Suddenly, Last Summer
Yeah, this seemed rather rushed and, of course, it isn't a patch on the movie version (despite it's 1950's censorship). The performances of <PERSON> and <PERSON> bump this up half a star because they're both so good. I'm not gonna really hit the easy target of <PERSON> performance because I'm fond of trees. <PERSON> seems to have seen <PERSON> portrayal in the film as she plays it almost exactly the same. <PERSON> is kinda wasted in an admittedly small part he does his best to enliven in this production. 698
For such a southern-fried, hothouse play, it does seem very odd to have an almost completely British cast but we know that going in so there isn't any justification in complaining about it. Ditto the fact that some people moan and moan about "it looks like just a filmed play" because apparently people need flashing, needless camera tricks to be able to focus their pathetic attention spans. There are, in fact, quite a lot of 'camera moves' which don't call attention to themselves and frankly if you can't watch a one-set movie, go play a video game. No, this adaptation of <PERSON> workhorse play is OK but nothing special; other than the performances of <PERSON> and <PERSON>. It's cut down for the telly so we're missing a lot but, if you want to see SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER then go watch the fifties flick. You'll thank yourself for it. 698