It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This Film had remained permanent in my memory ever since first viewing it. Vivien Leigh is stunning as Karen Stone, her performance made me feel deeply for the Character as well as Vivien Leigh Herself. As many have mentioned Vivien's life draws so many parallels with the Character that it seems that much more sad, but powerful. Lotte Lenya is superb as the menacing contessa. I would Rank this as Vivien Leigh's Best Performance after Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind.An Unforgettable Film. I Think it's a Mix Between Depressing But at the same time Incredibly Moving.10/10

Vivien Leigh was so brilliant portraying damaged-goods, faded beauty Blanche DuBois in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" that it was perhaps inevitable for her to be asked to play another Williams character who's been beaten up by life, 10 years later. Thus, in 1961, Leigh--more damaged herself now after a recent split with Laurence Olivier following a 20-year marriage--appeared in the screen adaptation of the Williams novella "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone." In it, she plays Karen Stone, a middle-aged stage actress who has just suffered two major life traumas: professional retirement and the death of her much older, millionaire husband. She retreats to a villa above the Spanish Steps in the Eternal City to hide from the world and just "drift," and is soon romanced by a handsome young Italian man, Paolo di Leo (Warren Beatty). But what Karen only dimly realizes is that Paolo is nothing more than a lira-grubbing gigolo, working for an elderly pimp/procuress named Contessa Terribili-Gonzales (Austrian legend Lotte Lenya)....Those viewers who come to "Mrs. Stone" expecting some kind of light romantic comedy, a la the Katharine Hepburn/Rossano Brazzi Venetian affair in 1955's "Summertime," will surely be surprised at how the film unreels. Despite the fact that it is a quiet picture, with a sad theme song that plays in a subdued manner only occasionally, it is nevertheless a dark and seedy one, featuring some truly unsavory characters. The scene transitions are often accomplished in a manner that beggars my poor powers of description, and director Jose Quintero gives a brooding, unsettling mood to this, his first picture, a great-looking one with sumptuous sets. Leigh, of course, is just marvelous--touching and sympathetic--here in her penultimate film, but the real surprise is how convincing Beatty is at playing an Italian, in his second screen appearance. Lenya is snakelike and sinister in her role, plotting the destinies of her victims with a purring cat on her lap, a la Ernst Stavro Blofeld; two years later, of course, Lenya would play opposite Blofeld (and that cat) in "From Russia, With Love." And speaking of future Bond alumni, "Mrs. Stone" also features fine supporting work from Jill St. John ("Diamonds Are Forever"'s Tiffany Case) and Paul Stassino ("Thunderball"'s Maj. Derval). Coral Browne, the future Mrs. Vincent Price, is well cast as Karen's school friend Meg (both actresses were born in 1913), and how great it is to see Ernest Thesiger ("Bride of Frankenstein"'s Dr. Praetorius) again, here in his final screen role! From its lengthy pretitle sequence to its eerie, ambiguous ending, "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" manages to impress. As regards that ending, with the disillusioned Mrs. Stone tossing her house key down to the street ruffian who'd been stalking her throughout the film, Jill St. John, in one of the DVD interview extras, suggests that the thug is merely looking for a "soft berth," whereas Williams AND Lenya biographer Donald Spoto discerns something a lot more homicidal. I tend to concur more with Spoto here, but the matter is certainly open for debate. See the film for yourself and make up your own mind....

I'll say flat out right at the beginning, that if you don't appreciate the talents of Vivien Leigh -- you will not like The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. This is her penultimate film, which was really made as a vehicle for her talents, without much of an ensemble cast and she's in nearly every scene. But the great actress is certainly up to the task of making this material work, although she is let down at times by contrivances of plot and other aspects of believability.Taken from famous playwright Tennessee William's novella, the story concerns aging actress Karen Stone, who yearns to retire with her rich husband, who unfortunately expires while on their way to Rome for their extended getaway. Then the lonely widow starts dating a handsome young Italian guy who has an unusually close relationship with the sinister contessa who introduced them both.Vivien Leigh as Karen Stone "drifts" through the movie, an ethereal presence that's nearly translucent, extremely delicate and cautiously mannered. The machinations of the plot allow her many opportunities to overstate or exaggerate, which is something Leigh never does. Many have said that this source material is kind of second rate Tennessee Williams, but even if true, Vivien Leigh's work here makes the very best of it in an engaging style.And the movie has the added benefit of young future superstar Warren Beatty, making his second feature film. Needless to say, he looks fantastic, making it much more believable that Mrs. Stone would become so enamored with him. It's evident that Beatty clearly dove headfirst into an attempt to transform himself into an Italian gigolo. I find the Italian accent he attempted to be perhaps a little lacking at some points in the way of his hitting a few wrong pronunciations that sound artificial at very few and select times. Other than that minor detail, Beatty fills the role more than adequately, and his star power is in abundance.And no small mention must go to fabulous Lotte Lenya (who scored an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress in this), as this unctuous Euro-trash "contessa" who deals in romantic relationships usually for women of a certain class, age and wealth. She's extremely creepy, and look for a frightening scene set inside a cavernous discotheque where the camera follows Lenya slithering through the crowd, making her way to the fragile Mrs Stone. Every scene with Lenya is a highlight in this movie, and also see how her intense love for her pet cat is expressed in the way Lenya artfully handles the willing feline.The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone, surely a "must-see" for devotees of Williams, Leigh, Beatty or Lenya, and anyone who enjoys colorful European settings, vivid characters and glossy romantic drama.**** out of *****

I'm a Tennessee Williams fan, a Vivien Leigh fan, a Warren Beatty fan, and a Lotte Lenya fan, so this movie was a joy for me. Heck, I even became a Jill St. John fan watching her in this.Being in my 50's, I've just started experiencing the horrible feeling that one is no longer the object of the sexual gaze that one was before. I think the film captures a sense of that beautifully. It is a feeling that transcends gender, so the film doesn't lose anything by having a heterosexual female lead instead of a homosexual male lead. Although, I'm sure Williams would have chosen to make the personal story about a homosexual male like himself if he had the choice.Vivien Leigh played in amazingly few films. She starred in four or five before "Gone With the Wind" in 1939, and nine afterwards. However, from 1942 to 1965, she only did six films, about one every four years. Strange that one of the most famous actresses in the world during that entire period should only choose to make six films. Consider that Katherine Hepburn did six films between 1942 and 1946 and 18 films over the same time period.Everybody agrees that Vivien is great in the film, giving a beautiful measured and restrained, yet effective performance as the drifting Mrs. Stone. The big disagreement is over Warren Beatty. Some people can't get over his Italian accent, but that isn't necessarily because it is a bad Italian accent, it is because we know he is not Italian. In 1962, when this was being filmed, his first movie "Splendor in the Grass" had not been released. I suspect if "Splendor" had flopped and Beatty had quit movies after this film, everybody would be asking, "Whatever happened to that handsome Italian kid who played opposite Vivien Leigh in Mrs. Stone?" Lotte Lenya was terrific in this and got a deserved academy aware nomination. Sadly, Her movie career essentially consists of "Three Penny Opera" made in 1931, this movie and "From Russia With Love". This is another example of a great actress being totally ignored by Hollywood.Jill St. John plays a small part as a starlet and rival to Leigh for Beatty's affection. She is fine in the role. She also starred in a James Bond movie "Diamonds are Forever" about a decade later.The photography is quite exquisite at moments, looking quite Felliniesque here and there and sparse elsewhere.This is a movie about a successful woman drifting into old age, and exploiting young men for sex, while a young man drifts into the world of exploiting older women for their money. It is sad, but funny and beautiful at moments.