Part of Nashville: A City On Film
Sun, Oct 5 at 12:00pm: Introduction by T. Minton, Belcourt’s public historian and archivist | BUY TICKETS
Set against the sun-bleached desperation of a Mississippi town during the Great Depression, THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED centers on Alva Starr (Natalie Wood), a luminous but restless Southern belle trapped by her domineering mother’s ambitions. When Owen Legate (Robert Redford), a reserved railroad official, arrives to deliver news of layoffs, he unwittingly ignites a passionate, ill-fated romance with Alva. Torn between longing and loyalty, Alva rebels — ultimately entangling herself with her mother’s suitor (Charles Bronson) in a gesture of wounded defiance.
Adapted from Tennessee Williams’s short play, the film’s aching lyricism and social critique mirror Williams’s hallmarks: fragile dreamers, oppressive Southern traditions, and the volatility of repressed emotions. Produced during a wave of midcentury adaptations of Williams’s work, the film was co-written by Nashvillian Fred Coe and a young Francis Ford Coppola. Coe’s theatrical roots trace back to the Belcourt Theatre’s Community Playhouse, where he shared the stage with fellow Nashville talents Delbert Mann (MARTY) and Dinah Shore (THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS).
THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED is both a moody period romance and a reflection of the Southern dramatic tradition — imbued with the region’s distinctive artistry and the creative filmmaking ferment of mid-century Nashville.
“Adult without being sensational, touching without being maudlin.” —Variety (Dec 31, 1965)
