Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn each received 1960 Oscar nominations for Best Actress in this gripping adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play. Beautiful Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor) is committed to a mental institution after witnessing the horrible death of her cousin at the hands of cannibals. Catherine's aunt, Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn), tries to influence Dr. Cukrowicz(Mon­tgomery Clift), a young neurosurgeon, to surgically end Catherine's hau­nting hallucinations. Byutilizing injections of sodium pentothal, Dr. Cukrowicz discovers that Catherine's de­lusions are, in fact, true. He then must confront Violet about her own involvement in her son's violent de­ath.

Critic reviews

“Superbly adapted with blistering performances from Taylor and Hepburn.”

• Empire Magazine

“On film, with Taylor as the woman who saw something nasty and Clift as the psychiatrist trying to probe her trauma, the one-act material is stretched perilously thin; but it works for Hepburn as the incarnation of civilised depravity.”

• Time Out

“Hepburn and Taylor both earned Oscar nominations for their work; it's hard to pick which turns in a more compelling performance.”

• Filmcritic.com