Boom (1968)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (play)
Tennessee Williams (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 May 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

She outlived six rich men!

Plot:

Explores the confrontation between the woman who has everything, including emptiness, and a penniless poet who has nothing but the ability to fill a wealthy woman's needs.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Sickness | Satire | Millionaire | Decadence

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Flora 'Sissy' Goforth
Richard Burton	...	Chris Flanders
Noel Coward	...	The Witch of Capri
Joanna Shimkus	...	Miss Black
Michael Dunn	...	Rudi
Romolo Valli	...	Doctor Luilo
Fernando Piazza	...	Etti
Veronica Wells	...	Simonetta
Howard Taylor	...	Journalist

Also Known As:

Boom! (USA)
Goforth (USA) (working title)
Sunburst (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

113 min | USA:110 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Capo Caccia, Sardinia, Italy

Company:

John Heyman Productions

Trivia:

James Bernard was considered to write the film score.

Quotes:

Flora 'Sissy' Goforth: Did somebody tell you I was dying this summer? Did somebody tip you off that Sissy Goforth was about to go forth this summer?
Chris Flanders: Yes. That's why I came.
Flora 'Sissy' Goforth: Well, well. I've escorted six husbands to the eternal threshold and come back alone without them. Now it's my turn. I've no choice but to do it, but I want to do it alone. I don't want to be escorted. I want to go forth alone. And you... you counted on touching my heart because you knew I was dying. Well, you miscalculated with this one. The milk train doesn't stop here anymore.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Multiple Maniacs (1970)

Soundtrack:

Hideaway

Failed Art? Yes. Camp Masterpiece? YES! YES! YES!

Well, this is certainly SOME kind of classic!

I recently saw this film as it was meant to be seen, in a theater with a packed audience of Gay men and Lesbians (and don't panic, some token Heteros too)! This was at the 2nd Annual Provincetown Film Festival, and this evening was hosted by John Waters. (If I need to explain who he is, then forget EVER seeing this movie)

John Waters informed us that this was the movie that he shows to friends of his as his "litmus" test, if they don't enjoy it, he claims to never speak to them again! I'm inclined to agree.

If you're a fan of camp, SEE THIS FILM! If you're a fan of Elizabeth Taylor, SEE THIS FILM! If you're a fan of Joanna Shimkus, well I don't know what to say then, except congratulations! You're the first one! (although, she is great in this movie)

What more can you say about a film that has Elizabeth Taylor decked out in Kabuki-Vegas drag holding an intimate bitchy dinner party with an aged and drunken Noel Coward (in a role written for a woman, and first offered to Katharine Hepburn!) To watch Miss Taylor in action, is to behold a true screen legend fully embrace her diva acting self. She lets rip with such abandon and power, she manages to wipe everybody else off the screen, including HERSELF!

While Richard Burton, Noel Coward, Joanna Shimkus, and Michael Dunn (of Ship of Fools and Wild Wild West[tv version, please!] fame) manage to deliver the goods in this Tennessee Williams free for all, it is the incredible Miss Taylor who grounds this late 60's arthouse flop, and manages to transcend it's failing qualities, to make it a screen orgy of bad taste and over the top drama!

Try and keep a straight face during Miss Taylor's prolonged coughing fit on the balcony! I thought I was going to be sick just watching her hack up her lungs. Watch Richard Burton somnambulistically maneuver his way through a role played on stage by Tab Hunter! (I can't help but think, that this film might have actually been pulled off as a straight drama with the original casting of Simone Signoret and Sean Connery!)

We lovers of camp and all things over the top should revel in this failed artistic masterpiece!

This film gets a 10 Star rating as Camp, and a 4 Star rating as anything else!

endnote: Where is the DVD/Video release of this film????!!!!!!