Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance

Episode of Series “American Film Theater = The American Film Theatre Collection”.
Listening carefully to the sharp and witty dialogue is the key to engaging with this dramatic play adapted for the screen. Produced originally on the New York stage by Richard Barr and Clinton Wilder, adapted here for the screen by the playwright Edward Albee. Set in suburban New England, a well-to-do older couple (Katharine Hepburn and Paul Scofield) live their lives in a staid familiarity that can only set in with a long-term relationship. The delicate balance that is their marriage is rocked only by the presence of the wife’s alcoholic sister Claire (Kate Reid) and their melancholic daughter (Lee Remick) dealing with yet another failed marriage. Two friends (Joseph Cotton and Betsy Blair) turn up wanting to stay for good but as a group they work through this to get back the ‘balance’. A Pulitzer Prize winning play, this screen version deals with the notions of family, friendship and love, directed by Tony Richardson.