Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Carson McCullers (novel) and
Gladys Hill (writer)

Release Date:

13 October 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Most women in her situation would do the very same thing! They just wouldn't do it as well- or as often!

Plot:

Bizarre tale of sex, betrayal, and perversion at a military post.

Plot Keywords:

Major | Horse | Peeping Tom | Army | Officer

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Leonora Penderton
Marlon Brando	...	Maj. Weldon Penderton
Brian Keith	...	Lt. Col. Morris Langdon
Julie Harris	...	Alison Langdon
Zorro David	...	Anacleto
Gordon Mitchell	...	Stables Sergeant
Irvin Dugan	...	Capt. Murray Weincheck
Fay Sparks	...	Susie
Robert Forster	...	Pvt. L.G. Williams

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | West Germany:18 (f) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Trivia:

The role of Major Penderton was extremely physically demanding, and the insurance company underwriting the production required proof that star Montgomery Clift was fit enough for the role, after his years of illness. Clift's long-time friend 'Taylor, Elizabeth' committed her large salary as insurance in order to secure Clift for the role. Clift subsequently died of a heart attack before filming began, and the role went to Marlon Brando.

Goofs:

Continuity: The Maj. Penderton's shirt is completely buttoned when he mounts Firebird. Later, when he falls off it, his shirt is unbuttoned.

Quotes:

Lt. Col. Morris Langdon: [after Alison Langdon's houseboy Anacleto falls down the stairs] I wish you'd broken your goddam neck!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Taxi Driver (1976)

Underrated little classic

Underrated little classic here. The setting is a small southern army base and behind the formality of peacetime military life is a hotbed of sexual repressions and obsessions. Elizabeth Taylor is wonderfully overripe as the Major's unfaithful wife. Her hilarious party food monologue is a career highlight. Marlon Brando as the macho Major she calls "prissy" does an amazing job with a role that requires him to be all emotionally buttoned up while just barely keeping a lid on an obsession he has with a serviceman (Robert Forster).

The real standout in the cast is Brian Keith. He creates a dimensional character out of a man cut off from his feelings who one day is forced to confront them. In this unusual but endlessly engrossing movie, he is a marvel.