Paradise Lost (TV film)

Infobox Film | name = Paradise Lost


caption = DVD Paradise Lost
director = Glenn Jordan
producer = Glenn Jordan
Jac Venza
writer = Clifford Odets
starring = Eli Wallach
Jo Van Fleet
George Voskovec
Bernadette Peters
Cliff Gorman
Fred Gwynne
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = February 25 1971, part I, and March 4, 1971 , part II (Public Broadcasting Company)
runtime =
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0212415

"Paradise Lost" is a drama that takes place in 1932, during the Depression. It was written in 1935 by Clifford Odets and originally performed on stage by the Group Theatre in New York City in 1935, directed by Harold Clurman. The filmed production was first broadcast on American Public Television in two parts, on February 25 and March 4, 1971.

Plot summary

The play takes place in an unnamed American city during the Depression, in 1932. The head of the family, Leo, and his wife Clara are middle-class and prosperous. However, over the course of the play Leo and his partner Sam lose their handbag business and the family must come to terms with this. The other characters in the play include a friend, Gus, and his daughter, Libby, a frivolous and self-centered young woman who is newly married to Leo's son Ben; a boarder, and an assortment of other characters.

Odets said of "Paradise Lost" that he'd hoped that after people see it, "they're going to be glad they're alive." ("The Washington Post", Tricia Olszewski, November 25, 2004, p. C01)

Cast (television film)

* Clara Gordon -- Jo Van Fleet
* Leo Gordon -- Eli Wallach
* Ben Gordon -- Sam Groom
* Libby Michaels -- Bernadette Peters
* Gus Michaels -- George Voskovec
* Kewpie -- Cliff Gorman
* Mr. Pike -- Fred Gwynne
* Sam Katz -- Mike Kellin
* Phil Foley -- Biff McGuire

Notes on the Broadway cast

The original Broadway cast included Stella Adler (Clara), Morris Carnovsky (Leo), Elia Kazan (Kewpie), Robert Lewis (Mr. May), Sanford Meisner (Julie), and Luther Adler (Sam Katz).

Video

"Paradise Lost" was released on DVD in April 2002 (Kultur's DVD Broadway Theater Archive). [http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Lost-Broadway-Theater-Archive/dp/B000067IYM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1223760616&sr=1-6]

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212415/ Internet Movie Database listing]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=12042 Internet Broadway Database listing, "Paradise Lost", 1935]