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The Fugitive Kind
original movie poster
Directed by	Sidney Lumet
Produced by	Martin Jurow Richard Shepherd
Written by	Tennessee Williams Meade Roberts
Starring	Marlon Brando Joanne Woodward Anna Magnani
Music by	Kenyon Hopkins
Cinematography	Boris Kaufman
Editing by	Carl Lerner
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	1959
Running time	119 min.
IMDb profile

The Fugitive Kind is a 1959 film drama made by Pennebaker Productions and released by United Artists. It was directed by Sidney Lumet, produced by Martin Jurow and Richard Shepherd, with George Justin as associate producer. The screenplay was by Tennessee Williams and Meade Roberts from Williams' play Orpheus Descending.

It starred Marlon Brando, Joanne Woodward and Anna Magnani, with Maureen Stapleton and Victor Jory.

Val Xavier (Marlon Brando), known by the nickname Snakeskin because of the snakeskin jacket he wears, is forced to flee New Orleans and end his career as a club singer, due to troubles with the law. One night, wandering around, he arrives at a remote town in Mississippi, where he gets a job as a helper at Lady Torrence's dime store. Lady Torrence (Anna Magnani), a middle-aged woman, is enraged at those who burnt down her father's vineyard (because he was selling booze to the blacks) and embittered over an unfortunate love affair with David Cutrere (John Baragrey). She tolerates the antics of her despotic husband Jabe (Victor Jory), who was recently discharged from hospital and is lying on his deathbed on the upper floor of the store. Lady Torrence, however, dreams of expanding her commercial activities and so hires Val, who uses his charm to attract women clients. Amongst those who pursue him insistently is Carol Cutrere (Joanne Woodward), David's sister, an alcoholic nymphomaniac, whose car Val volunteered to fix when he first came to town. In the end, Lady is the one to win him over and she goes ahead with her plan to set up a refreshment bar. On the opening day, her husband, mad with jealousy, lets slip that he was one of the ones who torched her father's vineyard. The sheriff (R.G. Armstrong), a friend of Jabe's, threatens to kill Val unless he leaves the town immediately. Val is ready to say goodbye to Lady, when he finds out that she is pregnant, which makes him change his mind. Jabe sets the bar on fire and, blinded by his jealousy, shoots Lady. The sheriff and his men enter the scene, but instead of putting out the fire, they throw Val into the flames. Carol, who happens to witness the scene, finds the snakeskin jacket in the ashes and takes it with her.

• Tennessee Williams wrote the play Orpheus Descending for the stage for Marlon Brando and Anna Magnani. Brando refused to play the role of Val on stage opposite Magnani.
• In the original Broadway production, Maureen Stapleton played the role of Lady Torrence, played in the film by Anna Magnani. Stapleton also was the original Serafina in Williams' The Rose Tattoo a role that also was played on screen by Magnani.
• Anna Magnani appeared in one other Tennessee Williams film, The Rose Tattoo, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
• Peter Hall adapted Orpheus Descending for television in 1990, starring Kevin Anderson and Vanessa Redgrave. Redgrave had already successfully played Lady in London and on Broadway.

• The Fugitive Kind at the Internet Movie Database