moonspinner55 Review of Suddenly, Last Summer

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

Mercurial cast and handling should have resulted in a more gripping melodrama

[6/10 · 29 September 2005]

Wicked Katharine Hepburn tries preventing her hysterical niece (Elizabeth Taylor) from telling the grisly details about her son's bizarre demise; she hopes to have the girl lobotomized, but a sympathetic doctor would rather hear the truth. Tennessee Williams' play was watered down by Hollywood, but even still it isn't one of the great playwright's better works. Taylor is gorgeously photographed and works hard at her "revelation" sequence, but screenwriter Gore Vidal has her covering the same territory again and again, constantly repeating the film's ungainly title. It's a kick to see La Liz matching tics with Katharine Hepburn, regal and eccentric and vulgarly decadent, but poor Montgomery Clift is out of it as the doctor who intercedes. Picture has a very handsome production design, some good and/or interesting bits, and enough curiosity value to keep one watching. But considering these high-powered talents, it should have certainly been stronger. **1/2 from ****