Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

This is an alluring black-and-white film about the dark parts of the mind. There's also a hint of something else in there (I'll get to that in a sec), alluded to by so much innuendo, I was left with a big question mark after my first viewing. I still love it!

Plot:
Katharine Hepburn's character is the wealthy, histrionic, New Orleanian, overprotective mother of the now-dead Sebastian. He was the apple of her eye, almost to point of uncomfortable weirdness. Each summer she used to go on vacation with him to an exotic place, until last summer, when poor health kept Hepburn (Mrs. Venable) from going. Sebastian went instead with his cousin Catherine (played by Elizabeth Taylor). Sebastian was murdered on this vacation.

Catherine knows the secret behind his murder, which was not (as you might guess) just any old murder. Her random ramblings about the murder have made it obvious to Mrs. Venable that there's something character-shattering about Sebastian. She thus labels Catherine as crazy and has her committed.

The movie opens with Mrs. Venable's having consulted a Dr. Cukrowicz (played by Monty Clift) to perform a lobotomy on Catherine, ostensibly to relieve Catherine of the pain of her supposed craziness. (We all know the real reason, though.)

In the course of the doctor's history-getting we find out that Sebastian was adored by all: sweet, handsome, the best manners, thoughtful, highly sought-after, friendly and kind, the whole nine yards. He was also chaste; as Mrs. Venable explains, "...he...ah...had never been...been...with a...uh...woman." (Chaste, eh?) He really was thought of as an angel on Earth by all who knew him.

Catherine confirms this opinion to Dr. C, who can find no good reason to lobotomize her. Still Mrs. Venable persists nervously (and obviously with a huge motive) in trying to convince him of the necessity of the procedure.

As a last resort, Dr. Cukrowicz administers sodium pentothal to Catherine to find out the truth behind last summer's vacation. What we find out about Sebastian's activities on the trip is pretty horrifying in light of his perfection.

The whole thing would be spoiled if I were to give away too much about the vacation, but I will say that Sebastian is cannibalized by the natives of the place. It's not this that is really important in itself, however: we are much more interested in why they did it, since Sebastian was giving them all more money than they'd ever seen, and feeding all of them. (In case you can't tell, I can't remember in what country he vacationed.) This is where the story ends. It's a dark, dark end.

There's plenty of elementary-level symbolism throughout the movie, with Sebastian sporting a pure white suit and other visual treats.

Also mingled through the storyline are hints about homosexuality so subtle, only a person alive in the 1950s would have been able to read the raising of eyebrows and other "hinty" gestures/words. For example, one second one thinks someone's getting at the homosexual thing, but the next second some other confounding sentence is thrown in that kind of throws one off. Either that, or I'm totally naive and was not picking up on obvious signals.

An aside:
By the way, I think that the homosexuality issue (I won't reveal any more about it) is supposed to add to our horror about Sebastian's death, and lower our opinion of him. However, nowadays I don't think homosexuality is considered to be a negative comment on someone's character and upstandingness. So that's a little lost on modern audiences.

Why I like this movie:
It's dark, dark, dark and very 1950s psychiatry-ish. As a doctor, I enjoyed the leucotomy/lobotomy theme--medical horrors of the past are one of my favorite things. Psychiatry is another. Elizabeth Taylor is striking and gives a really good performance. It's set in New Orleans, my hometown. I like movies with innuendo, and this has plenty of it. Very Tennessee Williams.

What I don't like about it:
I think Katharine Hepburn has benign familial tremor or something. She's really annoying, speaking high-pitched and NON-STOP. That's really it, though.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older