Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

wes-connors After an impressive opening credit sequence, irresponsible Chicago businessman Dean Martin (as Julian Berniers) returns to his devalued New Orleans home with pretty young bride Yvette Mimieux (as Lily Prine). With funds acquired from a dubious land deal, Mr. Martin showers his two spinster sisters with gifts. Apparently, Martin's ship has come in, financially. The elder ladies are happy, but you should be suspicious. Hidden passions surface and a dark family secret is exposed... Walter Mirisch's lackluster film production of Lillian Hellman's steamy southern play suffers through a miscast leading man and decidedly un-southern pace. With possible good intentions, Ms. Mimieux wanders around vacuously. In a small, but showcased role, motherly Gene Tierney (as Albertine Prine) seems startled by Martin. However, it is good to watch scheming Geraldine Page (as Carrie) and subdued Wendy Hiller (as Anna) milk their roles so skillfully, and the setting is alluring.***** Toys in the Attic (1963-07-31) George Roy Hill ~ Dean Martin, Geraldine Page, Wendy Hiller, Yvette Mimieux

moonspinner55 Lillian Hellman may be the most overrated playwright of her era. For every interesting or provocative thought, there's a ton of symbolic cabbage and sticky milieu to wade through. This too-handsome filming of her play stars Geraldine Page and Wendy Hiller as unmarried sisters living in New Orleans welcoming home their ne'er-do-well brother, who arrives bearing gifts and ill-gotten cash. It's an overheated piece of would be-Gothic melodrama, given a luxurious sheen and a swooning, romantic score (both incongruous to the material at hand). Well-cast Hiller and Page are excellent, trading niceties which quickly turn to hurtful revelations and stinging truths, but Dean Martin seems out of place as their beloved sibling. Working very hard in a part which might have been perfect for George Hamilton, Martin brings with him too much charismatic star-baggage to the already-phony surroundings. George Roy Hill directs poorly, indifferently, and the opening scenes are so confusing that patience and interest are both enormously tried even before Hill gets to the second act. ** from ****

bkoganbing As is pointed out in the acclaimed biography of Dean Martin by Nick Tosches, Toys In The Attic was the last serious role that Dino attempted on the big screen. His less than stellar reviews in comparison to Jason Robards, Jr. who did it on the stage probably convinced Martin to stick with what he knew best.I don't think Dean was all that bad in the part, the problem was he did not have that much to work with. When you think about it the roles he played in Some Came Running and Ada could have been dress rehearsals for Julian Berniers in Toys In The Attic. I just don't think the play itself is up to the standards Lillian Hellman set for herself in The Little Foxes.In fact the subject matter seems to be more Tennessee Williams than Lillian Hellman. Martin is the younger ne'er do well brother of spinsters Geraldine Page and Wendy Hiller. Page is kind of Blanche Dubois flighty type on the surface, but she really rules the Berniers roost. And she's got a nice incestuous thing for her brother.Who is now married to Yvette Mimieux, a young, but even mentally younger child like bride. Dino's got a deal cooking with the wife of a big tycoon played by Larry Gates. Years ago he had a fling with his wife Nan Martin, but now they're just seeking to take the big guy for a big score.On stage the Gates and Martin parts are not played, but talked about. When Lillian Hellman's play was on stage the sisters were played by Maureen Stapleton and Anne Revere. Revere in the part Hiller does won a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress. The play ran 463 performances in the 1960-1961 season.I think if the part Dino had was played by Paul Newman or Montgomery Clift, the film might have been marginally better. But even more so Lillian Hellman was poaching on Tennessee Williams subject matter and she should have kept off the grass.

edwagreen For starters, Yvette Mimieux is terribly miscast as Dean Martin's not-too-bright wife. The sex kitten has more than she can contend with up against such pros as Geraldine Page and Dame Wendy Hiller.Dean Martin most likely landed the role of the brother of the two acting legends because of his phenomenal performance five years before in "Some Came Running." Problem is that "Running" was a far better film.Geraldine Page steals the film as Carrie, another great spinster role for the emotionally charged actress. Both she and sister, Anne, have been tending to the needs of their chronic failure brother for years. With dreams of selling the house and going off to Europe, the two spinsters live in a dream world. It is Anne who eventually comes out of the dream and sees for herself what a vicious character Page can be. Page is domineering and so full of herself.What exactly was the business enterprise of Larry Gates with Martin? We do know that Martin had a thing going with the wife of Gates.