''Long Day's Journey into Night'' is a 1962 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

, adapted from

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

's Pulitzer-winning play of the same name. It stars

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accola ...

, and Dean Stockwell. The story deals with themes of

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and the resulting dysfunction of the

nuclear family A nuclear family (also known as an elementary family, atomic family, or conjugal family) is a term for a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single ...

, and is drawn from O'Neill's own experiences. It was shot at Chelsea Studios in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, with exteriors filmed on City Island. The film won Best Actor (for Richardson, Robards, and Stockwell) and Best Actress (for Hepburn) at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and was named by the

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...

as one of the Top Ten Films of 1962. Hepburn's performance earned her an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

and

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nomination for Best Actress. O'Neill's play was adapted to film again in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, directed by David Wellington.

Plot

The film is a direct translation of O'Neill's stage play, without any major cuts or changes to the source material.

Cast

as Mary Tyrone *

as James Tyrone Sr. *

as Jamie Tyrone * Dean Stockwell as Edmund Tyrone * Jeanne Barr as Cathleen

Production

Development

Producer Ely Landau did a version of '' The Iceman Cometh'' for TV. This impressed the widow of Eugene O'Neill enough for her to give him the screen rights to ''Long Day's Journey''. The cast and director formed a cooperative and agreed to work for a lower fee in exchange for a percentage of the profits.

Casting

was the only actor from the stage version to also star in the film, he had won the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway theatre, Broa ...

for playing Jamie Tyrone in the 1957 Broadway staging, and reprised the part in O'Neill's sequel ''

A Moon for the Misbegotten A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

''. He later played James Tyrone in several productions of the play.

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

was offered the role of Jamie, but turned it down.

Filming

The film was reportedly shot for $435,000 over 37 days, two days over schedule. The entire film was shot in-sequence, after three weeks of rehearsals. Lumet later wrote that the total budget was $490,000. Exteriors were shot at the house at 21 Tier Street in City Island in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, and interiors were on sets at Chelsea Television Studios in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Release

Joseph E. Levine Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the ...

bought the film for distribution, but said he lost money on it. "You cannot stay in business by making O'Neill pictures", he said. Lumet later wrote that "there actually were some profits".

Critical reception

The film has received critical acclaim.

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gives a score of 94% based on 17 reviews, with an average score of 8.2/10. Critics regularly praised Lumet's direction and Hepburn's performance. Dwight MacDonald from

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

magazine, wrote of the film "In his screen version of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, Sidney Lumet has given us a superb cinematic translation of the only American play to which the much-abused adjective "great" can seriously be applied." When speaking of Hepburn's performance he said "I have never been an addict of Katharine Hepburn; she struck me usually as mannered, to say the least; but here, stimulated by O'Neill and Lumet, she emerges as a superb tragédienne."

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

said that "Under the direction of Sidney Lumet, they charge the place with electricity. That is, on the whole they do so. They develop an overall sense of deep disquiet within the passionate individuals and an acrid air of smoldering savagery." And when commenting on Hepburn's performance he stated "In the moments of deepest anguish, she is vibrant with hot and tragic truth, an eloquent representation of a lovely woman brought to feeble, helpless ruin."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962 Film) 1962 films 1962 drama films 1960s English-language films American black-and-white films American drama films Films scored by André Previn Films about alcoholism Films about dysfunctional families American films based on plays Films based on works by Eugene O'Neill Films directed by Sidney Lumet Films produced by Ely Landau Films set in Connecticut Films set in 1912 Films shot in New York City 1960s American films