IMDb plot summary: A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, and Albert Dekker.
This film definitely FEELS like a play, not necessarily a negative for me, but there are long monologues where characters describe more dramatic scenes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The crowning jewel here is Hepburn, who dominates the first and final thirds of the film and radiates icy possessiveness - the way she speaks of her deceased son seems cloying at first and then downright ominous the more the story plays out. The cinematography is dramatic but usually effective. Once Elizabeth Taylor as the niece enters the picture, I found myself less interested - she's not nearly as captivating, and her big descriptive monologue at the film's climax is one of the ones that doesn't work, sadly. It's very Tennessee Williams and very theatrical, but it definitely has its moments and is probably worth checking out.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Suddenly, Last Summer > 12 Monkeys
Suddenly, Last Summer < Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
Suddenly, Last Summer < Sleeping Beauty
Suddenly, Last Summer > Three Colors: Red
Suddenly, Last Summer > Children of Paradise
Suddenly, Last Summer > The Theory of Everything
Suddenly, Last Summer > Mother Night
Suddenly, Last Summer < Young Frankenstein
Suddenly, Last Summer > Ben-Hur
Suddenly, Last Summer < The Return of Captain Invincible
Suddenly, Last Summer < The Big Chill
Suddenly, Last Summer > Chaos Theory
Final spot: #1224 out of 3220, or 62%.
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