The Member of the Wedding (1983)
Directed by Delbert Mann
Share on
Synopsis by Hal Erickson
First adapted to film in 1952, Carson McCullers' play A Member of the Wedding was restaged for television in a live performance aired December 20, 1982. Dana Hill assumes the role created by Julie Harris back in 1950: Frankie Addams, an awkward 12-year-old girl who feels like a fifth wheel during preparations for her older brother's wedding. Frankie is alternately coddled and scolded by housekeeper Berenice (originally played by Ethel Waters, here essayed by Pearl Bailey), a middle-aged black woman who knows something about being truly alone and friendless. Benjamin Bernouy plays little John Henry, whose ultimate fate provides a jolt of real rather than imagined tragedy to the proceedings. Director Delbert Mann, an old hand at live television, staged A Member of the Wedding at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville.
Characteristics
Keywords
friendship, girl, housekeeper, wedding