Desire Under the Elms

Desire Under the Elms (1958)

Genres - Drama, Romance  |   Sub-Genres - Family Drama, Melodrama  |   Release Date - Mar 12, 1958 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 111 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
  • AllMovie Rating
    4
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Synopsis by Paul Brenner

Director Delbert Mann and screenwriter Irwin Shaw adapt Eugene O'Neill's 20th-century version of a Greek tragedy to the screen with a bit more discretion than need be. The story takes place in the New England of the 1840s. Emotionally cool but passionately hot farmer Burl Ives the smoldering Sophia Loren as his third wife. Anthony Perkins arrives to ignite this powder keg of pent-up lust, with Perkins and Loren engaging in a semi-incestuous love affair. When Loren becomes pregnant, Ives thinks the child is his own and the heat it turned up considerably. And with Eugene O'Neill aping Greek tragedy, could infanticide be far behind?

Characteristics

Moods

Keywords

bride, coming-of-age, extramarital-affair, family, farming, love-triangle, stepson