Suddenly, Last Summer (1993)

Several of Tennessee Williams's friends have told me they thought Suddenly Last Summer was his last great play. I never understood what they meant until I saw the production with Rob Lowe, Natasha Richardson & the others. This production seemed unfamiliar, almost like a totally different play. The language is more elevated and poetic. I'd recommend it to anybody who wants to experience Williams as a serious artist and playwright.For instance, when Violet Venable accuses Catharine Holly of simply "using Sebastian," Natasha Richardson replies (paraphrased)that of course she was using him. "We all use each other all the time. That's what is commonly called love in our society." That is such pure Tennessee Williams but it is also something cut from the script when it was adapted for the big block-buster Hollywood movie with its star-studded cast. It represents the kind of truth that Williams intended to speak that Americans weren't yet ready to hear during the 1950s.

I have a copy of this version of "Suddenly Last Summer" that I taped (luckily) during the broadcast on "Great Performances" in 1993. The picture quality is very fuzzy, which seems to have been a part of the original broadcast. This is even more obvious in these days of DVD, where we are all so used to excellent visuals. I have tried to collect ALL filmed presentations and soundtracks of Tennessee Williams plays, and I don't like to compare the various versions due to the fact that the original film versions faced great restrictions because of censorship, given the stricter morals of those days. The older versions do the best that they were allowed to do, in the context of the prevailing morality under which they were produced. This PBS "Great Performances" version is wonderful- from the opening credits shots of Venus Fly Traps capturing insects in Sebastian's garden to the closing credits depicting the garden again. After the screening, there is a brief clip from a 1976 interview with Tennessee explaining how an incident between his sister and mother inspired the dialogue written for the play. There is no mention of an available video for the presentation, as is so common these days for most PBS productions, so I am assuming that this version has never been released on any home video format. The closing credits state that this is "A BBC co-production with Thirteen/WNET" and gives the date 1992. There is a chance that this was released on video in the UK, but I have not found any mention of such. There is no credit given for soundtrack music or any release as well.

"Suddenly, Last Summer" (1993 TV Version) I taped this version way back in 1993 & it is supremely faithful to the text (unlike the original version with Elizabeth Taylor). Maggie Smith is reserved where Katherine Hepburn is effusive. Similarly, Rob Lowe smoulders where Montgomery Clift languished. Natsha Richardson is not Elizabeth Taylor, but the Catherine of the original text is not the Catherine in the original film. The character is not seen until almost halfway through the play; the impact of her story is heightened that much more by her late appearance. Gone are the flashback location shots (mercifully), Natasha Richardson's delivery of her final monologue doesn't need flashbacks, one is able to visualize what she describes perfectly. This is truly superior to the original version.

Mrs. Venable has to be one of Maggie Smith's most powerful small screen performances, her rendition of the crippled yet revenge ridden widow is a gothic portrayal which is matched with an equally memorable Natasha Richardson as Catherine. Every facet of this Richard Eyre production reeks of class, the supporting cast are divine with Rob Lowe turning in an understated Dr. Sugar who is pressured to perform a dangerous lobotomy on Catherine in return for substantial research funding by Venable. As the film progresses the viewer is drawn into the tense narrative and the final scene where Catherine is summoned to the house to relive the death of Venable's son before the unbelieving harridan is just phenomenal. Only seen once on BBC2 back in November 1993, this film surely deserves a video release or even a repeat showing. Why it has only had one British outing is beyond me.