Long Day's Journey Into Night, Long Day's Journey Into Night, DVD

Based on Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play, this magnificent screen adaptation was directed by the great Sidney Lumet (Network) and starred Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell. Set in 1912 New England, the story takes place in the summer home of aging actor James Tyrone (Richardson), an alcoholic miser who has spent a lifetime treading on the spirit of his dope-addicted wife, Mary (Hepburn). Oldest son Jamie (Robards) is a troublemaking alcoholic, envious of the writing talent of his sickly younger brother Edmund (Stockwell) who contracted tuberculosis while traveling overseas. The long days journey concludes with a hellish night in which the three Tyrone men sit about drunkenly as Mary hallucinates about her younger and happier days. Hepburn emerged from a three-year retirement to essay the backbreaking role of Mary Tyrone, which garnered her a Best Actress Academy Award nomination.