A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Rather benign or shall I say trashy version of the William Faulkner novel.Margaret Leighton comes across as the inevitable mix of Blanche DuBois and Scarlett O'Hara. An alcoholic southerner, Leighton is a woman caught up in the dysfunctional pattern of the Compson Family. Returning home after many years to find the family in complete disarray, Leighton, a wayward woman, is beset by problems.The head of this clan is none other than Yul Brynner, who is authoritarian as the stepbrother to Leighton. He runs the family with a firm hand and gives orders out at the beginning as if he is talking to Moses in Egypt.Stuart Whitman thinks he is the drifter in the tradition of William Holden in "Picnic," but is ready to sell out for the all-mighty buck.Ethel Waters in the family maid. She thinks she is sly in the tradition of Mammie in "Gone With the Wind,"As Leighton's frustrated and oppressed daughter, Joanne Woodward's character really never develops, as is the case with Leighton.Jack Warden, as the mute, never utters a word here in the tradition of Boo in "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Watching this adaption of William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury I can only wonder he must have thought of this abortion of his work. This film seems to have been influenced by Harold Robbins more than Faulkner.For one thing the novel is a far better subject for a mini-series as it takes place over a couple of generations and is written from several points of view, not the straight linear narrative we get here. Secondly the novel was updated to present day meaning 1959 Mississippi. The civil rights era was on in Mississippi in 1959 and the attitudes expressed here would have been lost in 1959. The novel came out in the late Twenties and some of the action went back a generation earlier.These Compsons are one dissolute bunch and the only one of the family holding them together is Yul Brynner as Jason because heaven forfend he realizes they're not rich any more and that big mansion has gas and electric bills that need paying. He actually works for a living. The hope of the family may be Joanne Woodward as Quentin who is the illegitimate daughter of the most dissolute of all the Compsons Margaret Leighton.Leighton has been living away from the family and the genteel Mississippi folks she's been brought up with because of her disgrace with Woodward's birth. But she comes back and that sets off a whole chain of events that causes everyone to reevaluate how things are going for the Compsons.Ethel Waters did her last role in The Sound And The Fury as the family maid. Her family even in the servile position that blacks had in Mississippi in those days is still stronger than the Compsons even Yul Brynner. Too bad no musical number got worked into the script for her.The cast is a superbly talented one and they do their best with a hard to recognize Faulkner work, but the film as a whole comes up way short.

One of those rare cases where the movie actually is better than the book. Brynner's flamboyant and arrogant persona brings fire to his portrayal of Jason, and Woodward's child-woman with a backbone and a will of her own is a worthy foil for him. This is one of my favorite movies.

Personally, I thought Yul Brenner may have been miscast for the role of Jason. However, all in all, I thought the performances were superb and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I would like to know if anyone knows where I can get a copy, as it is no longer in print.