VividSimon Simply Perfect

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

HotToastyRag If you're a Tennessee Williams fan, you probably know a little bit about his personal life. Tennessee's sister was mentally ill and underwent a lobotomy in the 1940s. The procedure's aftermath was devastating, and she was institutionalized for the remainder of her life. Knowing this, and knowing the persona of his overbearing mother, it's easy to see Suddenly, Last Summer as a partially autobiographical work, as were most of his plays. In this story, a strong, domineering mother tries to convince a young doctor to perform a lobotomy on her unstable niece.Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift became lifelong friends in real life after their pairing in A Place in the Sun, and not only do audiences see them reunited for a third time in this film, but it's interesting and entertaining to see the reversed dynamic. Before, Monty was striving for the upper-class Liz, and in this one, he's the classy doctor she keeps trying to shock and flirt with. They both give excellent, Tennessee Williams-esque performances; it sometimes seems like Monty was born to act in his plays.Katharine Hepburn plays the mother. She was known for her forceful characterizations in her later years, and when you watch Suddenly, Last Summer, it's easy to see why. Kate and Liz were pinned against each other in the Best Actress category during the 1960 Oscar ceremony, but neither one took home the gold. The following year, Liz won a make-up Oscar for BUtterfield 8, so if you watch this movie and think she was robbed, you can relax knowing she was honored for her next film.

ppilf I recommend that you don't read this review if you haven't seen this film, but intend to. This film is all about suspense that builds to a shocking end. It is usually classified as a mystery, but could almost rank as horror."Suddenly, Last Summer" is an excellent film made by talented movie professionals, and it deserved all the accolades and awards for which it was nominated and won. However, I'm always surprised by some people who attempt to gloss over, or even deny, the extremely harsh subject matter of its story. Plain and simple, the story is based on a wealthy man who was secretly a homosexual child molester – an intense subject for 1950s movies. This man also possessed a lurid charm, and was loved and respected by family and community. The man spent much of his life traveling extensively overseas, secretly using his inherited wealth to lure young poor foreign boys into sex, until one summer his criminal escapades came crashing down in a bizarre dramatic and gory end that resulted in his death. The movie starts at the point of his death, and this post plot is perhaps most shocking of all: his wealthy mother (played by Katharine Hepburn) had actually assisted him in his past crimes, and after his death she takes extreme felonious measures in a desperate attempt to bury her son's dark secret.Playing the villain in a movie was a departure for Hepburn, but she performed it with her usual perfection, as proved by both her and Taylor's nominations for best actress.Even today this would be a gritty subject for a movie; so it must have been really taboo in the 1950s. It is my understanding that even Tennessee Williams (author of the original play) was not happy that it was made into a movie. I don't think a movie like this could easily be made today, and be as successful. It is certainly not for children, although they'd probably watch it without understanding its full implications. But I don't like adults who try to hide this movie's subject matter, and pretend it's about psychiatry, because it's not.This film also exemplified the social activism of Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn, both women ahead of their time, both considered this film important in dealing with unpleasant truths, something neither woman shrank away from during their careers. Both women were also expressly angry with director Joseph Mankiewicz's ill treatment of actor Montgomery Clift during the filming of this movie. Clift was going through a tough time, having recently suffered his infamous car accident. I think Clift cast as Dr. John Cukrowicz was one of the key elements to this film's success.

smatysia Another Tennessee Williams drama, rich with conflict and symbolism. I'll not offer a plot synopsis, as many previous commentators have done so, far better than I could. There were exceptional performances, as one would expect, from Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn. A more pedestrian performance from Montgomery Clift, and an interesting Albert Dekker playing a bit against type. The events begin with revelations of Hepburn's Violet Venable and her creepily inappropriate relationship with her adult son, a "poet". While almost certainly not actually incestuous, it was weird and icky. It turns out that the son was gay, a not really open concept in 1937, or 1959 for that matter. There appears to be a lot of Freudian symbolism, which was much in vogue at the time, and I recommend reading the comments on the message board for a lot of thoughts on that. But the film, while having a fair amount of monologues, as adaptations from theater often do, is still an intense psychological drama.

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.