Suddenly Last Summer (Maggie Smith at the BBC Collection) (1993)

Director:	Richard Eyre
Actors:	Maggie Smith, Rob Lowe, Richard E. Grant, Natasha Richardson

Few words can fully describe the dazzling range of Dame Maggie Smith. She is an icon of stage and screen, both large and small, yet she is tantalizingly enigmatic when removed from the limelight that most actors crave. However, all thar is required to view any single performance from her illustrious 50-year career to immediately appreciate the personality and breadth she brings to even her smallest roles.

Faithfully adapting the esteemed Tennessee Williams play, Suddenly Last Summer features Maggie Smith as the domineering Violet Venable. Dr. John Cukrowicz is a talented brain surgeon, frustrated by the lack of funding at the asylum he works at. Venable, a wealthy New Orleans matron, offers a generous grant if Cukrowicz can lobotomise her niece Catherine, who seems to have gone insane ever since her cousin (Violet's son) Sebastian died under mysterious circumstances. As Catherine continues to be incoherent about the causes of her condition and Sebastian's death, Dr. Cukrowicz tries to put together the pieces without alterting Catherine, desoute pressure from Violet, who refuses to divulge any details about her son.

Maggie Smith: A Portrait features contributors such as Richard Eyre, Alan Bennett and Simon Callow as they contemplate with working experiences with Dame Maggie Smith and discuss her acting talents. Also includes archive BBC interviews with Dame Maggie herself.