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• Total Trash

  • Bruce Reber
  • 4/7/11

  There's certainly no secret that "Secret Ceremony" (1968), starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow and Robert Mitchum, is one of the weirdest and trashiest films ever. Joseph Losey, who moved to England after being blacklisted and drummed out of Hollywood by HUAC, directed this piece of garbage. The plot itself is totally ludicrous - a nymphomaniac (Farrow) who's been trying to get her stepfather (Mitchum) in the sack hires a prostitute (Taylor) to pose as her dead mother - geez, talk about weird! Everyone associated with this trashfest should be totally embarassed, and should think long and hard about how they ever got mixed up in it. The master and all prints of "Secret Ceremony" should be destroyed so that future film fans will never know how such an awful mess could ever be made. Thank god it's not on DVD!!!

• A neglected gem

  • Tom Franks
  • 4/5/11

  The acting and mise en scene in this neglected film by Joseph Losey in his later artistic British period is simply amazing. It wasn't written by Pinter, as ACCIDENT by the same director was, but it could have been. A strange collusion develops between two needy women on the edge, brought to a tragic conclusion by the disturbing, hateful presence of Robert Mitchum in possibly his most eerie performances since NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. The film is so beautiful to look at that one wishes to stop and frame many of the scenes. Also it has a beautiful music score by Richard Rodney Bennett. Yes, it's a product of late sixties decadence and has an Antonioni like slowness, but it's worth watching. Believe me, it will stay in your consciousness longer than most of the films you will ever see. Don't dismiss it as camp; let it get to you and you'll be rewarded.

• An Elizabeth Taylor Must See!

  • Jamie Boerner
  • 9/2/07

  Any film lover cannot miss Elizabeth Taylor's performance in this film. Her portrayal of Leonora is the deepest soul searching look into a mother's love. The added twist of Mia Farrow, before Rosemary's Baby, as her daughter, searching for her mother's love. Each in such desperate need of what the other has, and has lost. If that doesn't wet your appetite, you have no taste buds. This story has stayed with me these many, many years. My favorite line of Ms. Taylor is when she is imitating Robert Mitchum saying, "you could have killed yourself, honey". The delivery is unforgettably a Taylor original! Mitchum is the perfect male to fear and despise. If you appreciate a movie that accentuates a couple of great actors, in an unusual, intense story, this hits the spot like no other film. I'm only sorry it hasn't shown on TV in I cannot remember how many years, and it is not readily available in video stores. If you can find it, you will treasure it as an unheralded gem.

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