In this sumptuous Civil War story, a willful southern belle goes mad out of fear that she may be part black.
Schoolteacher John Shawnessy of Raintree County, Indiana, is an outspoken Abolitionist, but that alone isn’t why he’s putting aside his books and heading for the battlefield. He joins the Union Army so that he can push into Georgia and find his wife Susanna, who has fled to her Southern home. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, previously together in A Place in the Sun, reunite in this sumptuous Civil War-era romance. The pairing again clicks. As Shawnessy, Clift tellingly captures the dilemma of a young man divided by passions and ambitions. And Taylor received her first Oscar nomination for her rich, textured portrayal of a wife vexed by madness.
Starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint, Nigel Patrick, Lee Marvin, Rod Taylor and Agnes Moorehead.
Not rated.