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Hedda Gabler (TV) [1963] Ingrid Bergman
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Video > TV shows
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6
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IMDB
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English
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Feb 27, 2012
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ThorntonWilde



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Hedda Gabler  (TV 1963) 
  
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057135/

Release Date: 20 September 1963 (USA)

Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama. A 1902 production was a major sensation on Broadway starring Minnie Maddern Fiske and following its initial limited run was revived with the actress the following year.

The character of Hedda is considered by some critics as one of the great dramatic roles in theatre, the "female Hamlet," and some portrayals have been very controversial. Depending on the interpretation, Hedda may be portrayed as an idealistic heroine fighting society, a victim of circumstance, a prototypical feminist, or a manipulative villain.  It’s not a case of indecision that marks Henrik Ibsen’s heroine, but rather a complex series of motives that may in fact be merely spontaneous and even mysterious to the woman herself. It is this enigmatic quality that once inspired patriarchal criticisms of dramatic implausibility, as if a woman could not behave in such a clearly “irrational” way. The character was labeled a “demoness” for the same reason, her reckless, supposedly inexplicable behavior causing the death of a former lover through manipulative will. But this is very much the crux of the play’s attraction. With Hedda Gabler, Ibsen created a character that at once invited sympathy as well as revulsion. 
Hedda is never made to appear “nice” in any way,  Hedda suffers no fools and appears ready to strike like a coiled snake.

A good demonstration of how great actors can overcome other issues -- This is a superb version of Hedda Gabler. Yet ALL the actors are decades too old for their parts. The pregnant Hedda is played by a 47 year old (but still beautiful) Ingrid Bergman The sexual predator Brack is played by a sixty-ish Ralph Richardson. The captivating sex symbol Lovborg, is played by Trevor Howard, 51, and wearing a silly wig to make him look younger. Plus, the play has been ruthlessly abridged to play in 75 minutes.....YET --- it is superb, one of the best Hedda's you will see. Bergman is mean and nasty, and vulnerable. Redgrave is quiet and passive, and loving. Richardson is a snake, and it is fun to watch him maneuver himself into a position of power. 


  Ingrid Bergman  ...  Hedda Gabler  
  Michael Redgrave  ...  George Tesman  
  Ralph Richardson  ...  Judge Brack  
  Trevor Howard  ...  Ejlert Lövborg  
  Dilys Hamlett  ...  Mrs. Elvsted  
  Ursula Jeans  ...  Miss Juliana Tesman  
  Beatrice Varley  ...  Berta  


It has always been a difficult role, since Hedda can appear to be villainous or worse yet, sphinx-like. She is indolently evil and lives off her own fantasies, absorbing from people better than herself.  

When we first meet her, Hedda Gabler is already a memory. She has just returned from what seems to have been a miserable honeymoon as Hedda Tesman, the wife of the stiff academic,  George Tesman She appears bored, frustrated, and full of intellectual disgust with her dull academic husband. Initially, her behavior seems unreasonable and spiteful. In fact, she treats Georges aunt Julianne  

But it soon becomes apparent just what Heddas future will be all about. She can clearly see her rounds of dull social calls, visits to sickly relatives, and dinner parties full of pompous talk. She is clearly unable to accept her place within the shackles of marriage and the delicate rules of social life which confine her intellect and wit to the smallest space possible. 

At the time Ibsen wrote Hedda Gabler, the term "New Woman" had emerged to describe women who were pushing against the limits which society imposed on women. While the New Woman sought self-determination and freedom, as well as equality with males and a true understanding of female sexuality, the Old Woman believed in self-sacrifice, a woman's duty to her husband, and sexuality only in terms of childbearing. Hedda is a model case of a "New Woman" who ultimately finds no satisfaction in liberation. This is not to say that Ibsen by any stretch of the imagination intends Hedda Gabler as a critique of the New Woman; to the contrary, he is offering a critique of the resistance against it.

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