Suddenly, Last Summer

Suddenly, Last Summer is another movie based on the play by Tennessee Williams. It was filmed in 1959 and was nominated for three Academy Awards including best actress for Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn, however both were beat out by Simone Signoret for "Room at the Top."

The film takes place in 1937 in Louisianna. Montgomery Clift plays Dr. John Curkrowicz a neurosurgeon at the Lyons View State Asylum in New Orleans, where he specializes in Lobotomies. However, the state funded asylum cannot equipped him the proper supplies, nurses, or amenities for him to continue his work there. As he is giving his resignation a letter arrives for him from an extremely wealthy widow Ms. Violet Venable(Katharine Hepburn) asking him for an urgent meeting. In hopes of finding funding from her he visits her estate and that's where the story begins to unfold.


Upon his arrival Ms. Venable descends from an ornate, gold plated escalator talking of Babylonian kings where she then takes him to a exotic garden where her beloved Sebastian spent all of his time. Sebastian, the axis of the story from which the entire story rotates. It was his death, suddenly last summer, which has landed his cousin Catherine (Elizabeth Taylor) in St. Mary's Hospital for her visions and hallucinations. Her violent outbursts and obscenities are the reason for Ms. Venable's urgent request of Dr. Curkrowicz's special services. However as Curkrowicz examines Catherine he does believe a lobotomy to be in the best interest of the patient. It seems more and more that Ms. Venable's desire for a lobotomy is to shut Catherine's mouth about how her son actually died.


As the story unfolds you don't really know who to believe is crazy. Like other Tennessee Williams this story is about uncovering a secret and peeling back the layers of the characters.


Both Taylor and Hepburn were well deserving in their nominations. Hepburn is divinely creepy and obsessed with her son and his death.

Taylor toys with us, making us feel as if she is both the vixen and the victim. There is a point in the story when she finally remembers what happened that day, suddenly last summer, where you truly feel like you are witnessing a complete mental breakdown. She has forever won me as a fan since that scene.

4 out of 5 stars:

Funny Girl

It is 31 days of Oscars on TCM and one of the first movies they aired was the famous Funny Girl starring the one and only Barbara Streisand. The movie was made in 1968 and was based on the Play Funny Girl by Jule Style, Bob Merrill, and Isobel Lennart. Streisand won the Oscar for Best actress and the film was nominated for eight other Oscars including best picture. This was based on the real life of the comedian Fanny Brice. Obviously Hollywood took some artistic liberties for good entertainment, so I found a website that has facts that may or may not be more true to the real story.

The story begins with Fanny reflecting on the empty stage and looking back at her way to the top.

She is a young Jewish girl from the lower east-side of New York who dreams of becoming a star on Broadway despite her unglamorous appearance. She finally gets a break when a handsome gambler Nick Arnstein visits her backstage and helps her get a raise after her attention-grabbing debut as a roller skater-singer-comedian. After getting a permanent gig on the stage her comedy routines grab the attention of the Broadway producer Mr. Florenz Ziegfeld. Once Ziegfeld has her agree to the lyrics she is to sing on his show, despite her worry that people will laugh at her instead of with her she appears as a pregnant bride in the final act, infuriating Mr. Ziegfeld. However, with the success of the show due to the final act, he allows Brice to choose her own material. After the show she bumps in to Arnstein and invites him back to her house for a party where they engage in curious flirtations and a goodnight kiss when he informs her that he is buying a horse and moving to Kentucky.

The story picks up a year later. Brice has become a huge success and while getting off the train in Baltimore Maryland she again runs in to Arnstein at the stations waiting for his horse to arrive. They spend a month together in Baltimore and just as they are fixing to say depart flowers arrive from Nick with a note saying "I love you." She quits her tour a month early and rushes off to find him all the while singing her most famous rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade."

Now I could tell you everything that happens in the entire movie BUT I am not. Everything after the Intermission plays out like a love story. I personally was just WAITING for when it would get rocky because she has after all fallen in love with a gambler.

This was a great film, and was everything I was expecting though not much more. (But I expected a lot) Since it was based on a play it was very long, I think right at three hours. Streisand was brilliant and I enjoyed finally seeing her sing "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade." It's not really one of those musicals I want to watch over and over again, but I would love to see it on Broadway. A great movie if you are home alone and wanting to kill some time and get swept away.

4 out of 5 stars for me

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

I am very excited to kick off my new blog with this truly spectacular movie based on the play by Tennessee Williams starring two actors I ADORE Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor. In preparation for this entry I took the liberty of reading character analysis notes on the play, just to make sure I didn't miss anything in the transformation from play to movie. And I am glad to say I did not.

The story takes place in the deep south state of Mississippi. Meet Maggie... The Cat A woman who has become hysterical and bitter over her husband Brick's, refusal to accept her desires. In her masochistic desperation she only becomes more a beautiful heroine to the audience. And one could only wonder how a man could resist a woman so beautiful.
Meet Brick, washed up football player, favorite son, adored husband, and a broken man. He uses his crutch both physically and emotionally. At first sight he would seem the quintessential male
but as the story unfolds he shares his devotion for a recently deceased best friend Skipper.

Apart from Brick and Maggie there is a first born son Gooper and his wife Mae who will stop at nothing to slander Brick's already destroyed name to inherit the 28 acres Big Daddy is fixing to leave behind. Since Brick has failed to produce a child in Maggie they cannot be truly considered for inheritance.

Taylor and Newman seem to have been predestined for these roles. They sparkle against the harsh realities that lie beneath their lovely faces. One of my favorite things about this movie was the setting. I love when movies are based on plays because there are not too many places to keep up with. Most of the scenes take place in Brick and Maggie's bedroom they are staying in at Big Daddy's house. The symbolic bed dominates the room with its beautiful winding brass boards. It sits framing each sequence as if it is the "elephant" in the room; something Maggie clings to but Brick never touches. I LOVED this movie, I even watched it a second time with my husband who also enjoyed it. The interesting thing is that nothing HUGE physically happens, just talk of things in the past that haven't been buried. Just like life it marks the transition in a relationship of a family like so many of us have faced. I will also give it another star just because it is set in the south. Anyways I hope I have persuaded you to watch this film, if nothing else watch it for Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman!

5 out of 5 stars!!!

A League of Their Own

To start I would just like to say that watching movies is at the pinnacle of the mountain of useless things that I enjoy doing.

Even though I have loved movies since I was a small child, I have never had the dream to go into acting, I would rather be a movie critic and have people adore my every opinion.

Most little girls adored Snow White and Cinderella. I however fell in love with a movie called "A League of Their Own" in the second grade, and attempted to change my middle name to "Kit" but writing it at the top of my school papers.

In the Fifth grade I fell in love with two more movies, "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Mr. Hollands Opus." Looking back on these movies they were extremely grown up for someone of that age but I was always a very cognizant child. For someone who daydreams constantly I really do pick up on a lot of things others miss.

Needless to say... I have always had great taste

As I grow further set in my ways it is becoming harder for me to find good movies out there that are not too liberal for me. Meaning there are no strange affairs, torture, or politics.

When I see a movie I want to be swept away. As I said before, I am a daydreamer. I don't go to the movies for reality, I would rather just watch Rosanne in the comfort of my living room. Not to say that I don't like movies I can connect with emotionally and characteristically. Most movies I love are because the characters are so real. I feel like people need movies to stop us from the constant reminder of the negativity in the world. I need a hero in a movie someone I can cheer for and see succeed in the end!

I have come to rely on old movies for my go-to guide for a substantial movie. Turner Classic Movies is my Love right now. I go to the website and send e-mail reminders for certain movies then the day before it reminds me and I DVR them. So don't be surprised when I talk about lots of old movies for awhile. I hope this blog will inspire people to go back and take a second look at certain movies as well warning others if certain ones seem like a bust.

This is really just my way of sharing my love of movies and I hope you will share with me as well!!

What was your favorite movie as a child?