Suddenly, Last Summer (film) - Wikipedia. Suddenly, Last Summer is a 1. American Southern Gothicmystery film based on the play of the same title by Tennessee Williams. The film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Sam Spiegel from a screenplay by Gore Vidal (though Williams was officially given credit) with cinematography by Jack Hildyard and production design by Oliver Messel. The musical score was composed by Buxton Orr using themes by Malcolm Arnold. The plot centers on a young woman who, at the insistence of her wealthy New Orleans aunt, is being evaluated by a psychiatric doctor to receive a lobotomy after witnessing the death of her cousin, Sebastian Venable, while traveling with him in Spain the previous summer. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, and Montgomery Clift with Albert Dekker, Mercedes Mc. Cambridge, and Gary Raymond. New Orleans, 1. 93. Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor) is a young woman institutionalized for a severe emotional disturbance that occurred when her cousin, Sebastian Venable, died under questionable circumstances while they were on summer holiday in Europe. The late Sebastian's wealthy mother, Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn), makes every effort to deny and suppress the potentially sordid truth about her son and his demise. Toward that end, she attempts to bribe the state hospital's administrator, Dr. Hockstader (Albert Dekker), by offering to finance a new wing for the underfunded facility if he will coerce his brilliant young surgeon, Dr. John Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift), into lobotomizing her niece, thereby removing any chance that the events surrounding her son's death might be revealed by Catherine's . Venable meets with Dr. Cukrowicz in the primordial garden (. Venable describes him as a poet whose art was his sole occupation . Cukrowicz agrees to visit Catherine and begin his evaluation. Catherine has been confined to a private women's mental institution since returning from Europe several months earlier. When Cukrowicz interviews her, she struggles to recall the specific events that led to Sebastian's death and her subsequent breakdown, but expresses a sincere desire to do so. Beginning to doubt that she has lost her mind, Cukrowicz decides to move Catherine into the state hospital for continued observation. Catherine's mother, Grace (Mercedes Mc. Cambridge), and brother, George (Gary Raymond), pay her a visit there and reveal that Sebastian has left them a considerable sum of money. Venable will not give them the inheritance unless they sign papers to commit Catherine to the institution and allow a lobotomy to be performed. Alarmed by this prospect, Catherine tries to escape. Title Screen : Film Genre(s), Title, Year, (Country), Length, Director, Description : Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), 115 minutes, D: Blake. She accidentally wanders onto a catwalk suspended over the men's recreational area. With the door at the other end of the catwalk locked, she is forced to fight her way back past the men who are trying to climb up onto the catwalk and grope her, and returns to her room in defeat. Later, Mrs. Venable drops by to check on the status of Cukrowicz's evaluation. The doctor persuades her to meet Catherine face to face. In the ensuing confrontation, Catherine tries to get her aunt to reveal the true nature of her relationship with Sebastian and the reason why she was left behind and Catherine chosen to take her place as his traveling companion, vaguely hinting that Sebastian used them as . Venable responds to these allegations by fainting. Using this opportunity to slip away, Catherine finds another catwalk that runs above a room filled with women. She climbs the railing and leans out precipitously, considering the jump, but before she can release her hold, an orderly (David Cameron), comes up behind her, drags her back to her room, and sedates her. In a last- ditch effort to help Catherine, Cukrowicz brings her to the Venable estate where he administers a truth serum that will allow her to overcome any resistance to remembering what happened that summer. Before an audience consisting of her aunt, mother and brother, Miss Foxhill (Mavis Villiers), Dr. Hockstader, and Nurse Benson (Patricia Marmont), all of whom have gathered on the patio in the jungle- like garden, Cukrowicz begins questioning Catherine. She recalls how she and Sebastian spent their days on the beach in the Spanish town of Cabeza de Lobo. On one occasion, he drags her reluctantly into the water, causing the fabric of her white bathing suit to become transparent. A group of young men who had been watching her from the neighboring public beach start to approach but are intercepted by Sebastian. Catherine comes to realize that he is using her to attract these boys in order to proposition them for sex. Since the boys are desperate for money, Sebastian is successful in his efforts; however, he gradually becomes . The Parent Trap (1961) was Hayley Mills' second of many films with Walt Disney. To date, it remains Mills' most popular Disney film. Having spawned two low-profile.One scorching white- hot day, Sebastian and Catherine are beset by a team of boys begging for money. When Sebastian rejects them, they take up pursuit through the streets of the town. Sebastian attempts to flee, but the boys swarm around him at every turn. He is finally cornered among the ruins of a temple on a hilltop. In the meantime, Catherine has been frantically trying to catch up with Sebastian, but she reaches him only to see him overwhelmed by the boys. To her horror and revulsion, they begin to tear him apart and eat his flesh. She screams for help, to no avail. At this point in telling her astonishing account of Sebastian's demise, Catherine has collapsed upon the ground, sobbing. Her mind undone by the shock of hearing Catherine's tale, Mrs. Venable closes Sebastian's last book of poems, the pages of which are blank, then slowly rises from her seat and takes Cukrowicz's arm. Venable is led away and Cukrowicz returns to check on Catherine, who has recovered. They both walk into the house together. Production. The work was adapted for the screen by Gore Vidal; though Williams also received credit, he would later say that he had nothing to do with the film. Vidal attempted to construct the narrative as a small number of very long scenes, echoing the structure of the play. Following A Streetcar Named Desire (1. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1. Suddenly, Last Summer was the third of Williams' plays to be adapted for the screen that dealt with the subject of homosexuality, although it was far more explicit in its treatment than either of the previous films were allowed to be under the Motion Picture Production Code. Working in conjunction with the National Legion of Decency, the Production Code Administration gave the filmmakers special dispensation to depict Sebastian Venable, declaring, . Williams asserted that no actor could convincingly portray Sebastian and that his absence from the screen would only make his presence more strongly felt. Elizabeth Taylor selected Suddenly, Last Summer as her first project after having recently ended her contractual commitment to Metro- Goldwyn- Mayer. At the time, she was the biggest box office draw in Hollywood, and she used that power to insist that Montgomery Clift be hired for the film. As a result of a May 1. Taylor and her then- husband Michael Wilding, Clift had become heavily dependent on drugs and alcohol. When he was unable to find a doctor willing to attest to his insurability, producer Sam Spiegel approved his casting and went ahead with filming anyway. Clift found the long scenes exhausting and had to have his longest scene shot in multiple takes, one or two lines at a time. His shaky performance led director Joseph Mankiewicz to ask Spiegel several times to replace the actor. Most of the crew were sympathetic toward Clift, but Katharine Hepburn was especially resentful of the poor treatment to which Mankiewicz subjected him. Indeed, Hepburn found Mankiewicz's conduct so unforgivable that as soon as he called the final . Sources differ as to whether she also spat in Sam Spiegel's face. Problems beset the film's musical score, as well. Malcolm Arnold was originally retained to work on it, but he apparently found certain aspects of the story so disturbing that he withdrew from the project after composing only the main themes. Buxton Orr was brought in to complete the score. Taylor, following her final monologue wherein she describes Sebastian's murder, burst into tears and could not be consoled: using method acting techniques, she had tapped into her grief over the 1. Mike Todd. Production on Suddenly, Last Summer took place between May and September 1. Interior scenes were shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England. Despite being credited for the screenplay, Tennessee Williams denied having any part in writing it. He thought Elizabeth Taylor was miscast as Catherine, telling Life magazine in 1. The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction for Oliver Messel, William Kellner, and Scott Slimon. Taylor and Hepburn were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress . Montgomery Clift: A Biography. Jefferson, NC: Mc. Farland Press. ISBN 9. Retrieved July 1. Katharine Hepburn: A Remarkable Woman. New York City, NY: St. ISBN 9. 78- 0- 3. The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films. New York City, NY: Citadel Press. ISBN 9. 78- 0- 8. The Life and Music of Sir Malcolm Arnold: The Brilliant and the Dark. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9. 78- 1- 8. Monty: A Biography of Montgomery Clift. New York City, NY: Avon Books. ISBN 9. 78- 0- 3. The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies (Rev. New York City, NY: Harper. Collins. ISBN 9. 78- 0- 0. Retrieved July 1. Sommer und Rauch (1. IMDb. Set earlier in the 2. Century, it's the story of repressed passion, unrequited love and desperation. Geraldine Page stars as Alma Winemiller, the uptight daughter of a minister. She teaches voice, sings a little, and lives with her father and an insane mother (Una Merkel). Alma, since childhood, has been in love with the young doctor next door, John Buchanan (Laurence Harvey), the son of a doctor and a playboy. Buchanan has recently returned to town and is still a reckless playboy. Now he's involved with Rosa Zacharias (Rita Moreno), a girl from the wrong class and the wrong side of town. On the evening that something could have happened between Alma and John, she runs from him. One night, while a wild party is going on at the Buchanan house, Alma goes next door and learns that Rosa and John are going to be married. Upset, she calls John's father (John Mac. Intyre) at the hospital and urges him to return home. The result is tragedy. This is a very powerful and poignant story of two people, one interested in earthly pleasures and one focused on the soul and spirit. Neither one is entirely right or wrong, but it creates a chasm between them. When each realizes what the other has been saying, it's too late for them. Geraldine Page, who played this role to great acclaim on stage, brings her magnificent portrayal to the screen. The role was based on Williams' sister, who eventually went insane. If physically Page is a little less delicate looking than one imagines Tennessee Williams' female characters, her portrayal contains all of the fragility of the role. The final scene between Alma and a salesman, played by Earl Holliman shows the shocking contrast between Alma in the beginning and at the end of the film. Geraldine Page gave us all too few gems on films, as she concentrated on the stage. We have to savor what we have. Laurence Harvey is very handsome and desirable, but probably a little too refined for the role of John. The role needs someone whose sexuality is less ethereal and more earthbound. Una Merkel is excellent as Alma's mother, a truly disturbed and frightening woman. Very good film based on a Williams play, worth seeing for the wonderful Geraldine Page and its thought- provoking story.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2016
Categories |