A young socialite is committed after the gruesome death of her cousin in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER.

From the Tennessee Williams play of the same name comes the rather shocking film that tackles homosexuality, social class, and incestual feelings, Suddenly, Last Summer. Young socialite Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor) has been committed to a mental hospital because of her breakdown following the gruesome death of her poet cousin, Sebastian. The truth behind her European vacations with him and the circumstances surrounding his demise are so unseemly that her Aunt Violet (Katherine Hepburn) will do anything to keep them secret, including bribing the hospital doctor to give Catherine a lobotomy. She tries to escape but as she finds herself dangling from a balcony above a room of disturbed men, compounding her disorientation and fear stemming from her cousin’s indiscretions. For her, the trouble is that as a beautiful woman who knows too much, the more she rallies to prove her sanity, the more mad she seems. It’s only until she is able to leave the confines of the mental institution that she’s able to find her stability.

Part of Nitehawk’s March COMMITTED brunch series.