A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 4 wins & 7 nominations total
Sheila Robins
- Dr. Hockstader's Secretary
- (as Sheila Robbins)
Erik Chitty
- Asylum Inmate
- (uncredited)
Grace Denbeigh-Russell
- Asylum patient
- (uncredited)
Brenda Dunrich
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
Eddie Fisher
- Street Urchin
- (uncredited)
Anthony Lang
- Inmate
- (uncredited)
Aileen Lewis
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter years of alcoholism and prescription drug abuse, Montgomery Clift was considered uninsurable due to chronic ill health. Ordinarily, he would have been fired and replaced, but his good friend Dame Elizabeth Taylor saved his job by insisting she would not do this movie without him.
- GoofsAlthough set in 1937, costumes, hairstyles and makeup worn by Dame Elizabeth Taylor are all contemporary in 1959.
- Quotes
Catherine Holly: Is that what love is? Using people? And maybe that's what hate is - not being able to use people.
- ConnectionsEdited into This Is It (2009)
Featured review
(POSSIBLE SPOILER)...Gothic decadence gives Taylor and Hepburn striking roles...
While the symbolism here is about as heavy as a sledgehammer, it's offered in such artfully poetic style that only writers of the caliber of Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal could give us. What they have done is provide KATHARINE HEPBURN with a role that fits her like a glove and where her mannered acting sits comfortably on a role she was born to play. She is totally mesmerizing as Mrs. Venable, a woman who has lavished all her hopes and dreams on her only son only to have them all swept away on a brutal summer day, "suddenly, last summer", under the hot Mediteranean sun. She gets to spout the most poetic dialog in the film, with ELIZABETH TAYLOR not far behind, especially during their frequent monologues.
This leaves MONTGOMERY CLIFT, as a surgeon who is asked to perform a lobotomy on Miss Taylor, hovering in the background and looking like a frightened sparrow most of the time, although it is he who uncovers the truth about last summer. Mr. Clift must have been at a difficult phase of his own personal life because he performs in a stiff, robot-like manner that makes him seem dubious as a skilled surgeon with steady hands.
All of this is highly melodramatic as only Tennessee Williams can muster, while at the same time affording us the luxury of watching two commanding performances from Hepburn and Taylor that were justifiably nominated for Oscars.
The tale seems burdened by too much heavy-handed poetry but somehow it holds the attention because of the forceful acting by a fine cast. Mercedes McCambridge is a standout as Taylor's mother in the sort of fluttery, birdbrain role one might suspect would be offered to Billie Burke if this had been filmed in the 1940s.
By the end of the film, Miss Hepburn is so far removed from reality that she thinks Dr. Sugar (Montgomery Clift) is her son Sebastian and seems more like a candidate for lobotomy than the plucky Miss Taylor. Taylor never quite has the air of vulnerability that the role demands, but she gives a colorful, if strident, performance as the poor victimized girl who was used as bait by her playboy cousin.
This leaves MONTGOMERY CLIFT, as a surgeon who is asked to perform a lobotomy on Miss Taylor, hovering in the background and looking like a frightened sparrow most of the time, although it is he who uncovers the truth about last summer. Mr. Clift must have been at a difficult phase of his own personal life because he performs in a stiff, robot-like manner that makes him seem dubious as a skilled surgeon with steady hands.
All of this is highly melodramatic as only Tennessee Williams can muster, while at the same time affording us the luxury of watching two commanding performances from Hepburn and Taylor that were justifiably nominated for Oscars.
The tale seems burdened by too much heavy-handed poetry but somehow it holds the attention because of the forceful acting by a fine cast. Mercedes McCambridge is a standout as Taylor's mother in the sort of fluttery, birdbrain role one might suspect would be offered to Billie Burke if this had been filmed in the 1940s.
By the end of the film, Miss Hepburn is so far removed from reality that she thinks Dr. Sugar (Montgomery Clift) is her son Sebastian and seems more like a candidate for lobotomy than the plucky Miss Taylor. Taylor never quite has the air of vulnerability that the role demands, but she gives a colorful, if strident, performance as the poor victimized girl who was used as bait by her playboy cousin.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Plötzlich im letzten Sommer
- Filming locations
- Begur, Girona, Catalonia, Spain(village and old castle scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $9,830
- Runtime1 hour 54 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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