The Sandpiper (1965)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Martin Ransohoff (story)
Irene Kamp (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

23 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

She gave men a taste of life that made them hunger for more!

Plot:

Free-spirited, young, unwed mother seduces a Episcopalian priest. Lots of pretty beach/ocean scenery.

Plot Keywords:

School | Love | Melodrama | Single Mother | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Laura Reynolds
Richard Burton	...	Dr. Edward Hewitt
Eva Marie Saint	...	Claire Hewitt
Charles Bronson	...	Cos Erickson
Robert Webber	...	Ward Hendricks
James Edwards	...	Larry Brant
Torin Thatcher	...	Judge Thompson
Tom Drake	...	Walter Robinson
Douglas Henderson	...	Paul Sutcliff (as Doug Henderson)
Morgan Mason	...	Danny Reynolds

Runtime:

117 min | Argentina:118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:L | USA:TV-14 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

Then unknown Raquel Welch doubled (uncredited) for Elizabeth Taylor in some of Taylor's beach scenes on location at Big Sur, California.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Shadow of Your Smile

Stunning Visuals, Leads Miscast

Wildly scandalous couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (for those who are too young to remember, the Brangelina of their day in terms of sex) play roles they were miscast in for this mid-60s soaper. Taylor is Laura Reynolds, a free-spirited, single-mother artist living a quasi bohemian lifestyle on the California beach. Her son is forcibly sentenced to a religious boarding school (unthinkable today!) by a judge when he gets into too much trouble and it's either that or juvenile hall. There she meets the headmaster, stoic Burton playing stoic David Hewitt, an unsmiling, humor-devoid cleric with a perfect wife (the perfectly named Eva Marie Saint, playing the naive and saintly wife) and perfect life. Hewitt is instantly attracted to the stunning Reynolds and inevitably they end up in bed. For Reynolds, it's love for the first time. For Hewitt, it's an enlightening experience that forces him to look hard at the values he's based his life on and begin to question them.

There are moments of realism, such as Hewitt's wife gives him the exact same description of HER life that Reynolds had previously described as her reason for being against marriage. The sandpiper of the title is a little bird rescued by Reynolds and cured of a broken wing but is unable to leave the little beach house. I suppose this is meant to be a metaphor for Hewitt locked into his values and lifestyle he comes to question, and unable to leave it until set free by Reynolds.

I found the music score corny and too Ferrante and Teischer, but others may like it. Charles Bronson is miscast as a beatnik artist, as is Taylor, who has the right rebellious flair to play the hedonistic artist but is so clearly of another time and place and doesn't fit with the ponchos-and-bongos crowd. Burton as Hewitt never cracks a smile, even when romping about with luscious Liz; one wonders why such a sought-after woman is drawn to him in the first place.

Not a bad movie, altogether; clearly of its time. The California scenery is stunning. The story is somewhat engrossing. It's interesting to watch the leads interact despite being miscast. Not the best Burton and Taylor had to offer but far from the worst.