In what remains the most obscure, bizarre and wildly misunderstood film of her entire career – and perhaps even ‘70s Italian cinema – Elizabeth Taylor stars as a disturbed woman who arrives in Rome to find a city fragmented by autocratic law, leftist violence and her own increasingly unhinged mission to find the most dangerous liaison of all. Academy Award nominee Ian Bannen (THE OFFENCE), Mona Washbourne (THE COLLECTOR) and Andy Warhol co-star in this “unique, hallucinatory neo noir” (Cult Film Freaks) – barely released in America as THE DRIVER’S SEAT – directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi (‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE), adapted from the unnerving novella by Muriel Spark (The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie) and featuring cinematography by three-time Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro.Read More »
Elizabeth Taylor
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Giuseppe Patroni Griffi – Identikit AKA The Driver’s Seat (1974)
Giuseppe Patroni Griffi1971-1980DramaItalyThriller -
Joseph Losey – Boom! (1968)
Joseph Losey1961-1970CampDramaUnited KingdomQuote:
Movie version of playwright Tennessee Williams’ “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore” involves very wealthy Flora “Sissy” Goforth (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), supposedly dying, and living in a large mansion on a secluded island with her servants and nurses. Into her life comes a mysterious man, Christopher Flanders, a.k.a. “Angelo Del Morte” (Richard) and The Witch of Capri (Noël Coward). The mysterious man may or may not be “The Angel of Death”.Read More » -
Joseph Losey – Secret Ceremony (1968)
Drama1961-1970CultJoseph LoseyUnited KingdomQuote:
Beautifully dark movie which grants Mia Farrow the freedom to showcase the strange range of her gift. Elizabeth Taylor stays close with a deep and sensitive touch, flashing a legitimate side of herself, oft covered up. Robert Mitchum achieves repulsive perfection lurking in the garden, symbolic of the disgust and fear we share in our hide. The entire cast in breath and stone include every sense in totality, placing the actors and ourselves together to spy on each other from above, and within the ornamental mansion. Intense hallucinogenic 1968 camera shots intimately portray the family by chance’s horrific existence. Read More » -
Victor Saville – Conspirator (1949)
United Kingdom1941-1950Film NoirThrillerVictor SavilleLondon, 1949. A young American beauty, Melinda Greyton, flighty and immature, falls in love with a dashing but solitary and lonely English major, Michael Curragh, and he with her. His aged aunt, his only family, urges him to marry her, and he does. The trouble is, he’s an agent for the Soviets. His control is unhappy that he’s married without the Party’s consent. Melinda figures out he’s a spy and a traitor, and she develops some backbone and maturity when he tries to convince her to go along with him. She demands that he cease spying at about the same time that his control orders him to kill her. Is she safe? Is there any way he can satisfy conflicting loyalties?Read More »
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Joseph L. Mankiewicz – Cleopatra (1963)
1961-1970ClassicsEpicJoseph L. MankiewiczUnited KingdomSynopsis:
In 48 B.C., Caesar pursues Pompey from Pharsalia to Egypt. Ptolemy, now supreme ruler after deposing his older sister, Cleopatra, attempts to gain favor with Caesar by presenting the conquerer with the head of Pompey, borne by his governors, Pothinos and Achillas. To win Caesar’s support from her brother, Cleopatra hides herself in a rug, which Apollodorus, her servant, presents to Caesar. The Roman is immediately infatuated; banishing Ptolemy, he declares Cleopatra Egypt’s sole ruler and takes her as his mistress. A son, Caesarion, is born of their union. Caesar, however, must return to Italy. Although he is briefly reunited with Cleopatra during a magnificent reception for the queen in Rome, Caesar is assassinated shortly thereafter, and Cleopatra returns to Egypt.Read More » -
Mike Nichols – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
1961-1970ClassicsDramaMike NicholsUSAGeorge and Martha are a middle aged married couple, whose charged relationship is defined by vitriolic verbal battles, which underlies what seems like an emotional dependence upon each other. This verbal abuse is fueled by an excessive consumption of alcohol. George being an associate History professor in a New Carthage university where Martha’s father is the President adds an extra dimension to their relationship. Late one Saturday evening after a faculty mixer, Martha invites Nick and Honey, an ambitious young Biology professor new to the university and his mousy wife, over for a nightcap. As the evening progresses, Nick and Honey, plied with more alcohol, get caught up in George and Martha’s games of needing to hurt each other and everyone around them. The ultimate abuse comes in the form of talk of George and Martha’s unseen sixteen year old son, whose birthday is the following day.Read More »