frankwiener
In spite of its several flaws, this film succeeds overall, thanks to the performances of Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn and the extravagant yet robust script of Gore Vidal. Credit also goes to Tennessee Williams for his formidable, original play, the black and white set direction that justifiably won an Oscar, and the haunting, impressive score by Malcolm Arnold, who withdrew from the project before its finalization.Only a few days prior to this writing, I read excerpts from a very nasty interview by Kathleen Turner that trashed almost everyone with whom she ever worked and some people with whom she never did, including Elizabeth Taylor. It just so happens that Turner ripped Taylor for at least two of her very best performances, including her Oscar winning "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and her high-powered portrayal of "Maggie the Cat" in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", which like this production was based on a Tennessee Williams play. All I can say in response is, "Ms. Turner, I know Elizabeth Taylor, and you are no Elizabeth Taylor!" As much as I enjoyed several of Ms. Turner's films, after reading this disturbing, even mean, interview I'm not sure if I ever care to see any of them again. If Turner didn't approve of Taylor's voice, did she ever actually listen to her own?While there are many Elizabeth Taylor films that I didn't like, when she was given the chance to act with decent material, Taylor could truly deliver. For me, she began to peak at "A Place in the Sun", another very memorable pairing with her good friend, Montgomery Clift, and then reached her pinnacle with the two Williams sourced films and as Martha, the vulgar, loud-mouthed daughter of a college president in "Virginia Woolf". Beyond her outstanding performances, she was physically radiant in the first three. Aside from her established acting ability and her splendid looks, I always admired her for being devoted to her Hollywood friends, many of them troubled like Clift, and for her unselfish dedication in healing the pain of the afflicted, including AIDS victims. Beginning with her years as a child star, perhaps she endured much of her own suffering, both emotionally and physically, in order to empathize so deeply with the intense pain of others, both on and off the screen.I won't dwell on the flaws, but I often felt as though I were thrust into the world of 1959 rather than 1937, especially regarding Taylor's wardrobe and general appearance. Apparently, the execs decided that dressing Taylor for 1959 rather than 1937, especially those swimsuits, had more sex appeal. I am even old enough to remember those floral swimcaps of the late 50's, which served as an amusing, momentary time lapse. I also had to laugh when Dr. Cukrowicz (Clift) is caught passionately kissing his patient (Taylor) by his boss (Albert Dekker), who doesn't even miss a step or bat an eyelash as he is totally preoccupied with the promise of a fat contribution from Violet Venable (Katherine Hepburn) to his rotten, failing hospital. Most of the time, I felt that it was the neurosurgeon who belonged on the operating table even more than his patients. I suppose that was playright Williams' intent. Even with its dark themes of family dysfunction, sexual obsession, incest, serious mental illness, institutionalized corruption, and , lo and behold, cannibalism the lead performances and the lush, effusive, and powerful script must be seen to be appreciated.
Mark Turner
It's sad to think that for most people the name Elizabeth Taylor draws up images of an overweight overly made up jewelry bedecked fading actress known more for her long time involvement with Richard Burton or that she was friends with Michael Jackson. Taylor was so much more than that. Tabloids seem to rule though so the rest is forgotten. Ignored is the fact she began as a child actress, that she moved on to leading lady roles in some classic films and that she displayed a great acting prowess in movies like WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFE actually winning for that performance and that she was nominated 5 times winning twice. It's easy to see why she would be nominated when watching this film.The story opens in a New Orleans mental hospital trying to stay afloat and seeking funding. Their star attraction is a young psycho-surgical doctor named Dr. John Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift). Using new techniques he's doing all he can for his patients, never rushing to use the methods he masters but trying to find other solutions when possible.John is sent by hospital administrator Dr. Hockstader (Albert Dekker) to talk to wealthy Violet Venerable (Katherine Hepburn) about her niece Catherine Holly (Taylor). Catherine was there with Violet's son Sebastian when he died and has since told a tale that Violet claims is mere babbling. She claims to want to help Catherine but in truth she wants her lobotomized in hopes of silencing her.John doesn't just randomly do the procedure though, instead trying to help his patients. Meeting with Catherine he hears her story and realizes that something is hidden in the deepest recesses of her mind that won't come out and help her heal. His job remains throughout the film to help Catherine find out what it is that is causing her such mental trauma and at the same time why this news would cause Violet to want him to perform such an operation on the girl.Based on the play by Tennessee Williams with a screenplay by Gore Vidal, the story is filled with references to a most controversial topics at the time, homosexuality. The inferences are there from the start so it shouldn't be a spoiler to realize that Sebastian had something to hide that his domineering mother is unwilling to discuss or contemplate all the while knowing the truth. Catherine is a naïve character here never realizing quite what Sebastian is. It is her innocence and the determination of Violet to protect her own mental illusions that makes up the drama in the film.The movie takes its time to unravel the story it tells and does so with skill. The performances on display show actors at the top of their game though much has been said about the problems faced by Clift while shooting. Having suffered an injury in a car wreck he was dependent on drugs and alcohol and was trying to get over that dependency. It was Taylor, the top box office star at the time, who wielded her power of popularity to force the studio to hire Clift, one of the many displays of compassion she showed people during her lifetime.Both Hepburn and Taylor were nominated for their performances but both lost. The film was a financial hit at the time but now seems unknown to most. Offering a solid story that's sad and hopefully it will be rediscovered on disc.Twilight Time has done a great job of presenting this film in the most beautiful way imaginable. While a black and white film their handling of the presentation here offers the most crisp and clean looking copy I've ever seen, a 1080p hi def edition. Extras are limited to an isolated music and effects track and the original trailer. As always the disc is limited to just 3,000 copies so if interested by one today.
Paris55
The trivia sections list one of 4 films to receive two Academy Awards nominations. Actually, it is one of only five films to receive two Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. In this instance, Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor were so nominated. The other four films were All About Eve (1950) for which Anne Baxter and Bette Davis were nominated, Terms of Endearment (1983) for which Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger were nominated, Thelma & Louise (1991) for which Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were nominated and The Turning Point (1977) for which Anne Bancroft and again Shirley MacLaine were nominated. Of the actresses in question, Anne Bancroft had already won an Academy Award for The Miracle Worker (1962) and Shirley MacLaine won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment.
TxMike
I have been watching movies since the early 1950s, and the title "Suddenly, Last Summer" has bounced around my brain a number of times, but until I watched it yesterday on the "Movies!" channel I had no idea what it was all about or who was in it. It is set in 1937 New Orleans for some reason, but nothing of that city is shown and it was likely filmed in a studio somewhere. As it begins we learn that a young doctor has perfected the technique of performing partial brain lobotomies as a way to calm otherwise crazy people, where conventional treatments do not work.Now along comes a rich older woman who wants to hire the doctor to do the procedure on her 20-something niece, she is convinced that the young woman desperately needs this. Remarkably the girl's mother seems anxious to go along with it, perhaps because of the large sum of money she stands to gain.All of this very distasteful because as soon as we meet the young woman, as the doctor also discovers quickly, there really isn't anything wrong with her. So what is this "lobotomy" all about? That is the real mystery here. Elizabeth Taylor, looking beautiful in her mid-20s, is the young woman Catherine Holly. Her rich aunt is Katharine Hepburn as Mrs. Violet Venable. The young doctor is Montgomery Clift as Dr. Cukrowicz. Even though I was already familiar with all the actors, I had not seen much of their work in movies. It was a pleasure to see all three of them. The acting is fine but some of the 1950s melodrama gets a bit much, especially when the characters are talking in circles while carefully avoiding discussing the actual issue at hand. SPOILERS: Ms Venable just wanted to shut Katherine up to protect her poet son Sebastian who died "suddenly, last summer", while on a trip to Spain with Katherine. The official cause was heart attack, but when pressed to remember we see a reenactment, Sebastian was a homosexual and his mother didn't want that to be generally known. He would spend his time at the beach attracting young men and in a strange finish to his life he was chased and then the young men tore at his flesh.
