Secret Ceremony is a 1968 film, produced in Britain and released by Universal Pictures. It stars Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum, Pamela Brown, and Peggy Ashcroft. Joseph Losey directed, from a script by George Tabori.
Plot
Taylor plays a prostitute despondent over the death of her daughter. Mia Farrow is a lonely young woman who is immediately attracted to Taylor and practically adopts her as her mother. Mitchum, Farrow's stepfather, intrudes into this make-believe mother and daughter relationship, and tragedy ensues.
Critics
Critical reception of the film has tended to be mixed, with some critics essentially maintaining that it is a bad film but yet one that can be enjoyed due to a certain camp quality evident in Losey's mise-en-scène and the actors' performances. However, the film is compelling because of its deep psychological portraits. Taylor's performance is occasionally tacky but this is because she is playing a prostitute and mother at the same time. There are moments of heart-rending emotional truth in the character which Taylor conveys effortlessly. The role is one of her best ever. Farrow is also outstanding, and Mitchum is searing as the perverted stepfather.
The chief set of the film, the house where Farrow lives, was originally a mansion in Kensington, London, decorated in the style of Art Nouveau. Losey was famous for his so-called baroque style which he put to full use showing off the architecture of the set. There are apparently varying versions of the film, the result of Universal Pictures tampering with Losey's original cut, therefore de-emphasizing the Lesbian aspects of the Taylor-Farrow relationship.
