Long Day’s Journey Into Night, filmed in 1962, stars Katherine Hepburn and Dean Stockwell as a morphine-addicted mother and her sensitive poetic son. Katherine Hepburn is intense and I must say a young Dean Stockwell is totally hot in this picture. The film explores the murky, depressing lives of four family members who are so mired in past mistakes that they can’t make any positive changes for themselves.

Written by Eugene O’Neill, this classic play was never meant to be seen on stage, as he had a lawyer draw up a contract sealing the manuscript away. Somehow O’Neill’s wife got around this and that is why we can appreciate this work of art today. Deeply personal, the play draws from O’Neill’s own family life growing up.

Relentlessly throughout the entire film, the characters attack each other and blame each other for their own problems, while all the time trying to escape their own pain using alcohol and drugs. It’s a powerful movie that has a great deal of resonance for people today.

The movie was beautifully shot on City Island, and the house on Tier Street where most of the action takes place is still standing. A photo of the house can be seen on Forgotten New York’s amazing City Island page.