Boom! (film)
Boom! is a 1968 British drama thriller film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Noël Coward. It was adapted by Tennessee Williams from his own play The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore.
| Boom! | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joseph Losey |
| Produced by | John Heyman |
| Screenplay by | Tennessee Williams |
| Based on | The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore by Tennessee Williams |
| Starring | Elizabeth Taylor Richard Burton Noël Coward |
| Music by | John Barry |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Edited by | Reginald Beck |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | World Film Services Moon Lake John Heyman Productions |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English Italian |
| Budget | $3–10 million[1][2] |
| Box office | $2 million[1] |
Plot
Flora 'Sissy' Goforth (Taylor, in a part written for an older woman) is a terminally ill woman living with a coterie of servants in a large mansion on a secluded island. Into her life comes a mysterious man, Christopher Flanders, nicknamed "Angelo Del Morte" (played by then-husband Burton, in a part intended for a very young man). The mysterious man may or may not be "The Angel of Death".
The interaction between Goforth and Flanders forms the backbone of the plot, with both of the major characters voicing lines of dialogue that carry allegorical and Symbolist significance. Secondary characters chime in, such as "the Witch of Capri" (Coward). The movie mingles respect and contempt for human beings who, like Goforth, continue to deny their own death even as it draws closer and closer. It examines how these characters can enlist and redirect their fading erotic drive into the reinforcement of this denial.
Cast
- Elizabeth Taylor as Flora 'Sissy' Goforth
- Richard Burton as Chris Flanders
- Noël Coward as The Witch of Capri (as Noël Coward)
- Joanna Shimkus as Miss Black
- Michael Dunn as Rudi
- Romolo Valli as Dr. Luilo
- Fernando Piazza as Etti
- Veronica Wells as Simonetta
- Howard Taylor as Journalist
Production
Filming took place on the island of Sardinia at the Porto Conte Natural Park near Alghero, and was the site of a close call for actress Taylor. A trailer that served as her dressing room came loose from its moorings only a few seconds after she stepped out of it, and "plunged over a 150-foot embankment into the sea".[3]
Reception
The film was received poorly by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 20% based on reviews from 15 critics.[4]
Time wrote "They display the self-indulgent fecklessness of a couple of rich amateurs hamming it up at the country-club."[5] Paul D. Zimmerman, writing for Newsweek, called it "a pompous, pointless nightmare". The Hollywood Reporter called it "An ordeal in tedium", and Saturday Review called it "Outright junk". Lawrence Devine in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner asked "Why was Boom! filmed in the first place?" Wilfred Sheed wrote in Esquire: "Let them [Taylor and Burton] by all means do their thing, but why film it and charge admission?" Richard Schickel wrote in Life: "That title could not be more apt; it is precisely the sound of a bomb exploding."[6]
Filmmaker John Waters admires the film,[7][8] and chose it as a favorite to present in the first Maryland Film Festival in 1999. The film's poster is visible in Waters' 1972 film Pink Flamingos. In an interview with Robert K. Elder for his book The Best Film You've Never Seen, Waters describes the film as "beyond bad. It's the other side of camp. It's beautiful, atrocious, and it's perfect. It's a perfect movie, really, and I never tire of it."[9]
References
- Boom! at IMDb
- Losey on 'broken promises' Barker, Dennis. The Guardian, 1 August 1973: 6.
- "Trailer Takes Plunge Into Sea, but Not Liz", Chicago Tribune, 8 October 1967, p18
- Boom! at Rotten Tomatoes
- "New Movies: Boom!". Time. 31 May 1968.
- http://www.movie-film-review.com/devfilm.asp?rtype=3&id=2103
- Abraham, Amelia (12 August 2015). "John Waters on the Terrible, Trashy Films That Changed His Life". Vice.com. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- "Trash and Treasure: John Waters on 'Boom!'". MovieTime. ABC Radio National. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- Elder, Robert K. (1 June 2013). The Best Film You've Never Seen: 35 Directors Champion the Forgotten or Critically Savaged Movies They Love. Chicago Review. Chicago, IL. ISBN 9781569768389.