Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Richard Chatten George Roy Hill's second feature film - following his 1962 version of Tennessee Williams' 'Period of Adjustment' - takes us yet again on a tour of one of those big crumbling Southern mansions in which people flutter about talking incessantly and family skeletons come crashing out of closets.The very conventionality of Hill's stagey direction, Carey Odell's meticulous set, Joseph Biroc's photography and George Duning's music seem designed to make us feel we've seen this all before, so when the bombshell is finally dropped about one of the sisters' relationship with her brother its done so casually - and simply told us, rather than conveyed visually - that I did a double take and thought, Did She Really Just Say That? Likewise, after such a slow build-up (SPOILER COMING) the shocking moment of gruesomely intimate violence near the end (not shown in the play) made me wonder if I'd really just seen it.As usual its fun to see Geraldine Page roll her eyes, wiggle her mouth and play with her hands, but naturally Wendy Hiller's is by far the better performance in the less showy role...

Kaplan Every performance in this haunting film is stellar, including Dean Martin's. Much has been said about him being miscast but I disagree. Despite his being a perennial loser, the character of Julian must be so attractive, charming and fun as a person that he can capture the hearts of fresh young things like Lily and older, more experienced women like his connected and moneyed benefactor alike. Part of Julian's problem is that his personal attractiveness has allowed him to skate through one catastrophic life choice after another while women, most often his older sisters, who also get all giggly at the very thought that he might come swinging through the door any minute, have always been there to bail him out and nurse him back to health.His child-like and overly animated conversation with Lily's mother is a key indicator here. He is still very much a little boy at this point in the story, yet you can see his irresistible personal charm and attractiveness is also working on his own mother-in-law. These are qualities that were intrinsic to Dean Martin's real life and his professional persona. And the film camera being as unforgiving as it is in revealing a certain "biology is destiny" truth about a person's look, manner and aura, I don't believe Jason Robards Jr., who created the role on stage and was a fine actor on both stage and screen, would have been able to pull it off in the movie. Yes, Paul Newman could have pulled it off. But so could Dean Martin. His performance is one of the things I enjoy most about watching this as I do every few years on my old TCM DVD-R copy of it (we really need an official DVD/Blu-ray release of this soon). His final scenes with Page and Hiller are standouts. It is thrilling to see Julian's growth into manhood for the first time in his life under these brutal circumstances as Dean Martin portrays him.This is a dramatic performance that, IMO, surpasses his previous impressive dramatic performances in The Young Lions, Career, Some Came Running and Rio Bravo.And on the issue of questions about the family resemblance (or lack there of) among the three siblings, I'm not sure that is such a critical oversight of the filmmakers considering the musical chairs heritage elements found elsewhere in the story. Questionable lineage/parentage is an openly discussed factor for at least two other characters. It wouldn't be a stretch to consider the possibility that the three siblings in this old New Orleans family might have been the product of two or more fathers. The two "old maid" sisters are overly conservative and averse to outsiders to an almost neurotic level. Was this the result of a mother who instilled this fear in her daughters in order to atone for her own wild youth? Possible. I just think the question of whether Dean Martin, Wendy Hiller and Geraldine Page look enough alike to be taken for siblings is not much of a distraction and, in its own way under the circumstances of this story, might even add something of value to consider.

JasparLamarCrabb Perhaps this made compelling drama on the stage, but as a film Lillian Hellman's TOYS IN THE ATTIC is not particularly good. Dean Martin is the ne'er do well brother of southern spinsters Wendy Hiller and Geraldine Page. He arrives home with child-like bride Yvette Mimieux and all hell breaks loose. Martin's involved in some shady real estate dealings along with the wife of a local land baron. Director George Roy Hill moves things along swiftly (it's a very brief movie) but it's simply not very involving and the acting is really odd. Martin is completely out of sync with acting grand dames Page & Hiller and Memieux is just awful. It's tough to tell if it's her or the character, but she's really off-putting. Very studio bound and pretty much devoid of any real style. Gene Tierney has an interesting late career cameo.

southpatcher Lillian Hellman's play "Toys in the Attic" was adapted for the screen in 1963. The story is reminiscent of Williams, as it concerns a southern family with lots of hidden secrets. Dean Martin stars as Julian, a man who's made a career out of losing jobs and money. He returns to the family home in New Orleans with his young bride (Yvette Mimieux) with a plan to make a quick fortune. Martin is ok in this role, and Mimieux plays her part as the naive bride very well. But the reason to see this is the powerful acting of the two ladies who play Julian's sisters. Oscar winners Wendy Hiller (Anna) and Geraldine Page (Carrie) are amazing in this picture. Anna is the more mature, careful sister, while Carrie is emotional and dramatic. Carrie's obsession with Julian is unhealthy, and Anna realizes this. And there is also some conflict with Julian's mother-in-law, and the people he's scheming to make money with. Honestly, unless Ms Hiller or Ms Page is onscreen, then this film bores me. As Carrie, Geraldine Page gave another of her incredible screen performances. From "little girl flirty" to "self righteously indignant", Ms Page doesn't strike a false note once in this picture. Carrie's obsession with her brother causes trouble for everyone else, and in some ways resembles the character Alma that Page played in "Summer and Smoke". As Anna, Wendy Hiller perfectly plays the older sister who's spent years worrying and caring for her siblings, yet all the time knowing what the deep secret is in her family's attic. Gene Tierney is impressive in a small role as Dean Martin's mother-in-law, as is Larry Gates as the vengeful businessman Martin deals with. But despite Dean Martin's top billing, this is a show for the talents of two gifted actresses, with Geraldine Page and Wendy Hiller making the most of this Southern gothic melodrama.