Raintree County

views updated

Raintree County ★★½ 1957

A lavish, somewhat overdone epic about two lovers caught up in the national turmoil of the Civil War. An Indiana teacher (Clift) marries a southern belle (Taylor) just after the outbreak of war. The new wife battles mental illness. Producers had hoped this would be another “Gone with the Wind.” Adapted from the novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. Film was delayed in midproduction by Clift's nearfatal and disfiguring car crash. 175m/C VHS, DVD . Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint, Lee Marvin, Nigel Patrick, Rod Taylor, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Abel; D: Edward Dmytryk; C: Robert L. Surtees.