Suddenly, Last Summer (film)

Suddenly, Last Summer is a 1959 American Southern Gothic mystery 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 and Williams. The music score was by Buxton Orr using themes by Malcolm Arnold and the cinematography by Jack Hildyard. The production was designed by Oliver Messel.

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 McCambridge, and Gary Raymond.

Plot

A title card at the start of the film sets the story in the year 1937.

The film tells the story of Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor), a young woman institutionalized for a severe emotional disturbance that came about when her cousin, Sebastian Venable, died under questionable circumstances while they were on 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 this 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 – in Sebastian's name – 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 "obscene babbling".

Mrs. Venable meets with Dr. Cukrowicz in the primordial garden ("like the dawn of creation") at her estate to discuss her niece's case, and their conversation eventually turns to Sebastian. Mrs. Venable describes him as a poet whose art was his sole occupation – even though he only wrote a single poem each year during the summer months and never published his work – and recounts her own previous vacations with him. She tells of one particular voyage to the Encantadas where her son forced her to witness the horrific sight of birds feeding on newborn turtles emerging from the sand, a ghastly scene in which Sebastian believed he saw the "face of God".

Cukrowicz agrees to visit Catherine and begin his evaluation. Catherine has been confined to a private women's mental institution since her return from Europe several months earlier. At first remaining out of sight, Cukrowicz watches as she is caught smoking by Sister Felicity (Joan Young), one of the nuns who staff the facility. When the nun confronts Catherine and holds out her hand, demanding that she turn the cigarette over, Catherine responds by extinguishing the lit cigarette into her palm, burning her. The nun then tells the doctor that this can be seen as proof of her mental instability. Cukrowicz dismisses Sister Felicity and goes on to interview Catherine. She claims that her memory does not extend any further back than an incident that occurred just before she left for Europe with Sebastian, when she "lost her honor" while being driven home from a Mardi Gras ball. Beyond that, she struggles to recall the events that led to Sebastian's death and her subsequent breakdown, but expresses her 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 (Mercedes McCambridge) and brother George (Gary Raymond) pay her a visit and reveal that Sebastian has left them a considerable sum of money. Unfortunately, Mrs. 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. 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 "bait" and that they "procured for him". Mrs. 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 who initially stare at her in silence as she walks overhead. She climbs the railing and leans out precipitously, considering the jump as the women start cackling below, 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 the details of 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, which causes 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 gradually realizes 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 "fed up with the dark ones" and, being "famished for blondes", makes plans to depart for the northern countries. One scorching white-hot day, Sebastian and Catherine are beset by a team of ragged boys playing cacophonous music on instruments of scrap metal and 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 located 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 at last by the group of boys. To her horror and revulsion, she realizes that they are literally tearing him apart and eating his flesh. She screams for help, to no avail.

The film returns to Catherine, who has collapsed upon the ground, sobbing. 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. Calling him Sebastian, she tells him not to be out in the sun for too long and that they should go inside the boat and inform the captain that they want to leave. Mrs. Venable is led away and Cukrowicz returns to check on Catherine, who has recovered. They both walk into the house together.

Cast

• Elizabeth Taylor — Catherine Holly
• Katharine Hepburn — Violet Venable
• Montgomery Clift — Dr. John Cukrowicz
• Albert Dekker — Dr. Lawrence J. Hockstader
• Mercedes McCambridge — Mrs. Grace Holly
• Gary Raymond — George Holly
• Mavis Villiers — Miss Foxhill
• Patricia Marmont — Nurse Benson
• Joan Young — Sister Felicity
• Maria Britneva — Lucy
• Sheila Robbins — Dr. Hockstader's secretary
• David Cameron — Young blonde intern
• Eddie Fisher (uncredited cameo)
• Gore Vidal (uncredited cameo)
• Frank Merlo (uncredited cameo)

Production

Suddenly, Last Summer is based on a one-act play by Tennessee Williams that was originally paired with Something Unspoken as part of the 1958 off-Broadway double-bill, Garden District.^[2] The play was adapted for the screen by Gore Vidal; although Williams received credit for the adaptation, he would later say that he had nothing to do with the script.^[2] Vidal attempted to construct the screenplay as a small number of very long scenes, echoing the structure of the play.^[3] Following A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, it was the third of Williams's plays to be adapted for the screen that dealt with the subject of homosexuality, although Suddenly, Last Summer was far more explicit in its treatment of the subject than either of the earlier adaptations were allowed to be under the Motion Picture Production Code.^[4] Working in conjunction with the Legion of Decency, an organization primarily affiliated with Catholic Church, the Production Code Administration gave the filmmakers special dispensation to depict Sebastian Venable, declaring, "Since the film illustrates the horrors of such a lifestyle, it can be considered moral in theme even though it deals with sexual perversion."^[2] Publicity stills of Sebastian were shot – showing him as a handsome, if drawn, man in a white suit – but his face is never actually seen in the released film. Williams felt that no actor could convincingly convey Sebastian and that his absence from the screen would make his presence stronger.^[5]

Elizabeth Taylor selected Suddenly, Last Summer as her first project following the end of 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.^[6] As a result of a May 1956 car crash near the home of Taylor and her then-husband Michael Wilding, Clift had become heavily reliant on drugs and alcohol. When he was unable, after several tries, to find a doctor willing to attest to his insurability, Sam Spiegel went ahead with production anyway.^[7]

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 on set led Mankiewicz to ask Spiegel several times to replace the actor.^[3] Most of the crew were sympathetic toward Clift,^[8] but Katharine Hepburn was especially resentful of the poor treatment Clift received at Mankiewicz's hands. Indeed, Hepburn found Mankiewicz's behaviour so unforgivable that as soon as he called the final "cut" of the film, she asked him to confirm that her services were no longer required, and when he did, she spat in his face.^[9] The story persists that she also spat in Sam Spiegel's face, but sources differ.^[10]

Problems also beset the production of the film's musical score. Malcolm Arnold was originally contracted to provide it, but he apparently found some of the story's aspects disturbing and withdrew from the project after writing only the main themes. Buxton Orr completed the score.^[11]

Taylor, following her final monologue wherein she describes Sebastian's murder, burst into tears and could not be consoled. She had, using Method acting, called upon her grief over the 1958 death of her husband Mike Todd.^[12]

Production on Suddenly, Last Summer took place between May and September 1959.^[13] Interior scenes were shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England. The "Cabeza de Lobo" sequence was filmed at Majorca in the Balearic Islands and at Begur, Castell-Platja d'Aro, Costa Brava, and S'Agaró in Girona, Catalonia, Spain.^[14]

Reception

Critical response

Several people involved in the production of Suddenly, Last Summer later went on to denounce the film. Williams denied having any involvement with the script despite being credited on-screen for it. He felt that Taylor was miscast as Catherine, telling Life magazine in 1961, "It stretched my credulity to believe such a 'hip' doll as our Liz wouldn't know at once in the film that she was 'being used for something evil'."^[15] Williams told The Village Voice in 1973 that the film "made [him] throw up" and that the script moved too far away from his original play.^[16] Gore Vidal criticized the ending, which was altered by director Mankiewicz: "We were also not helped by...those overweight ushers from the Roxy Theatre on Fire Island pretending to be small ravenous boys."^[17] Mankiewicz himself blamed the source material, describing the play in 1973 as "badly constructed...based on the most elementary Freudian psychology".^[18]

Box office

Suddenly, Last Summer was a hit at the box office, earning $6.4 million dollars upon release.^[19]

Accolades

Both Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress; they lost to Simone Signoret for Room at the Top. 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 – Motion Picture Drama and the Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance, with Taylor winning both awards.^[20]

Notes

References

• Capua, Michelangelo (2002). Montgomery Clift: A Biography. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press. ISBN 0-7864-1432-4. 
• Crowther, Bosley (December 23, 1959). Catledge, T. ed. "Review: Suddenly, Last Summer". The New York Times (New York City, NY: Arthur Hays Sulzberger). ISSN 0362-4331. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C03E3DF153CE73BBC4B51DFB4678382649EDE. Retrieved June 21, 2011. 
• Edwards, Anne (2000). Katharine Hepburn: A Remarkable Woman. New York City, NY: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-20656-9. 
• Hadleigh, Boze (2001). The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films—Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics (Rev. ed.). New York City, NY: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2199-6. 
• Jackson, Paul R. W. (2003). The Life and Music of Sir Malcolm Arnold: The Brilliant and the Dark. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 1-85928-381-0. 
• LaGuardia, Robert (1984). Monty: A Biography of Montgomery Clift. New York City, NY: Avon Books. ISBN 0-380-01887-X. 
• Russo, Vito (1987). The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies (Rev. ed.). New York City, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-096132-5. 
• Williams, Tennessee (February 3, 1961). Luce, H. R. ed. "Five Fiery Ladies". Life (Chicago, IL: Time Inc.) 50 (5): 84–89. ISSN 0024-3019. http://books.google.com/books?id=zkUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA84. Retrieved June 21, 2011. 

External links

• Suddenly, Last Summer at AllRovi
• Suddenly, Last Summer at the Internet Movie Database
• Suddenly, Last Summer at Rotten Tomatoes
• Suddenly, Last Summer at the TCM Movie Database