Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

In Eugene O'Neill's play, Katharine Hepburn plays the fragile, weak matriarch in a highly dysfunctional family. Just as the title implies, the entire story takes place during one day, and just as the title implies, it's an incredibly long day. Ralph Richardson is the pontificating former actor who longs for his glory days, Jason Robards is the hard-drinking older son with contempt for every member of his family, and Dean Stockwell is the youngest son who's ill but has just as much of a temper as his healthier counterpart.While the family awaits the doctor's diagnosis of Dean's persistent cough, they're also watchful of Kate. She's in perpetual denial, refusing to believe her son is sick, refusing to acknowledge her former battle with morphine addiction, and refusing to admit tat she might be succumbing to temptation again. Each actor has long, boring monologues that don't contribute to the plot; each actor has long, emotional outbursts that show the audience a highly trained therapist probably couldn't help them. This is the type of play that people who say, "I don't like plays" refer to.While there are plenty of reasons that could make you feel like you should watch this film—famous actors, famous playwright, famous director—there isn't really any reason to watch it if you're actually looking for an enjoyable evening. Rent The Glass Menagerie instead if you want to see Kate in a dramatic play; it's actually good instead of pretending to be.

Deeply rich with performances for the ages. The director never imposes himself to trample the magnificent writing of Eugene O'Neill. He directs his actors for pitch perfect, highly emotional performances. The camera angles and movements and lighting never draw attention to themselves but support and enhance this deeply engrossing effort. Here is one of the most powerful theatre works committed to film. Ms Hepburn turns in her best performance of her long and brilliant career. She is magnetic. The others too, the men, are all on key. They make acting look easy, but these are very challenging dramatic roles. I will never forget the performances of the men in this film. Jason Robards, Dean Stockwell and Ralph Richardson. They will 'live forever' with this breathtaking movie. For more understanding of this film and others in Sidney Lumet's canon read his great book, Making Movies. He goes into details about directing Ms Hepburn and the acting style of Mr Richardson. He also describes the shooting style employed for this picture.

An incomparable acting quartet plays in this dark, brooding family drama, each actor showcasing a cinematic solo or two during the long film; when you read reviews from the initial release of this film, there was a concern whether or not this was merely a filmed play from the stage or a distinctive work of cinema--since this is doubtless the best filmed work of what is probably Eugene O'Neill's best and most deeply felt play, the argument hardly matters. Almost any reviewer of the drama will focus on the performance that moves them individually, often ignoring Dean Stockwell's grounded, more modern performance. Both Hepburn and Richardson have had considerable stage experience, trained not in method but technique, and both are masters--to watch Hepburn as a caring mother done in by drug addiction is amazing, particularly during a nostalgic rhapsody about her girlhood when the woman becomes a girl caught up in her first real romance; to watch Ralph Richardson recall his own turn as a famous Shakespearian actor endorsed by an even greater actor, to experience him chart his fall from greatness is to experience an ancient skill almost lost in the method acting of today. This is a long, demanding film which pays back immense rewards if you are willing to immerse yourself for three hours of undivided close attention.

Eugene O'Neill, considered the greatest playwright of the twentieth century, spills the harsh life he had growing up in the story about his drug-addicted mother, abusive father, and alcoholic older brother, all who influenced him dramatically. This film version of his play is a tired, relentless tale that from the beginning is painted as an ultimately tragedy. Though it is a bit long to watch in one entire sitting, the acting holds up for the most part and makes some scenes so full of bold and bruising power. Katharine Hepburn gives one of the greatest performances in her storied career as Mary, the mother who loves all yet cannot defeat the inner demons that torment her. Ralph Richardson is also very strong as the vindictive father James. Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell give perhaps the most complex and depressing performances as two brothers whose relationship is estranged due to the dysfunctional situation of their family. This isn't a happy movie by any means and it is quite long at almost three hours. But, for those willing to watch, it is a powerful story about pain and suffering and family relationships; all filled with amazing performances.