Still image from the 1962 film Sweet Bird of Youth.

Sweet Bird of Youth

Directed by Richard Brooks

A young gigolo returns to his southern hometown in search of the lost love of his youth.

1962 2h 0m Drama TV-PG

Expires: Invalid date


CAST
see full cast & crew at TCMDb: view

0

Richard Brooks, Director
23128|129666
Richard Brooks
Director

1

Paul Newman, Chance Wayne
140544|122194
Paul Newman
Chance Wayne

2

Geraldine Page, Alexandra Del Lago
146420|60656
Geraldine Page
Alexandra Del Lago

3

Shirley Knight, Heavenly Finley
103693|140182
Shirley Knight
Heavenly Finley

4

Ed Begley,
12766|42737
Ed Begley
"Boss" Finley

5

Rip Torn, Thomas J. Finley, Jr.
193115|130979
Rip Torn
Thomas J. Finley, Jr...

FULL SYNOPSIS

Chance Wayne has youth, good looks, virility, and complete self-confidence--four qualities he feels certain will make him a Hollywood star. After drifting for several years, he goes to Florida and picks up Alexandra Del Lago, an aging film star. Convinced that her comeback picture is a failure, Alexandra has taken to drinking vodka, smoking hashish, inhaling oxygen, and keeping young lovers. She promises to help Chance in Hollywood, and he drives her to the small southern town of his birth. Here he plans a reunion with his girl friend, Heavenly, the only daughter of a corrupt and powerful politician, "Boss" Finley. Chance quickly learns, however, that he is unwelcome. (He does not know that following his last visit Heavenly became pregnant and had an abortion.) While Finley and his hoodlum son, Tom Junior, consider their revenge, Heavenly's Aunt Nonnie arranges several meetings between the young lovers. In the meantime, Chance continues to nurture his relationship with Alexandra, and he records her drugged confessions with a view to future blackmail. Suddenly Alexandra learns from Walter Winchell that her comeback film is an unqualified triumph and that she is once more in demand. Her old self again, she rejects Chance, ignores her promises, and prepares to leave. As she does so a giant political rally is turned into a brawl when Finley's discarded mistress, Miss Lucy, exposes his ruthless tactics and reveals Heavenly's abortion. Sensing the impending violence, Alexandra offers to take Chance away, but he refuses to leave Heavenly. A group of thugs headed by Tom Junior beat Chance into senselessness and badly disfigure his face. Chance is finally able to face the truth about himself, and he leaves with Heavenly.


VIDEOS
see more videos at TCMDb: view
Alicia Malone Intro
Hosted Intro
Ben Mankiewicz Intro...
Hosted Intro
There's Only One Payoff Windo...
Movie Clip
Opening, I Want A Drink!...
Movie Clip
How's Heavenly?
Movie Clip
I Did Not Molest You...
Movie Clip

ARTICLES
One of Tennessee Williams' most corrosive and disturbing plays, Sweet Bird of Youth was a smash success under Elia Kazan's direction on the Broadway stage but had a more difficult time making the transition to the silver screen. For one thing, MGM knew it was going to run into problems with the Production Code over the story: Chance Wayne, a gigolo with aspirations of becoming a Hollywood actor, is exploiting his relationship with a once-famous movie actress who has a weakness for alcohol and hashish. When the couple visit Wayne's hometown in Florida, some ugly town secrets involving Chance and the daughter of a corrupt local politician are finally exposed. The horrific ending of the play has Chance being castrated by some local roughnecks. Since the screen version couldn't be as explicit, director/screenwriter Richard Brooks completely re-wrote the ending and came up with a conclusion that is practically upbeat in comparison to the original fadeout. Luckily, four of the most important cast members from the Broadway play - Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn, and Madeleine Sherwood - agreed to re-create their stage roles for the screen. Newman, cast again as Chance Wayne, was rapidly becoming a major Hollywood star and already had two Best Actor nominations under his belt (one for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), the other for The Hustler, 1961). While his performance in Sweet Bird of Youth is commendable, it is Geraldine Page who steals the film as Alexandra Del Lago, ...

ARCHIVES
see more archives at TCMBDb: view
{"imgID": "0","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-58_1194x1512_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "1","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784-130_1217x1529_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Close-up publicity shot of Geraldine Page as Alexandria Del Lago.","imgParticipants": "|GERALDINE PAGE|"},{"imgID": "2","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-54_1212x1528_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "3","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784-55_1205x1510_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "4","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-106_1218x1562_120720071506.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Madeline Sherwood as Miss Lucy.","imgParticipants": "|MADELEINE SHERWOOD|"},{"imgID": "5","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-109_1220x1548_120720071506.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Rip Torn as Thomas J. Finley Jr.","imgParticipants": "|RIP TORN|"},{"imgID": "6","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-105_1225x1558_120720071506.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Mildred Dunnock as Aunt Nonnie, wearing hat.","imgParticipants": "|MILDRED DUNNOCK|"},{"imgID": "7","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-52_1207x1537_120720071506.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "8","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-95_1200x1510_120720071506.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Shirley Knight as Heavenly Finley.","imgParticipants": "|SHIRLEY KNIGHT|"},{"imgID": "9","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_S1784-80_1227x1539_120720071506.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Shirley Knight as Heavenly Finley holding head of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|SHIRLEY KNIGHT|"},{"imgID": "10","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-108_1227x1553_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Ed Begley as Tom Finley, wearing hat.","imgParticipants": "|ED BEGLEY|"},{"imgID": "11","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-53_1215x1543_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "12","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_C1784-107_1228x1553_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Ed Begley as Tom Finley, holding cane.","imgParticipants": "|ED BEGLEY|"},{"imgID": "13","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784-51_1194x1525_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "14","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i62/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784-57_1202x1510_120720071507.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium publicity shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},
 Publicity Stills from the movie 'Sweet Bird of Youth'
Sweet Bird of Yout...
Publicity Stills
{"imgID": "0","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X20_1201x1529_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium BTS shot of smiling Geraldine Page as Alexandria Del Lago, talking on telephone.","imgParticipants": "|GERALDINE PAGE|"},{"imgID": "1","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X1_1181x1507_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Full BTS shot of director Richard Brooks talking to seated Paul Newman as Chance Wayne; crew in background.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|RICHARD BROOKS|"},{"imgID": "2","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X12_1198x1523_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium BTS shot of Paul Newman as Chance Wayne seated on floor next to camera.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "3","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X9_1526x1190_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Full BTS shot of director Richard Brooks and crew watching Paul Newman as Chance Wayne and Geraldine Page as Alexandria Del Lago.","imgParticipants": "|GERALDINE PAGE|PAUL NEWMAN|RICHARD BROOKS|"},{"imgID": "4","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X6_1505x1193_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium BTS shot of Geraldine Page as Alexandria Del Lago and Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|GERALDINE PAGE|PAUL NEWMAN|"},{"imgID": "5","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X17_1544x1203_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Full BTS shot of director Richard Brooks talking to Paul Newman as Chance Wayne and Geraldine Page as Alexandria Del Lago, laying on bed.","imgParticipants": "|GERALDINE PAGE|PAUL NEWMAN|RICHARD BROOKS|"},{"imgID": "6","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X14_1540x1203_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium BTS shot of director Richard Brooks talking to Geraldine Page as Alexandria Del Lago and Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|GERALDINE PAGE|PAUL NEWMAN|RICHARD BROOKS|"},{"imgID": "7","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X13_1542x1192_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Medium BTS shot of director of photography Milton Krasner, Shirley Knight as Heavenly Finley, and Paul Newman as Chance Wayne.","imgParticipants": "|PAUL NEWMAN|SHIRLEY KNIGHT|MILTON KRASNER|"},{"imgID": "8","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X8_1198x1492_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Full BTS shot of director Richard Brooks holding Geraldine Page as Alexandria Del Lago while Paul Newman as Chance Wayne looks on.","imgParticipants": "|GERALDINE PAGE|PAUL NEWMAN|RICHARD BROOKS|"},{"imgID": "9","imgSrc": "https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i70/SWEETBIRDOFYOUTH1962_1784X10_1499x1212_092920081650.JPG","imgDescription": "Full BTS shot of crew filming Shirley Knight as Heavenly Finley on motorboat.","imgParticipants": "|SHIRLEY KNIGHT|"},
Scenes Photos from the movie 'Sweet Bird of Youth'
Sweet Bird of Yout...
Scenes Photos

Welcome, DISH customer! Please note that we cannot save your viewing history due to an arrangement with DISH.

Watchlist and resume progress features have been disabled.

ACCEPT