Review of Suddenly Last Summer (2012) by Ashley H — 20 May 2007

Wicked, uptight Katharine Hepburn tries preventing her hysterical niece (Elizabeth Taylor) from telling grisly details about her son's bizarre demise; she hopes to have the girl institutionalized, but sympathetic doctor would rather hear the truth.

Tennessee Wiliams' play was watered down by Hollywood, but still it isn't one of Williams' better works. Taylor is gorgeously photographed and works hard at her "revelation" sequence, but screenwriter Gore Vidal has her covering the same territory again, constantly repeating 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 handsome production design, some good and/or interesting bits, and enough curiosity value to keep one watching.

But considering these mercurial talents, it should've been a whole lot better.