Toys in the Attic

Despite its silly sounding title (which is never explained, by the way), Toys in the Attic is extremely heavy. It'll stick with you for years afterwards, and you probably won't ever want to watch it again. When the main character is so evil, and the actor or actress is so convincing, it makes your skin crawl. And when the performance is that good, chances are he or she will be honored at the Hot Toasty Rag awards. Geraldine Page had to wait until 1985 to receive an Academy Award, but she won a Rag award in 1963.

Geraldine plays a spinster living with her sister, Wendy Hiller. Geraldine takes up all the energy in the room, so much so that no one else can even breathe. Wendy just sits on the sidelines, observes, and tries to quietly prevent any damage from getting done. They both share a love of their baby brother, Dean Martin. Whenever he comes to visit, they're buoyed up for a brief time before his good intentions fall flat and leave them exactly as they were before. Expensive presents often turn out to be borrowed on bad credit. Promises are empty. He comes this time with a new wife in tow, Yvette Mimieux, and lots of money in his pocket. He buys them a refrigerator, fancy clothes, and tickets to a European cruise. Then why aren't they happy?

Lots of reasons, as you'll see if you rent this movie. As the older sister, Wendy has some great expressions as she observes and hopes for the best. Geraldine steals all the spotlight, though, with her frenetic energy and manic emotions. Jealous, cruel, possessive, demanding, and unhinged - it's Geraldine Page at her finest.

At the time of its release, Dean Martin was criticized for his performance; critics went so far as to say he had no business being in such a heavy drama. That was both unkind and not true. He was surprisingly good in this movie, and gallantly, both of his leading ladies came to his defense. Geraldine and Wendy said he was a pleasure to work with, and they were both proud of his performance.