A Reel Retro Review: THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE (1961)

With no new films to review for the foreseeable future, Reel Speak will randomly review a classic film from the TCM library every week. Not just for the sake of filling time, but to hopefully introduce some overlooked and perhaps forgotten screen gems from the past to those of us who may be unfamiliar or unawares of their existence. 

After actress Vivien Leigh took home the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1939 for her now-historic role in GONE WITH THE WIND, her star seemed to be in ascent. Although she would win another Oscar in 1951 for her part in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, her many periods of inactivity would have her complete only nine films in 25 years after GONE WITH THE WIND. With such a small sample size, any film of the famed actress is worth having a look, with one late-career retrospective coming in the 1961 drama, THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE. 

Once an acclaimed stage actress now late in her career, Karen Stone (Leigh), loses her husband to a heart attack. She retreats to Rome, where she encounters Paolo (Warren Beatty), who is in league with the Contessa Magda (Lotte Lenya), to swindle money from her. 

MRS. STONE is a film that is in no hurry to unfold its plot. Most of the film is spent with Paolo and Karen carrying on a love affair, with Paolo’s endgame to swindle as much cash as he can from her…which he will split with the Contessa. Karen is at a vulnerable stage in her life; having just lost her husband and her stage career nearing its end. Paolo and the Contessa don’t have much backstory or motivation given, and are just there as a plot device…as anything Palolo tells Karen is just a way to seduce and exploit. 

Director Jose Quintero, who was primarily a stage director and helming his one and only film, has several themes going at work here; Karen’s ongoing issues with her fading career and her mortality, along with Paolo eventually questioning if he really is falling in love with Karen and can carry on with the scheme. These themes are only lightly explored and feel like they could have gone deeper. Quintero also stages most scenes as if he were still in the live theatre, which mostly works as it leaves a lot of room for monologuing…some of which pays off in big ways towards the end. 

Shot on location in Rome, the film plays as a tourist guide showcasing the grand city and its countryside. For the most part it’s a gorgeous production, but the film doesn’t spend enough time out-of-doors. It establishes a location with a beautiful wide-shot and then cuts to an exterior scene which was obviously done in a studio. The lighting never matches and it’s always jarring. 

Vivien Leigh embraces the role of the aging star nicely. In a way the film is autobiographical for her as both she and her character were at the end of their careers and lives. Warren Beatty pulls off the Italian accent to great effect, and Lotte Lenya is excellent. 

MRS. STONE has several long monologues by nearly every primary character, with two of them looping back around to the very end; an ending which can seem very abrupt and stupid if one hasn’t been paying attention to the many monologues. MRS. STONE is a light look at fading stars and long-term coping with grief. The execution could have better but this is still worth a look as a curiosity piece. 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it 

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Reel Facts: Lotte Lenya would be nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the Contessa, and would go on to play the James Bond villain Rosa Klebb in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963). Vivien Leigh would only complete one more film before her death in 1967.