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Ash Wednesday

  • 1973
  • R
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
5.1/10
813
YOUR RATING
Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday (1973)
DramaMystery

After getting plastic surgery in Switzerland to help rejuvenate her shaky marriage, Barbara Sawyer has an affair with a younger man while waiting for her husband's arrival from the U.S.After getting plastic surgery in Switzerland to help rejuvenate her shaky marriage, Barbara Sawyer has an affair with a younger man while waiting for her husband's arrival from the U.S.After getting plastic surgery in Switzerland to help rejuvenate her shaky marriage, Barbara Sawyer has an affair with a younger man while waiting for her husband's arrival from the U.S.

  • Director
    • Larry Peerce
  • Writer
    • Jean-Claude Tramont
  • Stars
    • Elizabeth Taylor
    • Henry Fonda
    • Helmut Berger
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.1/10
    813
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Larry Peerce
    • Writer
      • Jean-Claude Tramont
    • Stars
      • Elizabeth Taylor
      • Henry Fonda
      • Helmut Berger
    • 17User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Photos72

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    Top cast24

    Edit
    Elizabeth Taylor
    Elizabeth Taylor
    • Barbara Sawyer
    Henry Fonda
    Henry Fonda
    • Mark Sawyer
    Helmut Berger
    Helmut Berger
    • Erich
    Keith Baxter
    Keith Baxter
    • David
    Maurice Teynac
    Maurice Teynac
    • Doctor Lambert
    Margaret Blye
    Margaret Blye
    • Kate Sawyer
    Monique van Vooren
    Monique van Vooren
    • German Woman
    Henning Schlüter
    Henning Schlüter
    • Bridge Player
    Dino Mele
    Dino Mele
    • Mario
    Kathy Van Lypps
    • Mandy
    Dina Sassoli
    Dina Sassoli
    • Nurse Ilse
    Carlo Puri
    • Paolo
    Andrea Esterhazy
    Andrea Esterhazy
    • Comte d'Arnoud
    Jill Pratt
    • Simone
    Irina Wassilchikoff
    • Silvano del Campo
    Maximillian Windisch-Graetz
    • Viet Hartung
    Nadia Stancioff
    • Helga
    Rodolfo Lodi
    • Prince Von Essen
    • Director
      • Larry Peerce
    • Writer
      • Jean-Claude Tramont
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews17

    5.1813
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    Featured reviews

    3planktonrules

    I gained some respect for Liz Taylor when I saw her in this film, even though it's not a great film by any standard.

    The story begins in an exclusive clinic in Switzerland. Barbara (Elizabeth Taylor) is there to get 'the works', as she's older and hopes this will invigorate her stale marriage. The film then shows some pretty realistic surgery scenes as well as scenes of the post-surgery Barbara...complete with horrific bruises which come from the surgeries. She looks pretty awful in these scenes and I was impressed that the glamorous Taylor agreed to be made up to look this bad.

    Following her discharge, Barbara gets coiffed and buys a new wardrobe and awaits her husband in a nearby hotel...but it will be some time until Mark (Henry Fonda) arrives. And, given her new look and lease on life, Barbara finds herself drifting towards an affair with some younger stud. Clearly the surgery has had an effect on her psyche...but how will it affect Mark and the marriage? After all, he has no idea she was getting plastic surgery and expects an older looking woman to greet him.

    The notion of a woman getting plastic surgery and its effect (or lack of effect) on her life and marriage is an interesting one. However, the film managed to make it all very dull with too many scenes of Barbara walking about, eating dinner alone, etcetera...and many could have been eliminated or shortened. To put it bluntly, this portion of the movie is dull and glacially slow and it really shouldn't have been. Sadly, it seems to take forever for anything to happen...and I cannot understand this. Did it get better once the husband eventually arrived? Not especially.

    The bottom line is that the set up for the story should have resulted in something interesting but it didn't. I think the script and direction were major problems with "Ash Wednesday"....and I can understand why Taylor's husband at the time, Richard Burton, thought this was a poor film.
    7zorotrinidad

    Not vintage Liz, but "Ash Wednesday" has aged well

    I want to say, in 1973, it was fashionable to knock anything Elizabeth Taylor did. Not the greatest movie in the world, but a bitter story of how the aging process can affect us. Yes! It was a return to the gorgeous Liz! But, isn't that what a movie star is all about. So, Liz got fat, so did I! Liz drank and had her addictions. So do we all! Why judge a performance by an actor's trouble life? And, mirror, mirror on the wall, who has lived to survive it all? Elizabeth the Great! What more can I say? Sadly, bias and bigotry continue to blight the work of many great performers. Time will tell, or maybe it has told already, that Elizabeth Taylor and her body of work can stand up with the rest. P.S. Felt the same incredible sadness at"Ash Wednesday" in 1973 as I did at that other bitter pill "Brokeback Mountain."
    7xavrush89

    Like "Shirley Valentine" but dramatic...and pretty good.

    Obviously, this sight recommends "Breast Men" as a suitable companion piece to this because of the cosmetic surgery angle. (I don't watch similar films together anyway.) To me, it is much more akin in spirit to "Shirley Valentine." Woman estranged from her husband in foreign country amidst beautiful scenery, a change of life, etc. For once, a woman having a co-star old enough to be her father actually works with the script! Taylor's acting here is more subtle than it had been in the previous decade, and it works. I could not relate to a woman who goes to such lengths for her husbands affection, but she is playing a woman of a bygone era, and almost twenty years older than she was at the time (the woman playing her daughter could easily have played her sister in another film). This is a very slowly paced film, but by golly you can't help but root for Taylor to find some solace, just like Shirley V. All of this leads up to an inevitable confrontation with her husband, and the movie keeps you guessing to the end what will happen between them. Was it worth it? I won't tell. Knowing what we now know about the kind of father and husband Henry Fonda was in real life can't help but taint the viewing of him in this role. But hey, they could've gotten Bing Crosby. All in all, I saw this movie on video about nine years ago, and as you can see it has stayed with me. So check it out, it beats the heck out of anything on Lifetime.
    10wc1996-428-366101

    Liz, Liz, Liz

    Apparently, Elizabeth Taylor hated being called "Liz" but that didn't stop Mike Todd from naming his plane "The Lucky Liz", the plane that crashed and killed him. After his death Elizabeth leased a home in Tucson a few blocks from where I lived but she never stayed there the crowds were so bad. A girl I was dating happened to see Elizabeth at her girlfriend's home in Tucson and said she was more beautiful than you could imagine. The girlfriend's parents were Loews - the people who owned MGM and Elizabeth hid out at their home until she was able to leave Tucson. The house Elizabeth rented was owned by a customer of my dad's company, a TV sales and service concern, and it was quite posh but nothing compared to what Elizabeth was used to. Years later when I was working in the industry I would meet Elizabeth and her husband, Richard Burton, in Mexico. It was quite an experience. Rumor has it that Burton did not want Elizabeth to make this film but I am glad she did. In one scene after another she never looked so beautiful and that's really what this film is about - looking at the most beautiful woman in the world.
    6lostngone4ever

    Elizabeth Taylor plays...

    Elizabeth Taylor plays Barbara Sawyer, wife to Henry Fonda (who shows up late in the film) for 30 years who has not aged well (to say the least). She goes to Europe and receives plastic surgery in an attempt to save her marriage. Will her restored youth appeal to her husband or will she have to start life over and be strong enough to do so? This is the premise of Ash Wednesday, a syrupy soap opera in the ugly duckling to beautiful swan tradition. Maybe you're a fan of Liz Taylor and sought this movie out, or maybe you just managed to catch it on late night cable and there was nothing else on. Either way you probably realized that this movie wasn't exactly high caliber. But in humble defense I will praise an excellent musical score, beautiful on location scenery, and elegant Edith Head designed fashions. The premise of the movie is a good one and it could have made for a very interesting film had the screenwriter or director had any amount of talent. But the dialogue and direction are both flat. Certain scenes seem pointless and unfulfilled. However, the main point of the movie is to show loving close ups and profiles of 41 year old Taylor looking beautiful again. And, yes, with a lot more make-up and just the right camera angle, we the audience, are transplanted back to those fabulous 50's movies when Taylor didn't have to act or even speak to transfix your gaze upon her and hold it rapt. Rating for Ash Wednesday for any viewer. **(out of 4) For Liz Taylor fans. ***

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Dame Elizabeth Taylor's husband at time, Richard Burton, thought this movie was horrible and damaging to his wife's career, according to letters released for auction in 2004. "I sit here vulgarized by the idea that my wife is doing; violently against my 'taste'; a f - - - lousy nothing bloody film", he wrote in a 1973 letter to two employees. He continued "(Taylor's) singular acceptance of this film is because she wants to remain a famous film star. What the stupid (occasionally) maniac doesn't realize is that she is already immortalized (as a film person) forever."
    • Quotes

      Mark Sawyer: We can't live on memories.

    • Connections
      Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda (1978)
    • Soundtracks
      Ruby
      Written by Heinz Roemheld and Mitchell Parish

      Performed by Ray Charles

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    FAQ16

    • How long is Ash Wednesday?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 1, 1973 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Italy
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Die Rivalin
    • Filming locations
      • Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno, Veneto, Italy
    • Production companies
      • New Gold Entertainment
      • Sagittarius Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,027,170
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 39 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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