Sweet Bird of Youth (1989)

Aging film star Alexandra del Lago, also known as Princess Kosmonopolis, fears her career is over due to her fading youthful looks. She takes up with a handsome young man, Chance Wayne, who... See full summary »

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (play), Gavin Lambert (teleplay)

Stars:

Elizabeth Taylor, Mark Harmon, Valerie Perrine

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Princess Kosmonopolis
Mark Harmon	...	Chance Wayne
Valerie Perrine	...	Miss Lucy
Kevin Geer	...	Tom Junior
Seymour Cassel	...	Hatcher
Ronnie Claire Edwards	...	Aunt Nonnie
Cheryl Paris	...	Heavenly Finley
Rip Torn	...	Boss Finley
Charles Lucia	...	Dr. George Scudder
Teddy Wilson	...	Fly (as Theodore Wilson)
Megan Blake	...	Violet
John Fleck	...	Mission Man (as John W. Fleck)
Michael Wilding Jr.	...	(as Michael Wilding)
Tom Nolan
Billy Ray Sharkey	...	Scotty

Storyline

Aging film star Alexandra del Lago, also known as Princess Kosmonopolis, fears her career is over due to her fading youthful looks. She takes up with a handsome young man, Chance Wayne, who once had promise as an actor but who has fallen into the life of a gigolo. Together they travel to Chance's home town, where he hopes to regain the love of his one-time girlfriend Heavenly Finley. But Chance's departure years before has destroyed Heavenly's possibilities of a happy life, and her father, political boss Tom Finley, wants revenge on Chance. Chance hopes to take Heavenly with him to start the movie career he believes the Princess offers him, but she is so fragile in her dread of lost youth that no one's dreams seem likely to come true.

---

Plot Keywords:

aging | sex | self destructiveness | older woman younger man relationship | washed up star | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ambitions d'amour

Filming Locations:

Upland, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Multicom Entertainment Group, Kushner-Locke Company, The, National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rip Torn (Boss Finley) was in the original film version as Finley's son.

---

Goofs

This remake is set in the late 1950s. Yet Alexandra del Lago pays with a credit card, not with checks as in the original play and original film. Also some of the costuming, especially Heavenly's, is much later in style than the 1950's-early 1960s.

---

Connections

Version of Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

User Reviews

Taylor at Her Best

The success of a film is based on one thing and one thing only - chemistry - and Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon positively sizzle in this film. You cannot take your eyes off them. The casting is right out of heaven. The story, of course, is pure Tennessee Williams, sordid and nasty and southern, but who cares when you're looking at two utterly gorgeous creatures like Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon. The story really takes a back seat to this production which is quite lavish and hardly has the look of a television movie which is what it was. With a top flight director like Nicholas Roeg, how can you miss? You can't! Valerie Perrine in a supporting role really stands out. She is absolutely luminous and holds her own with Taylor in their scenes together. The supporting cast generally is excellent but Taylor and Harmon just cannot be beat when they are together they are so extraordinary.