What it’s about
Jamie (Robards) is a washed-up, alcoholic actor filled with remorse over his squandered life. He earns a pittance renting a farmhouse to Irish immigrant Phil (Flanders) and his tough-minded, no-bull daughter Josie (Dewhurst). Over the course of an evening, Josie engages James in a wrenching conversation about their fears and dreams, managing to find unexpectedly intimate common ground.
Why we love it
Loosely based on the life of his elder brother, Eugene O'Neill’s lyrical headbutt of a drama was a flop when it was first produced in the late 1940s. But Jose Quintero's Emmy-winning production vindicated the playwright in the eyes of critics, who found the galvanic match-up between Robards (playing the soul-baringly honest, self-destructive actor) and Dewhust (as his formidable, salt-of-the-earth confessor) irresistible. Eloquently realized, with minimal cinematic effects, “Misbegotten” portrays disillusionment with all the fierce poetry of O'Neill's incomparable vision.