Movies: Suddenly, Last Summer

There are movies that you see when you're very young that stay with you throughout your life. Because I was kind of a strange child, none of mine were from Disney. My favorite childhood movies played on television on Sunday afternoons, and it just goes to show that some of your tastes develop early and stay with you throughout your life. I loved movies like Bonnie and Clyde. A strange little Rod Steiger serial killer movie. And Suddenly, Last Summer.

I saw Suddenly, Last Summer when I was about eight years old, and had no idea what the heck was going on. I didn't have to understand it to know that it was intense, interesting and mysterious. And to pick up on the personalities of three amazing actors at the tops of their games.

Katherine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. Seriously. In a Tennessee Williams play full of sexual tension. Here's the plot, without ruining anything. Monty plays a psychiatrist brought in by Hepburn to lobotomize her troubled niece, Liz. Why is Liz so troubled? Because suddenly, last summer, when she was on a vacation with Hepburn's son in Spain, Liz witnessed his tragic death. Only when I rewatched the movie years later did I finally understand what happened and why. It's still on my top twenty favorite movies of all time.

Liz Taylor passed away today. She was more than a style icon to me. She was the epitome of dark and glamorous beauty. Three of the movies that she made are some of my favorites of all time: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Suddenly, Last Summer. She took roles that were difficult and dangerous and made them her own. She lived her life the way she wanted to, even when it got messy. She gave time, energy and support to the charities that mattered to her. And she had violet eyes to die for.

"Truth is the one thing I've never resisted."

Thanks, Liz. You were an inspirational lady and a great broad.