Marlon Brando is unquestionably the star of this show and the film is perhaps as good an example as any of his famed onscreen charisma and sex appeal at the peak of their powers. He plays an enigmatic rocker dude by the name of Val "Snakeskin" Xavier; a dreamy ladykiller who speaks in hushed tones and proudly dons the snakeskin jacket of his namesake. This is the sort of character archetype that would later be explored to varying degrees of comic effect by the likes of David Lynch (Wild at Heart), John Waters (Cry Baby), and Jim Jarmusch (basically any of his movies), only in this case Brando plays it straight. And he's GOOD.
He's a rock n roll drifter who's set out on the road in search of a new scene; one where he can settle down, play his beloved Lead Belly-autographed guitar ("His name is written in the stars," says Snakeskin on the topic of Mr. Belly), and put his checkered past behind him. Unfortunately for just about everyone in the film, this motherfucker is just too damn sexy. From the bedrooms to the jailhouse, his presence tears the town apart at the seams, exposing all manner of the hideous racism and sexual repression hidden neatly behind its pretty, small town-y facade.
Chief among those vying for his affections is Carol (played by Joanne Woodward). This is a woman on fire; a sexed-up broad's broad who's been 86'd from the local bar and is prone to vicious, drunken, highly public outbursts. Woodward is absolutely fantastic as this tragically beautiful southern belle gone astray.
Also and oddly significant among Snakeskin's romantic pursuits is Lady Torrance (played by Anna Magnani), an essentially decent yet nonetheless sex-starved foreigner who's way too dignified to live among the swine in this damp shithole of a town.
This fuckin' movie just FEELS HOT. It's a musty place, populated by angry, vindictive, passive-aggressive people; A kind of pressurized microcosm for everything unflattering about the American south in the 20th century. From its early stages, one gets the sense things will absolutely not go well for anyone involved.
Save for some occasionally pretty and atmospheric scenery, as well as a really nice kind of Baroque jazz score, the movie mostly plays like something written for the stage. However, the performances are very strong and the tension ratchets up nicely under Lumet's competent, workmanlike direction. The script also has an affectation I could only describe as a kind of "poetic trash" style; one in which lewd vagrants drop softly lyrical witticisms under the whiskey-soaked moonlight.
It may not be the best work of anyone involved but it is a damn fine piece of work nonetheless; one I'd recommend for a hot and dark summer night, preferably while drinking a strong American spirit of your choice.
Stars: 4 out of 5
