Sweet Bird of Youth
- Director: Nicolas Roeg
- Writer: Tennessee Williams; Gavin Lambert
- Producer: Amanda DiGiulio; Donald Kushner
CGiii Comment
A 48 year old playing a 31 year old - that stretches the imagination...too far.
Taylor squawks her lines as if she's reading from a second grade story book.
Lambert's script strips all substance from the original (not that it had much in the first place).
The biggest surprise...Roeg's direction, or lack of...money certainly does compromise artistic endeavour and talent.
An unintended comedy - Taylor will have you in hysterics.
Roeg must have been out of his mind.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Aging movie star Alexandra del Lago, also known as Princess Kosmonopolis (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), fears her career is over due to her fading youthful looks. She takes up with a handsome young man, Chance Wayne (Mark Harmon), 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 (Cheryl Paris). But Chance's departure years before has destroyed Heavenly's possibilities of a happy life, and her father, "Boss" Tom Finley (Rip Torn), 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.
Cast & Characters
Elizabeth Taylor as Alexandra Del Lago;
Mark Harmon as Chance Wayne;
Valerie Perrine as Miss Lucy;
Kevin Geer as Tom Junior;
Seymour Cassel;
Ronnie Claire Edwards as Aunt Nonnie;
Cheryl Paris as Heavenly Finley;
Rip Torn as Boss Finley;
Charles Lucia;
Teddy Wilson;
Megan Blake;
John Fleck;
Tom Nolan;
Billy Ray Sharkey;
Ruta Lee as Sally Powers