The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Watch The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Online Free

- 59/100 based on 834 votes

A tangled triangle. In the rural South of the early 20th century, Miss Amelia is the town eccentric, selling corn liquor and dispensing medicine. She takes in her half-sister's son, a diminutive crook-back named Lymon. He suggests they open a café in the downstairs of her large house. Marvin Macy gets out of prison and returns to town; turns out he was married to Amelia but it wasn't consummated. He pleaded, then got angry. Is he back for revenge? Eventually, Amelia and Marv... (Full plot summary below)

Watch MOVIES for FREE on Prime Video

Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!

Share this

The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Online Streaming

Links compiled using automated software. Availability of offers subject to change / might be region specific / out of date.

Rent The Ballad of the Sad Cafe on DVD

Rent The Ballad of the Sad Cafe on Blu-ray

Today's Featured Movies:

Big FishBig Fish
E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
UnbreakableUnbreakable
It's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful Life
50/5050/50
Adaptation.Adaptation.
HellboyHellboy
AlienAlien
ChinatownChinatown
Fight ClubFight Club
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate EventsLemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Mask of ZorroThe Mask of Zorro
Perfume: The Story of a MurdererPerfume: The Story of a Murderer
Phone BoothPhone Booth
Eagle EyeEagle Eye
Minority ReportMinority Report

You Might Also Like:

Empire of the SunEmpire of the Sun
KubiKubi
ArcArc
The Russia HouseThe Russia House
KickboxerKickboxer
Nero WolfeNero Wolfe

Actors in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe:

Vanessa Redgrave
Keith Carradine
Cork Hubbert
Rod Steiger
Austin Pendleton
Beth Dixon

Full Plot Details

A tangled triangle. In the rural South of the early 20th century, Miss Amelia is the town eccentric, selling corn liquor and dispensing medicine. She takes in her half-sister's son, a diminutive crook-back named Lymon. He suggests they open a café in the downstairs of her large house. Marvin Macy gets out of prison and returns to town; turns out he was married to Amelia but it wasn't consummated. He pleaded, then got angry. Is he back for revenge? Eventually, Amelia and Marvin stage a no-holds-barred fight in the café. Lymon's complicated response to Marvin and to Cousin Amelia figures in the resolution.

Review & Comments

Leave your thoughts about The Ballad of the Sad Cafe.

Movie Reviews

Chicago Reader - 9/10 by Jonathan RosenbaumEven if you can't quite swallow the material, it's a searing experience.
User Review - 10/10 by John MA strange and wonderful Southern Gothic. A masterful performance by Vanessa Redgrave - one of her absolute best - with Keith Carradine and particularly Cork Hubbart strong supporting. Director Simon Callow balances the material so it steers clear of outright melodrama, infusing it with a palpable eerie atmosphere of the deep South. A masterpiece.
User Review - 8/10 by Morgan RConfirms Vannessa Redgraves status are one of the great actresses, a suspicion I first had watching "The Devils"(which if you havent seen, you need to see, asap.). Miss Amelia is the wealthiest women in a small southern town, she is tall, muscular, lean, and not at all ladylike. She serves as the towns doctor, as well as its cheif landlord, and money lender. She brews the towns only supply of alchohol, in a distillery acessible only by a swim through the swamp. She is the town eccentric, but also the pillar of the community, everyone owes her something and without her nothing gets done. She lives a solemn and loney life(writing stories, keeping up with her buisness), and is otherwise content, until a dwarf with a hunchback shows up, claiming to be her cousin. The photograph he shows her of his mother, half sister of her mother, is too blurry to be indentifiable, but she accepts him just the same. Cousin Lymon can do magic, tell jokes, and plays the harmonica. He encourages her to turn her general store into a cafe, where people can drink inside(not just on the porch), where the paino can be played, and company can be had. The cafe, brings a life to the dismal town, where once there was none. The town is shocked by the sudden turnaround in their own lives and Amelias who goes from wearing her usual blue jeans suspenders to dresses(something they cant remember since she was a girl). Amelia dotes on Lymon, buys a car to drive him into the city, and all is well, until Amelia's husband, Marvin Macy returns from pirson. Marvin Macy, was in love with Amelia years ago, and thought his proposal to her would turn his sordid life around. She agreed to the marriage amicably enough, until the wedding night. Then she threw him down the stairs and insisted he sleep in the barn. Macy then turned over all his property to her to woo, her, but alas, to the barn he was sent. Til he eventually abandoned the town altogether, after one emasculating episode too many. When he returns, cousin Lymon is immediately smitten with him, he cant wait to talk to someone whose been on a "chain gang, to Atlanta, and in a real prison." Lymon is something of a child, and Macy is a "man". Theres a good deal of ambiguity in the sexuality of both Lymon and Amelia, though. Macy abuses Lymon, more and more who follows him like a puppy, while Amelia withers watching and waiting for Lymon, to give up his infatuation, so it can be just the two of them again. A love without the sex(presumably, and implicity), a companionship which she can accept and return. The towns reverend tells Macy's sister in law, "All I know is... that it takes two people to be in love. It takes the... lover... and the beloved. But these two, they come from... diff'rent countries. And sometimes, the... the beloved is the cause for all the, all the stored-up love that's lain in the heart of the lover for such... a long time, and every lover knows that... deep... deep in his soul, he knows that his love is a lonely and solitary thing. That's why I guess most of us, we'd rather be... the lover than to be loved, I mean, because the state of bein'... beloved is... is intolerable. See an' then, after a while... the beloved gets to hate the lover, because the lover's always trying to strip, strip, strip bare... the beloved. See, that's because the... the lover... 'e craves that love -- even though he knows that that love can only cause 'im pain.", in the film, and the novella it was based on's defining scene. The film climaxes in a fist fight, in the cafe between Amelia and Macy(thats right a no holds bared, knock down drag out fist fight, which again confirms Redgraves greatness). Literally dukeing it out for Cousin Lymon who watches gleefully from the sidelines. Like "Wise Blood" its a suprisingly faithfull adaptation of the southern classic of love and the grotesque. Carson Mcullers novella, of which this was based on is one of my favorite books. Actor Simon Callow does a good job directing the material, theres some particularly beautiful moments which bookend the film, featuring men on a chain gang. The cinemtography on the whole is accomplished, and the rustic music, fitting the mood excellently. There is one awkward moment at the end of the fight, see it and you will know what I mean. Its a funny, unique, and sad film, film that captures the "blindess" of love, better than any other. On a personal level Mcullers had a horrific marriage, both her and her husband having numerous failed homosexual relationships(and him eventually asking her to commit suicide with him, and her leaving, as he finally went through with it). Its easy to see this as a personal story as much as a universal one, of the right love, in the wrong person. Or culturally as a story of a powerfull independent women, comprimised by her own emotions, and brought down by the cruelty of the men around her. Though Amelia is as cruel to Macy, as he later is to her, so maybe what goes around comes around too. Theres many ways to look at it and theyre all true on some level. So basically the book is great and the movie is pretty good. See em both if you can.
User Review - 6/10 by Private UFascinating to watch, but when it's over you have to ask yourself, "WTF just happened?"
User Review - 4/10 by Alex KMy Favorite Romance Film Is 1997's Titanic.

Browse Movie Genres

Other Links

The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Watch Online For Free | Free Movies | Movie Genres | Most Viewed | Top Rated | Latest Releases

About Us • Affiliates • Terms of Use • Disclaimer • Cookies • Privacy Policy • Copyright • DMCA Compliance • Contact Us • Language Settings

Copyright © 2004 - 2016 Watch Online For Free or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Imagery, artwork, logos, service marks, and trademarks used on this page are the intellectual property of their respective companies.

Related Websites: Prime Free Trial - DVD Rental Free Trial - Free Prime Video Trial - Movie Trailers