Long Day's Journey....with Jack Lemmon

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/12/07 at 9:52pm

What was the nickname of this production? Something like "Long Day's Journey Without a Breath"?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/12/07 at 10:05pm

Yeah, there were a couple of similar nicknames for it. The pacing of Jonathan Miller's production was notably rapid, shaving nearly an hour off the play's usual running time of four hours.

Updated On: 3/12/07 at 10:05 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/12/07 at 10:07pm

I happened to see the TV version of that production - doing research - and was shocked at how quick it was. To your recollection, did they cut anything, or were they just doing it fast?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/12/07 at 10:16pm

Both. Miller made cuts to the text, but also the pacing in the confrontation scenes was about twice as fast as I had normally seen it and a lot of the dialogue was overlapped (rendering the arguments unintelligible at times). It also resulted in the play not packing the kind of emotional wallop it usually does. The show ran three hours with intermission on Broadway. Compare that to the recent Robert Falls production w/ Dennehy and Redgrave which was 4 hours (including two intermissions).

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/12/07 at 10:21pm

I saw both and thought that the Dennehy/Redgrave staging was by far the better of the two. Redgrave cannot be compared. Updated On: 3/12/07 at 10:21 PM

[larry64]

Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:18am

I saw both versions on B'way. The Jack Lemmon was my introduction to the play. I fell in love with it. That production also featured Kevin Spacey, before the hoopla and Oscars, and Peter Gallagher. It was fast paced and riveting with and ending I'll never forget.

I, unfortunately, saw the Dennehy/Redrave production on the first preview. Ugh! Everyone seemed to be marking their performances, especially Redgrave. I felt that the set swallowed up everything. I hated it.

Was anyone lucky enough to see it in London with Jessica Lange? That one is my favorite.

Cheers

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 3:55am

I've seen several stage productions of the play (though not the most recent Broadway one), as well as the film and several TV adaptations of stage productions, and the Jonathan Miller remains the benchmark for me. I found it, and continue to find it in its TV adaptation, far more powerful than any other production I've seen, although the TV version made some changes that I feel did reduce its effectiveness a bit.

For me, Lemmon, Bethel Leslie, and Peter Gallagher embodied those roles brilliantly and with a devastating emotional power. Spacey was the weak link for me, a fairly colorless Jamey, especially in comparison with the stunning performance that Al Freeman Jr. had given several years before in the production that Geraldine Fitzgerald directed.

Miller made very few cuts, and I think most of them were good ones, in the last scene, with all that quoted poetry.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 4:08pm

I have the vcr tape of the Lemmon show and it is a fav of mine. I never fail to start laughing along w Edmond/Gallagher when Spacey/Jaime tells the story of Fat Violet.
And I am always floored by the scene w Jaime's "confession" and finally crying when Gallagher/ Edmond starts to weep.
I beleive it has been re released on dvd now. Worth a look.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 6:21pm

Seeing Spacey as Jamie only heightens anticipation for his take on the same role, older, in MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN.