In this golden age of home viewing, the Criterion Collection still provides some of the best editions of the best movies ever released, usually with a rich selection of extras and often including audio commentaries (a feature they pioneered, and perhaps the greatest gift ever to film students and cinephiles alike). This column features one Criterion release per week, based entirely on where my interests lead me.
A Wind from the South is included in the Criterion box set The Golden Age of Television. For more about that series and the context in which the programs in it were created, see this review.
In any collection, there’s bound to be some things you like more and others you like less and for me, A Wind from the South is definitely in the “like less” category for me. While there are certainly good things in this production, my main problem with it is that it is so stuck in its time that it is difficult to sympathize with the main characters and their dilemmas.
Another issue: the story takes place in Ireland and primarily concerns Irish people, yet they don’t feel Irish at all beyond some stereotypical traits and expressions. The other selections in The Golden Age of television wisely stick to stories set in contemporary America and dealing with contemporary American concerns (one might even call some of them “social problem plays”) and thus have the benefit of the writers and actors were familiar being familiar with the general context of each work. Having said all that, there’s no point in complaining that a television play from 1955 doesn’t match contemporary sensibilities, so I’ll try my best to appreciate A Wind from the South in the context of its own time.
Prolific playwright and television writer James Costigan (he won two Emmys under his own name and also wrote under the name of Ivan Davis) wrote the screenplay for A Wind from the South and it doesn’t seem to be based on an earlier source. The story is set in a small-town inn in Ireland managed by siblings Shevawn (Julie Harris) and Liam (Michael Higgins); neither are married and both are frustrated by the narrow bounds of their lives. Apart from that commonality, they’re chalk and cheese: Liam expresses his dissatisfaction through anger and bossiness (as the older brother in a sexist society he also feels entitled to be in charge) and by complaining in private about the guests who provide his livelihood. Shevawn, on the other hand, tries to find delight in each day and hasn’t given up on getting more out of life than growing old in a backwater town while life passes her by.
Managing an inn means you meet a lot of people, which makes it a great setup for a writer to introduce a variety of colorful characters and also a good opportunity for a character to meet someone who could provide them with an escape hatch. Shevawn is presented with just such a person in the form of the visiting Robert (Donald Woods), who is also unhappy with his life but tries to escape his frustrations through drink. He’s also married and definitely not a man to build your future on but a good opportunity for to temporarily step out of the narrow confines of your life if you can overlook the fact that you’re is Ireland in the 1950s which means no birth control and disastrous social consequences for an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
Shevawn is by far the most interesting part of A Wind from the South and Julie Harris (a five-time Tony Award winner for her work on Broadway and who will live in my mind forever as the lead in Robert Wise’s 1963 film The Haunting) brings her character alive despite some clunky writing and the restrictions both of the setting and of American television of the time. Maybe she’s not convincing as an Irish woman, but she is outstanding at creating a character with limited choices who still manages to claim some space for herself. The other characters are mostly one-note but serve well enough to support Harris’ performance and embody a variety of attitudes toward life. Scenic designer Carl Kent also deserves a shout-out for creating a large and realistic set that serves convincingly as the inn where most of the action takes place. | Sarah Boslaugh
Spine #: 495
Technical details: length 51 min.; B&W; screen ratio 1.33:1; English.
Edition reviewed: DVD (3 discs).
Extras: Introduction hosted by Merv Griffin for the 1981 PBS television series The Golden Age of Television and including interviews with Julie Harris, Donald Wood, and writer James Costigan. The Criterion web site mentions a booklet including an essay by Ron Simon and liner notes for each program but it was missing from the library copy I reviewed.
Fun Fact: Merv Griffin, who sings the title tune for this production, is best known today for hosting a talk show and creating several game shows, but at the time this production aired was best known as a radio and nightclub singer: his 1949 recording of Fred Heatherton’s novelty song “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” sold over 3 million copies.
Parting Thought: At about the one-third mark we’re treated to a brief exhibition of traditional Irish step dance by some very young performers, accompanied (apparently) by a standard fiddle-led dance band. The camera placement could be better (step dancing is all about the feet, not the face) but it’s still a lovely bit of scene-setting. What other non-musical films have performed a public service by capturing contemporary music and dance performances?
