The Ballad of the Sad Café movie storyline. A tangled triangle. In the rural South of the early 20th century, Miss Amelia is the town eccentric, selling corn liquor and dispensing medicine. She takes in her half-sister’s son, a diminutive crook-back named Lymon.
He suggests they open a café in the downstairs of her large house. Marvin Macy gets out of prison and returns to town; turns out he was married to Amelia but it wasn’t consummated. He pleaded, then got angry. Is he back for revenge? Eventually, Amelia and Marvin stage a no-holds-barred fight in the café. Lymon’s complicated response to Marvin and to Cousin Amelia figures in the resolution.
The Ballad of the Sad Café is a 1991 Merchant Ivory film, produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by Simon Callow, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Keith Carradine. Michael Hirst adapted the Edward Albee play, which in turn was based on a novella in a collection of short stories of the same title by Carson McCullers. The film was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.
The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991)
Directed by: Simon Callow
Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Keith Carradine, Rod Steiger, Cork Hubbert, Austin Pendleton, Beth Dixon, Lanny Flaherty, Mert Hatfield, Earl Hindman, Anne Pitoniak
Screenplay by: Edward Albee, Michael Hirst, Carson McCullers
Production Design by: Bruno Santini
Cinematography by: Walter Lassally
Film Editing by: Andrew Marcus
Costume Design by: Marianna Elliott
Set Decoration by: Scott Hale
Art Direction by: Michael T. Roberts
Music by: Richard Robbins
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for a scene of violence.
Distributed by: Angelika Films
Release Date: June 7, 1991
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