I had heard of the film Suddenly, Last Summer before, but it wasn't until the movie poster at my work sparked my interest, that I learned what this film was about. The picture of Elizabeth Taylor in the white swimsuit are famous, and are everywhere on the web, but they don't really get you excited to see the film.
It was just a few days ago, after seeing the movie poster that I looked the film up on IMDB to read reviews and watch the trailer. Well... I was hooked. I needed to get this film and it would have taken too long to get it from Netflix because I have a film at home already, so I went in search of buying the DVD. Thank goodness, Barnes and Noble had the movie and on top of that... it was only $9.99. It isn't often they have a movie in store I am looking for specifically.
A Classic Hollywood film about murder, homosexuality, lobotomy, pedophilia, incest, greed... count me in. I know that sounds sick, but I am always up for a movie with a juicy plot. I have also only seen Taylor, Hepburn, and Clift in one... maybe two other movies, so I was glad to see them in dramatic roles like this.
The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth. ~ IMDB
I was not expecting to enjoy this movie as much as I did. You definitely have to be paying attention to the dialogue or you will miss the lines you are supposed to be reading between. Elizabeth Taylor's betrayl of Catherine, a girl who witnessed a gruesome murder who is accused of being insane, was spot on. I found her so believable and her acting was superb. It really has me wanting to see more of her other films. Monty and Katherine left me a little cold. While they both are wonderful actors, I wanted to feel for them much more. Hepburn's grating tone in this film was a little distracting for me, especially in the scene where she is talking with the doctor in her son's garden. With those things said, I would watch this movie 100 more times.
If you are a fan of any of these actors or just want a dramatic, riveting film to watch... you have to check this one out!
As a side note, after seeing this film and how Liz's white swimsuit was such a large part of the publicity, but such a small part of the actual film, I have a new idea for a future post here on Blame Mame.
To learn more about Suddenly, Last Summer, visit IMDB.
I am a huge Monty Clift fan, and this is one of only 2 films of his that I haven't seen. I had hoped TCM would air it on their Monty Clift day last Saturday, but they didn't. I can get it at my local library...just haven't done that yet.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't ever seen Clift and Taylor in A Place in the Sun, put that on your must-see list. It's about my 3rd (maybe 4th)favorite movie of all-time. The chemistry between them is fabulous!!
I enjoyed this film as well. I definitely wished my first time watching it I would have paid a bit more attention to pick up on the secrets of this film.
ReplyDeleteTaylor played a great role.. really made me feel as though I was in her shoes - which I couldn't imagine..
I've only seen this film once, but being huge fans of both Hepburn and Clift, I really enjoyed it. I don't care much for Liz Taylor, but her performance is great.
ReplyDeleteI also second the A Place In the Sun recommendation- one of my favorites.
Like some of the people here, I'm also a fan of the three actors and I've seen this film one time. I'm gonna watch it again, as I feel I might have missed on some of its subtext.
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