The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

While reading the biography of Tennessee Williams, a screenplay that he worked on for a long while was mentioned. Called The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, it was began in 1957 but never produced in his lifetime.

A filmmaker named Jodie Markell, a Williams aficionado, discovered the screenplay and it was released in 2009. It's full of familiar Williams themes, such as a strong yet vulnerable female lead, a disaffected man who doesn't know his own heart, and even a visit to a woman in a mental institution, echoing the real situation of Williams' sister Rose.

The story is set in Memphis in the 1920s. Fisher Willow (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a socialite, educated in Europe, but feels out of place in the strict world of her class. Her aunt (an unrecognizable Ann-Margret) wants her to make the round of debutante balls and "come out." Not wanting to miss out on her inheritance, Howard agrees, and turns to an old friend, Chris Evans, to be her chaperone.

Evans, the grandson of a former governor, has been reduced to poverty because of his father's alcoholism (it's his mother that's institutionalized). He agrees to escort Howard to parties, but comes to resent it, feeling like a hired hand. Howard is attracted to Evans, but he is not particularly attracted to her. I thought this might be due to repressed homosexuality, a common Williams theme, but the only inkling of that is when Evans slugs a man who gives him a funny look in the men's room.

The last section of the film is a long sequence at a Halloween party. Howard loses one of her aunt's teardrop diamond earrings, worth $5,000 each, and this sets off a chain of disturbing events. Evans flirts with a mean-spirited woman (an excellent performance by Jessica Collins), and Howard is urged to help an old, bed-bound woman (Ellen Burstyn, in a gripping cameo) commit suicide.

The ending is much more optimistic than Williams usually writes, and seems out of place. Also, Markell says on the DVD extras that Howard was the first choice for the role, and that she's the best actress of her generation. That's a mind-boggling statement, and I found Howard to be the weakest part of the film.

I did like this film, though. It's a must for Williams scholars and completists, but anyone enjoying a period drama with sharply-drawn characters should enjoy it.