Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Blistering performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

. . . zucchini, celery stalks, or salami while viewing SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER. Though "Johnny Knoxville" was born too late to become the capital of "Tennessee Williams," the conclusion of this horror flick would make an even better JACKASS movie stunt than that room full of mousetraps or all of those catapulted Port-a-Johns. While the build up to what must be a pretty universal sexual fantasy seems to be "padded" by at least half an hour of extraneous "fluff" (do we REALLY need to see a Venus Fly-Trap being fed?), when the other shoe finally drops it's at least a Size 10. SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER provides quite a bit of food for thought, with enough left over for a Boy Scout picnic on the beach. Some sources claim that SUDDENLY is based upon a stage play originally dedicated to JFK's lobotomized sister. (Others say this is just a wild rumor dreamed up by SUDDENLY's screen adapter, political novelist Gore Vidal of the Tennessee Gores.) At any rate, I suddenly have a craving now for something sweet, like a Ding Dong.

Suddenly, Last Summer was mostly uninteresting due to its story line despite the solid cast.The present day situation of Mrs. Violet wanting to lobotomize Catherine is interesting enough and the acting is solid, but the reason for it all and the resolution of story is ludicrous and uninteresting.

Though I personally prefer the other film - The Fugitive Kind - this play is also very good and the performances of Taylor Clift and Hepburn are all historical. I like how Williams delves into human tragedy through mental illness, dynamic relations and desire. You can always witness the worst coming on and out of stage. A classic and must see.

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Riveting. Elizabeth brings a great method emotional extravaganza toward the end. Her monologues before that are also quite interesting. Katharine is really the crazy one. You can see that she was in love and lust for her son. Clift had the wallpaper role. He was mild. He stood in the background while the two lead women chewed the scenery. The mother was ridiculous and totally cowed by Hepburn's character. The creepy boys were totally bizarre. These are all great character studies.