Suddenly, Last Summer
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Movie Reviews of Suddenly, Last Summer
Movie Review: Beauty Is only About This Deep!
Summary: 4 Stars
Suddenly, Last Summer never truly bounces on its intentional theme of homosexuality but I never think it wants to. The year was 1960 and for many years the theme has been hinted at and even discussed in previous films but in "Suddnely last Summer" the intent is to destroy it. "Suddenly..." uses ever device it can to drive home its point of what exactly is derived from the nature of attraction and for after all its beauty and is the focus of the film. The two main players in the cast are striking Taylor and Clift are there in all their opulent splendor. Taylor becoming more and more frayed within the walls of an asylum and Clift a brain surgeon hired by Hepburn to clear her mind of her son's untimely death. The last half hour of the film is a wallop! A visual rush is an understatement, its something David Lynch would envy. Shadows, laughter and an eerie score add an element of unnerving ease to the destuctive action on screen. Death, seuality and even confrontation has never been handled in such a manner. A very well acted and conceived visual gem. Any film that features Hepburn descending for her entrance seated in an elevator that resembles a tiger cage-you know you're in for a treat.Movie Review: Overcooked Potboiler
Summary: 4 Stars
I love the Production Code days where verboten themes could be tackled but not explicitly addressed. This film has it all: incest, homosexuality, mental illness, and cannibalism. You don't have to read to deeply into the film to see these elements. Too bad the film doesn't resonate more. Despite all of these sensational elements that are indeed provocative they don't add up to much. I was also offended by the way the film exploits the mentally handicapped. What redeems this film are the fantastic lead performances. Katharine Hepburn, looking like the inspiration of Cruella DeVille, effectively chews the scenery as the heiress who has a creepy relationship with her late son and wants to lobotomize her niece who witnessed the son's death. Elizabeth Taylor, at the peak of her beauty, effectively goes toe-to-toe with Hepburn as the niece who may or may not be insane. Taylor doesn't overplay the mental illness angle and capures the right tone for the traumatized character. Montgomery Clift, as a psychiatrist sympathetic to Taylor, gives the film balance in his stoic efforts to uncover what happened that summer.Movie Review: Don't wish for this kind of summer vacation!
Summary: 4 Stars
Suddenly, Last Summer starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Katherine Hepburn was quite a provactive film for 1959. Themes of homosexuality, cannibalism, and implied incest makes this film interesting right up 'til the very end. You won't believe the shocking truth about the unseen and unheard Sebastian. Catherine (Taylor) and Sebastian were cousins, during a summer vacation, something horrific happened to Sebastian, and it traumatizes poor Catherine into a mental hospital. Catherine's aunt, Mrs. Venable (Hepburn) wants her lobotimzed, she is so desperate to hide the truth about her son, she'll do anything not to let her son's private life come out. Fascinating performance from Hepburn and while Clift is great to look at, his performance suffers due to the fact he was relying heavy on pills and booze to help through the shoot (he was in a car crash three years prior to filming this movie, he was in a lot of physical pain). Anyway, you'll either love or loathe this film but it's defintely gonna leave you shocked in your seat. Enjoy!Movie Review: Not Your Run-Of-The-Mill
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this film more valuable as an exploration of 1930s science and social mores than as entertainment. Cathy Holly (Elizabeth Taylor) is a traumatized girl whom everyone has a stake in shutting up--everyone, that is, except the doctor slated to perform an obviously inappropriate lobotomy upon her (Monty Clift). Elizabeth Taylor delivers a strong if sometimes overwrought performance as Cathy. Katherine Hepburn gives a textured performance as the eponymously named Mrs. Venable, Cathy's venerable, manipulative, and delusional aunt. Mercedes McCambridge is appropriately annoying as Cathy's ignoramus of a mother. Clift can't quite overcome the inherent limitations of his character, whose main purpose seems to be to serve as a foil for the others.
The poetic style of Williams' original play is preserved in the lines of Mrs. Venable, which makes Hepburn's scenes especially fun: Mrs. Venable could almost be an aging Blanche Dubois. This alone makes the film worth checking out.
Movie Review: That Tennessee Williams...
Summary: 4 Stars
I just LOVE the words and poetry of Mr Williams. This is no exception and the talents of Taylor, Clift and Hepburn make this a Hollywood-3-star-treat:-)
It`s rather sad however that it is obvious that Monty`s mental health was declining(after the car-crash during the filming of Raintree County with Taylor some years before) - it is quite apparent who REALLY was the sick person here.
Marilyn Monroe sadly observed that during the filming of The Misfits, that Montgomery Clift was the only person in the business who was more shaky than she was...
Taylor and Hepburn are letter-perfect, but their performances cannot be regarded as a success because of their overplaying; Their strain show in handling embaressing lines "necassary" because of the censorship at the time it was shot.
This is a haunting film nevertheless, do see it and forgive the last 5-10 minutes of dialogue.