The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

"This is an adaptation of Paul Zindel's wonderful but tormented play. This play itself is compelling and has a kind of Tennessee Williams flavor; especially "The Glass Menagerie" and "A Streetcar Named Desire". The adaptation is very successful as the production designer (Gene Callahan) manages to transfer the book's psychologically oppressive ambiance to film; "shame hangs in the air of this house" like a cloud of poison gas.

Director Paul Newman gets performances from his cast that pull together parallel stories of how a "strong, strange, and beautiful" flower can unexpectedly spring from an environmental wasteland. His most difficult task is restraining or masking Joanne Woodward's earthy likability so that we waste little sympathy on her character. But using Woodward as the mother allowed him to get a once-in-a-lifetime performance from their daughter (Nell Potts as Matilda-Tillie in the play). Potts abandoned acting after this movie but her ethereal take on Matilda is right on the money and a big reason why the film works so well.

This is really just a story about Matilda's science fair project in which marigold seeds are subjected to varying amounts of gamma ray radiation (the independent variable in her experiment). Those flowers receiving a moderate amount of radiation bloom in amazing and wonderful ways. However, those flowers subjected to additional radiation either have their growth stunted or whither and die.

Meanwhile Tillie and her older sister Ruth are living an analogous story with their mother Beatrice in an extremely emotionally abusive household. In the play it is stated that Beatrice is insane but not how or why she became this way. In the movie the viewer soon reaches this same conclusion. Older daughter Ruth (an amazing performance by Eli Wallach's daughter Roberta) maintains a fairly normal lifestyle at school, she is a majorette and popular but is very selfish and demanding of attention. Notably she is also an epileptic, which is subtly significant because it is analogous to receiving an excessive amount of radiation. Tillie is very different (analogous to receiving a moderate amount of radiation), seemingly shy and withdrawn, she is actually very independent and has found an outlet from the family in her science projects. This outlet serves as a protective niche in which she can bloom.

A truly great scene is Matilda's acceptance speech at the science fair. She explains the results of her project and really lays out the main theme of the story for the viewer. Watch as she mentions how excessive radiation causes dwarf plants, at that point they cut to a closeup of Ruth in the audience. Both the experiment and the family illustrate that while a reasonable degree of adversity can actually be beneficial, too much of the same adversity will poison life.

While this would be a good film if focused solely on Matilda, it is elevated to extraordinary because Newman chooses to also make Ruth a central part of the story. The conventional "movie-way" to tell this story would be to make it an inspirational tale of triumphing over adversity; of free-will overcoming destiny. But fortunately Newman elects to show both sides of the story, in Ruth he shows someone who never has a chance, who cannot recognize her destiny or ever hope to overcome it.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, The (1972)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

It's a shame the silly sounding title will probably make most people overlook this film because it's an incredibly strong character study that deserves more attention. Joanne Woodward plays Beatrice, a widow trying to race two girls (Nell Potts, Roberta Wallach) in a world she feels is falling apart due to stupid people. What Beatrice doesn't realize is that the majority of problems in her life are due to herself and she can't seem to realize the damage that she's doing to her daughters. I must admit that I was shocked to see that Woodward didn't even got an Oscar-nomination for her performance here, which will go down in my book as one of the biggest injustices of all-time. Many people has called this performance one of the actresses greatest and many, including her husband and director of this film Paul Newman, have called it the greatest of her career. I'd probably go even further than that and call it one of the greatest performances by an actress that you're ever going to see. The amount of rage, passion and at times evilness within this performance is something truly amazing to watch and it's just breathtaking sitting back and watching Woodward work. She said that this was one of her most difficult roles because of having to play someone so depressing, bitter and angry but she perfectly nails all of it. I think calling this character crazy would be an easy way out because there's just so much to her and so much development that goes on. Just take a look at a sequence where she's trying to gather money for a tea-shop invention that she's came up with. Just watch the way she grows more and more frantic as the money trail starts to go away. Another terrific sequence again shows the character in a different way. There's a scene where the mother learns that her oldest daughter had done a skit about her at school for laughs. Again, just watch the way Woodward brilliantly plays it. The supporting performances are also very good with Newman and Woodward's real-life daughter Nell doing a nice job with the role of the youngest sister. Roberta Wallach, Eli's daughter, is also extremely strong in her bit as the one who suffers the most humiliation from the mother. I also thought Newman's direction was superb and it's easy to tell in the film's that he directed that he believed the acting was the most important thing to any movie. He doesn't throw any real style into the film and instead he just turns the camera on and let's the actors bring the film to life. THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS is a very silly title but the film is a real gem with one of the greatest performances you're likely to see.

Paul Newman again surprises (along with "Rachel, Rachel") as Joanne Woodward is presented in the unglamorous role of Beatrice Hunsdorfer, a bitter widow living on the fringe in an anonymous Connecticut suburb.

Nell Potts and Roberta Wallach in diametrically opposed roles, Ruth, the epileptic popular daughter, and Mathilda, the science-project sensitive daughter who relates to her pet rabbit.

While some is a bit overdone it is no stretch to imagine a bored housewife trying to make ends meet; Woodward is sympathetic and annoying at the same time. A brilliant performance.

This film was made in 1972 and it would truly amazing to see real character portrayals in film again. Today we have to visit the theater for such affecting performances. Well worth more than one viewing. 9/10.

This film has the same wonderfully subtle direction as "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter," "Diary Of A Mad Housewife" and "Goodbye Columbus." The lost 60s/70s style for dialogue films with immediately profound social messages is probably best exampled in "EGROMMM" -- Newman's daughter (Nell Potts) plays the stoic, life-dampened child who refuses to let her drunken slob of a mother destroy her brilliance.. at least for now. We're just slightly distant observers in this style of filmmaking. You won't get under anyone's skin or into anyone's head. But you may have grown up in similar circumstances, god forbid. An excellent film about the subtleties of abuse without coming across preachy in the slightest. Deeply moving.

It's tempting to revist a "favorite" film from one's teenage years. It's fascinating and more than a little intimidating to see how much of it you do or don't relate to as an adult. This was the defining movie of the "in" crowd of which I was a member. We were so full of angst (and ourselves) that we were just insufferable. Having said that, I can now look back and say that although the story did not meet our life's expectations or our predict how our lives would turn out, it was very accurate about how we felt and was able to portray all those awful teenage emotions we were feeling. It's all about perceptions. I would suggest that any parent of a teenager, especially a girl, watch this and then read the novel. As an adult, you might think it melodramatic and extreme, but I promise you, I remember how it felt, and Paul Newman poignantly and heartbreakingly captures every single tear shed by these two sisters and their mother. An under-rated gem and a teenage must-see film.