"The Group" Review

 

by Daniel White

How can you take a movie seriously when one of its leading characters falls out of a Manhattan hotel window (binoculars in hand) looking for German warplanes? An uncertain mixture of satire and melodrama, Sidney Lumet's The Group (1966) is nevertheless quite entertaining. Based on Mary McCarthy's wildly successful novel, the story of eight Vassar girls, class of '33, manages to keep one's interest despite its over two-hour running time. A big round of applause for screenwriter Sidney Buchman for condensing, configuring and delivering a fairly cohesive script.

Unfortunately, one of the more interesting storylines gets short shrift. Candice Bergen plays Elinor "Lakey" Lakeland, the resident lesbian. Shuffled off to Europe at the flick's onset, she returns late in the saga with her butch baroness lover in tow. However, Bergen is afforded one of the film's most gratifying scenes when she refuses to be shamed by the husband (an excellent Larry Hagman) of the girl in the sisterhood she harbored a not-so-secret crush on. Nice to see the Sapphic Lakey treated with dignity and respect. An uncommon occurrence in films dealing with lesbian characters produced in that era.

All of the ladies do a superb job in the acting department. Especially Jessica Walter as the cunty gossip Libby and Joanna Pettet, married to an alcoholic, unsuccessful playwright. Shirley Knight demonstrates all that is effective (and annoying) with her Method influenced turn as the practical Polly. But it's Elizabeth Hartman who breaks your heart. Playing the put-upon Priss, struggling with marriage and motherhood, she is a vulnerable, aching wound. Much like her offscreen self, it's sad knowing what life had in store for the mentally ill actor (suicide at 43 in 1987).

Hal Holbrook is highly amusing as a book publisher slavishly devoted to Freudian analysis. Poor guy, he can't take a shit without getting his shrink's approval! The film looks fabulous and evokes Depression-era New York lovingly. With Joan Hackett, Mary-Robin Redd and Kathleen Widdoes rounding out the rest of our leading ladies, a catty Carrie Nye, and a miscast Richard Mulligan as a heartless cad, The Group is currently streaming on Tubi.