This Property Is Condemned

"Weak"

This Property Is Condemned Review


Let's get beyond the awful title. (It's based on an obscure Tennessee Williams play... but why didn't they change the name!?)

Let's look at the crew -- a script co-written by Francis Ford Coppola and John Houseman as producer!

John Houseman. Yes, that John Houseman. This was the very last of about 20 movies he produced -- before relaunching his career as an actor in The Paper Chase in 1973. Who knew? (He is also listed as an "uncredited" writer on Citizen Kane, but that's another story.)

Too bad then that despite a rich backstory and star turns by Natalie Wood and Robert Redford, This Property Is Condemned deserves its obscurity. Made years after Wood's heyday in West Side Story, it's a melodrama of enormous self-importance and incredible irrelevance. The plot involves Redford as a railroad executive who comes to a small town to tell them, well, the railroad ain't gonna be workin' here no more. Which is a problem, because there's no other work to be had in town. Naturally there's a kink in the plan -- he falls for local gal (Wood), and her erstwhile beau (Charles Bronson) takes it out on Bob's face. Wood's mother (Kate Reid) won't have anything to do with her daughter's affair with the city slicker, rousing the whole town against the new duo.

What sounds like interesting small-town politics is actually a pretty tame and cliched story of star-crossed lovers... including, well, West Side Story. But the cityfolk-countryfolk story has never been done terribly well, and This Property Is Condemned (ugh, again with that title) ranks somewhere below Doc Hollywood.

For megafans of its lead actors only. (After all, they do a capable job, though the material is way subpar.)



This Property Is Condemned

Facts and Figures

Run time: 110 mins

In Theaters: Friday 7th October 1966

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
Fresh: 9 Rotten: 5

IMDB: 7.1 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Starring: as Alva Starr, as Owen Legate, as J.J. Nichols, as Hazel Starr, as Willie Starr, as Knopke, as Sidney, as Salesman

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews