Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 7 The Light in the Piazza

THE FILM That same year the story was published in The New Yorker , MGM purchased the film rights for The Light in the Piazza . The script was written by Julius J. Epstein, who’d co- written Casablanca , and the 1962 release starred George Hamilton in a BAFTA- nominated performance as Fabrizio, and Olivia de Havilland as Margaret Johnson. Though it made a loss at the box office, the film received mostly positive reviews. However, New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther recounted it with offensive language that would ignite a Twitter storm today, referring to actress Yvette Mimieux, who plays Clara, as a ‘luscious little trick’ and describing her character as ‘retarded’. It’s a sharp reminder of how archaic attitudes were towards both women and people with special educational needs and disabilities at the time Spencer invented her characters. Regardless, Crowther’s main criticism was that the filmmakers did a disservice to the story by downplaying Clara’s condition in order to glam her up, making her mother’s coddling seem confusing and tedious to the audience. ‘She appears no less bright in the upper story or capable of pulling her weight in a matrimonial rowboat than any doll played by Marilyn Monroe,’ wrote Crowther of Clara. McGraw-Hill published the book after the release of the film, which gave initial sales a running start and set its place in American literature. Lyric Opera House | 10 Original London Cast 2019