Suddenly, Last Summer (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
'Suddenly, Last Summer', a lurid adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play & directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, introduces us to Dr. John Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift) as a brilliant Chicago neurosurgeon who is upset by the poor operating conditions at the New Orleans asylum where he now works. Wealthy & domineering society matron Violet Venable (Katherine Hepburn) offers a solution for him in the form of a $1,000,000 grant ... as long as he will treat and lobotomize her beautiful, but troubled niece, Catherine (Elizabeth Taylor). For various reasons, Mrs. Venable uses her wealth & power to persecute Catherine; who has been institutionalized as a madwoman since ranting about the peculiar death of Violet's beloved son, Sebastian, while they were vacationing the previous summer.
The lobotomy would excise Catherine's memory of the incident. See, the last thing Mrs. Venable wants is her son's reputation to be tarnished by the scandalous ravings of a madwoman. As Dr. Cukrowicz tries to get to the bottom of what has happened to Catherine, Violet's steely demeanor & creepily obsessive devotion to her deceased son Sebastian presents a huge barrier. Catherine herself doesn't offer much help; as her checkered recollections of Sebastian's mysterious demise are warped by medications & the trauma of the event. Under immense pressure to seal the deal with Violet and lobotomize Catherine, Cukrowicz's principles (as well as his growing attraction to his beautiful patient) prevent him from following through until he uncovers what actually happened to Sebastian last summer.
The mystery of what happened to Sebastian (his mother swears it was a heart attack) is revealed in the film's climactic scene, where a tormented Catherine (injected with truth serum) describes the bizarre death of her flamboyant cousin Sebastian. SPOILER ALERT: while traveling with him in Spain that ill-fated summer, he used her beauty - as he also used his mother, until she got too old - as bait to attract/lure young boys {ew}. The boys turned on Sebastian & he was murdered. She describes how she watched his body being ravaged & eaten(!) by angry boys at the coastal resort. She exclaims, "He -- he was lying naked on the broken stones ... and this you won't believe! Nobody, nobody, nobody could believe it! It looked as if -- as if they had devoured him; as if they'd torn or cut parts of him away with their hands, or with knives, or those jagged tin cans they made music with. As if they'd torn bits of him away in strips!!!". END SPOILER.
This is one heck of a movie; with plot points detailing homosexuality, pedophilia, cannibalism, & perhaps incest. How many films incorporate all of that and still be intelligently rendered? Right from the get-go, I was reeled in by the florid dialogue coming from Katherine Hepburn. Her entrance, descending in a private elevator into her exotic garden, is unforgettable. Few actresses have Hepburn's presence/command; I hung on her every word. She becomes this eccentric, somewhat demented woman who loved her son, perhaps, too much. In the final scene, once she understands the 'manner' of Sebastian's death, you realize how much regret & confusion she had to stifle since his passing. And Elizabeth Taylor floored me. Not only is she gorgeous (with an iconic beach scene, to boot), but I was riveted every time she launched into one of her heartbreaking dialogues. Whether she was truly mad or not, it was hard to watch her accept her madness in many scenes.
'Suddenly, Last Summer' has a bonkers plot, but some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on were nearly as bonkers. Montgomery Clift was still recovering from a horrific car accident (reconstructive surgeries, heavy meds, drinking) & was apparently loathed by the film's director. Clift's friend Liz Taylor was abhorred at Mankiewicz's behavior towards him. And Hepburn, also disgusted by the behavior, promptly spat on the director after the film wrapped. All of this aided the film's huge box office success. The controversies, fascinating subject matter, powerful acting, & Liz Taylor brought in crowds. The film made waves back in 1959 and, I have to say, after seeing it now in 2013 ... it still packs a wallop. I couldn't believe what I was watching.
The lobotomy would excise Catherine's memory of the incident. See, the last thing Mrs. Venable wants is her son's reputation to be tarnished by the scandalous ravings of a madwoman. As Dr. Cukrowicz tries to get to the bottom of what has happened to Catherine, Violet's steely demeanor & creepily obsessive devotion to her deceased son Sebastian presents a huge barrier. Catherine herself doesn't offer much help; as her checkered recollections of Sebastian's mysterious demise are warped by medications & the trauma of the event. Under immense pressure to seal the deal with Violet and lobotomize Catherine, Cukrowicz's principles (as well as his growing attraction to his beautiful patient) prevent him from following through until he uncovers what actually happened to Sebastian last summer.
The mystery of what happened to Sebastian (his mother swears it was a heart attack) is revealed in the film's climactic scene, where a tormented Catherine (injected with truth serum) describes the bizarre death of her flamboyant cousin Sebastian. SPOILER ALERT: while traveling with him in Spain that ill-fated summer, he used her beauty - as he also used his mother, until she got too old - as bait to attract/lure young boys {ew}. The boys turned on Sebastian & he was murdered. She describes how she watched his body being ravaged & eaten(!) by angry boys at the coastal resort. She exclaims, "He -- he was lying naked on the broken stones ... and this you won't believe! Nobody, nobody, nobody could believe it! It looked as if -- as if they had devoured him; as if they'd torn or cut parts of him away with their hands, or with knives, or those jagged tin cans they made music with. As if they'd torn bits of him away in strips!!!". END SPOILER.
This is one heck of a movie; with plot points detailing homosexuality, pedophilia, cannibalism, & perhaps incest. How many films incorporate all of that and still be intelligently rendered? Right from the get-go, I was reeled in by the florid dialogue coming from Katherine Hepburn. Her entrance, descending in a private elevator into her exotic garden, is unforgettable. Few actresses have Hepburn's presence/command; I hung on her every word. She becomes this eccentric, somewhat demented woman who loved her son, perhaps, too much. In the final scene, once she understands the 'manner' of Sebastian's death, you realize how much regret & confusion she had to stifle since his passing. And Elizabeth Taylor floored me. Not only is she gorgeous (with an iconic beach scene, to boot), but I was riveted every time she launched into one of her heartbreaking dialogues. Whether she was truly mad or not, it was hard to watch her accept her madness in many scenes.
'Suddenly, Last Summer' has a bonkers plot, but some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on were nearly as bonkers. Montgomery Clift was still recovering from a horrific car accident (reconstructive surgeries, heavy meds, drinking) & was apparently loathed by the film's director. Clift's friend Liz Taylor was abhorred at Mankiewicz's behavior towards him. And Hepburn, also disgusted by the behavior, promptly spat on the director after the film wrapped. All of this aided the film's huge box office success. The controversies, fascinating subject matter, powerful acting, & Liz Taylor brought in crowds. The film made waves back in 1959 and, I have to say, after seeing it now in 2013 ... it still packs a wallop. I couldn't believe what I was watching.