Lilith (1964)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Robert Rossen

Writers:

Robert Rossen (writer)
J.R. Salamanca (novel)

Release Date:

27 September 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

'POWERFUL SHOCKER ABOUT LOVE!'

Plot:

Lilith is a about a mysterious young woman in an elite sanitarium in New England, who seems to weave a magical spell all around her...

Plot Keywords:

Lilith | One Word Title | Character Study | Psychiatric Nurse | Therapist

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 12

1:15 AM

TCM

Cast

Warren Beatty	...	Vincent Bruce
Jean Seberg	...	Lilith Arthur
Peter Fonda	...	Stephen Evshevsky
Kim Hunter	...	Dr. Bea Brice
Anne Meacham	...	Mrs.Yvonne Meaghan
Jessica Walter	...	Laura
Gene Hackman	...	Norman
James Patterson	...	Dr. Lavrier
Robert Reilly	...	Bob Clayfield

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Chestnut Lodge - 500 W. Montgomery Avenue, Rockville, Maryland, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Jessica Walter's movie debut.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the staff and patients are loading up to go on their picnic, one of the cars is a 1959 Ford station wagon. When they arrive at their destination, the car has changed into a 1960 Ford wagon.

Quotes:

Lilith Arthur: You've killed with these hands. Why?
Vincent Bruce: That's the business of a soldier.
Lilith Arthur: You must love your God a lot to kill for him and still go on loving him. I'd never ask that of a lover. I'd only ask his joy.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Edge of Sensation (1990)

Insanity was never more seductive.

This film was referred to me by a classmate at the U.S. Navy school I was attending in mid-1965. I was a naive young sailor who invariably felt like I didn't fit in. I had felt very connected with James Dean, specifically in REBEL WITHOUT a CAUSE -- talk about a misunderstood young man! Being a bit disturbed seemed to work with both James and myself when attracting kind-hearted and trusting young women.

That being said, and having no idea what the movie was about, I paid my dime (at the base theater), entered, visited the snack bar and proceeded to have my whole world altered. Warren Beatty a kindred spirit -- honest, compassionate, trusting and vulnerable, with a few secrets of his own best kept buried deep within. Jean Seaberg was a vision of desire, sensuality, and intrigue, with more than enough dark secrets herself to draw me and Warren into her world like the largest, strongest magnet on Earth. Before long the co-stars were as one in Lilith's playground. I quickly followed eagerly -- her world looked far better than any I had ever seen or imagined. I was lead on a fabulous, ALICE IN WONDERLAND journey where, while much was familiar, I wasn't at all sure which way was up.

As the movie ended I still had no sense of direction. Hoping to gain greater understanding of where I had ended up and how to return to the "real" world, although I was not entirely sure I wanted to, I exited the theater, paid another dime and returned to my still-warm seat.

No answer was forthcoming -- only more questions, as I re-entered Lilith's wonderland. I think I have never left, nor do I have even the slightest desire to.