorous and over the top as he's ever been. ) and those pesky natives led by an anemic Sessue Hyakawa.It is miscasting at its best with Perkins one embarrassing Indiana Jones. A malt shop refugee there is not an ounce of believability to be found in this fish out of water. Wispy Audrey Hepburn as a delicate jungle girl is every bit as ridiculous as Perkins macho posing. Some of the second unit work displays some breathtaking South American landscape but then back then so did Cinerama and we didn't have to put up with watching two commendable actors get stuck in quick sand.