User reviews

One of the great pleasures of watching older films is that, beyond the obvious joys of character and plot, they also offer us a look past the films' action and into the world in which they were made: the fashions of dress, design, and social attitude that prevailed at the time. All of this "background," so taken for granted by the filmmakers in their day, can, when seen across a focal space of time and social change, reveal fascinating elements unguessed-at when the films were made.

So it is with LILITH. Other comments on this film have more than adequately discussed the plots and motivations of the characters; what I found unexpectedly mesmerizing and appalling was its view of the mental institution of the mid-1960s. Warren Beatty's character has no experience in such a setting, but he'd like to "help people," so he's hired on the spot and immediately put in charge of patients who, by definition, aren't responsible for their own actions. The inmates seem to be mostly left to do as they please, whether it be teetering at the edge of a precipitous cliff or wandering off in the woods, easily slipping away from their inattentive keepers.

When Beatty's character begins to be attracted to Lilith, the chief shrink calls him in and asks if this is the case. "No, I don't think so," says Beatty, patently lying through his teeth. "Well," says Dr Big reassuringly, "it's not unheard-of for patients to fall in love with the orderlies, and sometimes, unfortunately, it happens the other way as well." And that's that: with this appalling (to modern-day ears, at any rate) bit of 'advice,' or possibly nudge-wink encouragement, he pats the oafish horndog on the back, tells him he's doing a great job, and sends him off to town on yet another date with Lilith. Whenever Beatty does express concern about anything job-related, the medical staff just interrupts him with "don't worry, you're doing a fine job" and gently shoos him out.

What a different world it was, forty years ago! Mind you, I'm not judging the film by social standards that never occurred to its time; indeed, the things it reveals about the 'care' of mental patients in 1963 are what made it most interesting to me. All the characters are either entertainingly insane or arrestingly clueless idiots, and Lilith herself is a sufficiently complex and compelling character to make this melodrama watchable all on her own.

This forgotten, totally under-appreciated film from 1964 is very powerful (I believe it was Robert Rossen's last film). Strangely hypnotic and frightening in a very subtle way, this showed Beatty three years before B&C showing the potential he had in Splendor in the Grass. He also met Gene Hackman while making this and later cast him as his brother in B&C which launched Hackman.

There is also a splendid performance from Peter Fonda, of all people. As Hackman's wife, Jessica Walter showed how amazing she was at a relatively young age and just never got the right parts in decent films. You'll also see a young Rene Auberjenois and Olympia Dukakis in a bit part. I hope more people look into this devastating piece on mental illness.

Robert Rossen would only direct ten films in the space of 17 years and, despite their sometimes erratic quality, he was a talented and highly respected figure. His neglected and misunderstood swan-song was deemed by some a means of reparation for his former Communist beliefs and the fact that he was a friendly witness during the HUAC hearings (the confused hero wanting to make good but ending up disillusioned); when the picture was mauled by critics, he got cold feet and bailed out of his intention to present it at the Venice Film Festival!

Few American movies up to this point had revolved around insane asylums, most notably the prestigious THE SNAKE PIT (1948), Vincente Minnelli's glossy, all-star melodrama THE COBWEB (1955) and the somewhat hysterical SHOCK CORRIDOR (1963) from maverick film-maker Samuel Fuller. Still, this is more of a character study than a serious treatment of its subject matter (which, outside of the inmates played by Jean Seberg and Peter Fonda – a nice early dramatic showcase for the latter – are restricted to a handful of intense irrational outbursts, for lack of a better phrase). Even so, Warren Beatty’s brooding occupational therapist protagonist is himself often impenetrable (despite the sympathetic guidance of asylum head Kim Hunter) – justifying his own breakdown at the film’s abrupt, haunting conclusion. The essential gloominess of the piece is, however, offset by passages of lyricism (the ethereal yet experimental black-and-white cinematography by veteran Eugen Schuftan – who had won as Oscar for Rossen’s previous film, THE HUSTLER [1961] – is exquisite throughout): that said, sequences such as the lengthy interlude at the fair (complete with an archaic jousting tournament) seem to be making some obscure point or other which renders it a slightly pretentious whole.

Apart from the fact that therapist and patient are involved in a tempestuous love affair, the film’s controversial aspects entail scenes subtly depicting paedophelia, a lesbian relationship and also the temptation for an extra-marital fling by Beatty’s former girlfriend (Jessica Walter); a young Gene Hackman appears as Walter’s workaholic but uncouth husband in one scene – naturally, he would re-unite with Beatty for Arthur Penn’s seminal BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967). Despite his classic good looks, Beatty didn’t conform to Hollywood standards – opting from the outset for gritty and often demanding fare (including John Frankenheimer’s ALL FALL DOWN [1962] and Penn’s MICKEY ONE [1965]) whenever he could. The beguiling Seberg exudes effortless sensuality in the role of the enigmatic Lilith which, reportedly, was her own personal favorite; chillingly, the climactic regression into total madness of her character parallels that of the actress herself who would eventually take her own life 15 years later!

Jean Seberg was a woefully inadequate actress in almost every role in which she was cast but she seemed born to play Lilith, the unstable, deeply amoral 'heroine' of Robert Rossen's last film. It's an extraordinary performance and it's extraordinary because it doesn't appear to have anything to do with 'acting'; it just seems to exist. The theme of the film is madness, not 'mental illness' but madness in the truly Shakespearean sense of the word, and everything about the film is heightened, a little unreal. Eugen Schufftan photographs the film in a hazy monochrome with the emphasis on white. We peer at the characters through shafts of sunlight, (and there is a lot of water on view, too).

And Seberg isn't the only extraordinary performance. There is excellent work, too, from Warren Beatty as the young nurse drawn into Lilith's web, Kim Hunter as the woman who runs the institution where Lilith is housed and Peter Fonda, (the best of his early performances) as another patient obsessed with Lilith. Indeed the whole cast, (which includes a brilliant, early cameo from Gene Hackman), is working at the top of their form.

The film is an adaptation of a J R Salamanca novel but Rossen renders it in wholly visual terms. He uses his camera the way an artist uses his canvas to convey the inner lives of his characters. It isn't a total success. There are times when it dissolves into hysteria and the symbolism tends to get a bit top-heavy, but it is still a fearless, totally uncommercial movie, possibly it's director's best, and a key American movie of the sixties.

The mental institution in this film, called "Poplar Lodge" I believe, is modeled on Chestnut Lodge, a Bethesda, Maryland institution famed for early attempts to establish interpersonal relationships with (rich) psychotic patients. This fits the institutional style depicted in this film. Hopwever, the main characters do not seem to be mentally ill so much as metaphores for the madness es in our society. The perception that sexual expression represents evil or crazy behavior, not changed all that much from the time this film was made, frequent wars, and the way sensitive people are brushed aside as others hustle toward dubious goals, are all personified as forms of madness. Okay so far.

But the film does not quite work. The character played by Anne Meacham, seething with barely suppressed sexuality, works, but Lilith, played as a golden haired all American, girl next door beauty, doing and saying odd things, making up her own language, seeing herself as an outside observer of our society, is a character which doesn't hit home. She seems more quirky than mad. That she drives men into destructive actions seems somehow unlikely. At the most, she may be a catalyst for their weaknesses to be expressed.

Jean Seberg doesn't personify madness. She seems just bemused. Warren Beatty conveys a lack of inner direction, a developing depression, and strange longings by looking blank, seeming inarticulate, and acting as if he has no idea of the direction his next step will take. All of this slows this film down to a very languid pace, frequently accompanied by a relaxed bop-along jazz score. Thus, the film is too slow, a long windup for a soft pitch. It is hard to feel much tension, even though it is clear that there is supposed to be a lot of tension. Nice try, but no cigar.

Coming on the heels of Splendor in the Grass and All Fall Down, one can surmise the reasons behind Warren Beatty's decision to play the male lead in Lilith. In those two earlier films, he had played brooding and laconic young men, a group to which Vincent Bruce belongs. Beatty had also previously played a callous gigolo (to great effect) opposite Vivien Leigh in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. Lilith would provide him with the opportunity to reprise his earlier portrayals, with the added shades of a seemingly compassionate, diligent young man.

Had Lilith required Beatty to exude only these facets of Vincent Bruce, his performance would have been more than adequate; but the character has additional complexities which Beatty never registers well. For that reason, I believe he is miscast in this film. On the other hand, Jean Seberg truly shines as Lilith Arthur, the disturbed young woman. Her expressions in the close-ups disclose her unhinged state of mind. Seberg's performance could profitably be used in acting classes everywhere. Anne Meacham, Peter Fonda, Kim Hunter, and Jessica Walter are also very good, but Gene Hackman deserves a special mention for a brief but indelible appearance.

Beyond the performances, the film is a languorous, plodding vehicle, sometimes too painful to watch, as is the scene between Peter Fonda and Warren Beatty in the garden, toward the end. Beatty's disengaging comportment invalidates any sympathy the spectator might feel for him in the end, unlike, say, Shutter Island, for which this film might have served as inspiration.

Jean Seberg is absolutely captivating in this film. Yes despite the wig she wears, due to the fact her hair was cropped short for her previous films, she is as lovely as ever. One of my favorite films of all time and certainly the best one that deals with insanity in and honest and true way, not only avoiding the cliché' but completely reversing it and debunking the stereotype. Robert Rossen is a great director, one of history's most under-appreciated and few others could helm this story the way he does. Based on the novel by J.R. Salamanca, the story is of a young war vetern who returns home and seeks a job at the local mental institute. There he gets too involved with several of the patients and learns much about their past, which reflects the tragedy in his own life involving his mother.

It's true Warren Beatty does play the role blandly and stiff. While that's a turn off for many people watching the film, I think they fail to understand that just like Ryan O'Neil in Barry Lyndon, it's the character they're playing. Not the actor and certainly not the direction. Wonderful supporting cast from Kim Hunter and Peter Fonda as well as a brilliant cameo by Gene Hackman, which oozes of a marriage gone sour in his bit part.

It's a very hard film to figure out because so much is left untold and rightfully so leaving the audience to decide what happened. Playing on the fable of the past coming back to haunt us it plays deeply on buried memories and traumatic life experiences that were covered up rather than confronted. There is so much positive to say about this amazing film, but even so it's actress Jean Seberg that is the crown jewell in this picture. Criminally underseen, now that it is on DVD anyone interested in deep character studies should make it a point to watch this ASAP.

This is a film I have never seen and I enjoyed the great acting by Warren Beatty, (Vincent Bruce) and Jean Seberg, (Lilth Arthur). Vincent Bruce is a Korean War Veteran and has returned to his home town and is trying to find a job and eventually he finds work in a mental institution. Vincent is assigned to a help a very attractive blonde girl named Lilth who never goes outside and once she set her eyes on Vincent things change and there becomes a great improvement with her mental state of mind. Lilth really spins a web all around Vincent and even teases him with a lesbian relationship with another female inmate. This is a very different and interesting film with young stars just starting out like, Gene Hackman and Peter Fonda.

This is one of those films that managed to leave an enduring impression on me and I've seen it quite a few times since finding it quite by chance. It reminds me of that other great unknown the Ninth Configuration. It tells the story of a troubled ex soldier who goes to work at an asylum and quite unexpectedly loses himself in the world of one of the patients - Lilith. Jean Seberg is quite simply out of this world, her every gaze and expression drawing you the viewer in. It's easy to see how both Vincent and another patient Stephen, an introverted young man, are irresistibly attracted to her visions of ecstatic escapism from the unhappy 'real' world outside. Unlike what it says the back of the case, which rather glorifies the trouble she causes and implies a scheming manipulator of men's emotions this is essentially a poetic tale (of course that doesn't sell!). Instead I was left feeling the problems were all caused by others' reaction to her and the neurosis locked up in all of us that she has a talent for bringing out, and healing if they'd but let go of their insecurities. As a man, it left me struggling with both Vincent and Stephens actions as I can see a part of me in both of them. It also left me wishing I was in the story and how I'd do things differently from them. That's the powerful effect of this film. Also worth noting is the connection, never explicitly stated, with the legends of Lilith and the fall of Adam. In this sense you get to hear her side of the story.. quite remarkable

This film was referred to me by a classmate at the U.S. Navy school I was attending in mid-1965. I was a naive young sailor who invariably felt like I didn't fit in. I had felt very connected with James Dean, specifically in REBEL WITHOUT a CAUSE -- talk about a misunderstood young man! Being a bit disturbed seemed to work with both James and myself when attracting kind-hearted and trusting young women.

That being said, and having no idea what the movie was about, I paid my dime (at the base theater), entered, visited the snack bar and proceeded to have my whole world altered. Warren Beatty a kindred spirit -- honest, compassionate, trusting and vulnerable, with a few secrets of his own best kept buried deep within. Jean Seaberg was a vision of desire, sensuality, and intrigue, with more than enough dark secrets herself to draw me and Warren into her world like the largest, strongest magnet on Earth. Before long the co-stars were as one in Lilith's playground. I quickly followed eagerly -- her world looked far better than any I had ever seen or imagined. I was lead on a fabulous, ALICE IN WONDERLAND journey where, while much was familiar, I wasn't at all sure which way was up.

As the movie ended I still had no sense of direction. Hoping to gain greater understanding of where I had ended up and how to return to the "real" world, although I was not entirely sure I wanted to, I exited the theater, paid another dime and returned to my still-warm seat.

No answer was forthcoming -- only more questions, as I re-entered Lilith's wonderland. I think I have never left, nor do I have even the slightest desire to.

The last film from director Robert Rossen, who also adapted the screenplay from J.R. Salamanca's book, concerns the new intern at a mental hospital in Maryland who has an affair with one of his patients, a beautiful but deeply disturbed young woman. Handsomely shot by cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan, the drama is thoughtfully, carefully mounted by Rossen, whose artistic flourishes--and portentous thunder-in-the-distance affects--are too often heavy-handed. The picture ultimately feels dour and ponderous, and some scenes don't work at all (a gathering of the patients in a circle for a session, for instance, comes off looking like an improv class in a dramatic workshop). The strong cast includes Warren Beatty and a hypnotic Jean Seberg in the leads, Kim Hunter (excellent), Peter Fonda and Gene Hackman in support. Kenyon Hopkins supplies the dreamily dangerous background score. The film isn't a success--it doesn't have the courage to tackle the intricacies of its own subject--however select moments (such as Seberg greeting two little boys at the fair) are quietly bracing and intense. **1/2 from ****

"Lilith" is a film with some good and some bad. Overall, I'd give it a 5...mostly because Warren Beatty was new to starring in films and he was wooden and too quiet. He did improve later and became a fine actor....so I am not attacking him. I just think the film was more than he could yet handle well as an actor. Jean Seberg, on the other hand, was pretty amazing....and it's such a darn shame her life spiraled out of control and she killed herself.

The name 'Lilith' is from Mesopotamian and early Hebrew literature. She's a fictional character who supposedly was Adam's first wife (don't ask me how that was possible). She also was spiteful, a sexual siren and vicious....so you can guess where this is going when you watch the film.

When the story begins, Vincent (Beatty) is hired by a sanitarium to work with mentally ill patients. This is odd since he has no training whatsoever in it and they train him by tossing him in with them and offering him some guidance, though in hindsight this was a HUGE mistake. Over time, he forms a relationship with a patient, Lilith (Seberg) and she captivates him even though she clearly is schizophrenic and manipulative. Soon, they begin a sexual relationship and big things result from it...well, duh!

I actually worked in a mental hospital long, long ago and was shocked that in the film they hired folks with no formal training in psychology. Perhaps that was normal for the 1960s. I also was shocked because there was hardly any supervision over him AND the staff encouraged him to have very poor boundaries with the patients. In particular, seeing him in a closed room alone with the beautiful Lilith is hard to believe, though again, perhaps in the 1960s this wasn't so weird. All I know is that it seemed like a recipe for disaster and the trained psychotherapist within me was on edge. Now these are NOT complaints...just some insights into how I reacted to the film.

As for the movie, as I mentioned above, Beatty was the main problem I had with the movie. He barely talked (which was VERY odd) and he seemed wooden and unnatural It's a shame, as the film is thought-provoking and interesting but really fell flat for me. An interesting but flawed film...and among Seberg's best work.

This unusual and compelling drama was scripted, produced and directed by Robert Rossen (1908-1966), from a novel by J. R. Salamanca. Rossen was a superb director who had made his name with the famous ALL THE KING'S MEN (1949) and THE HUSTLER (1961) with Paul Newman. Unfortunately, this was the last film which Rossen ever made, as he died aged only 58 two years later. Eight actors directed by him won Oscars for their performances, and in this film he got one of the best performances ever out of Warren Beatty. The film is particularly notable for being the first feature film in which Gene Hackman and Jessica Walter appeared. Both of them give stunning performances as a married couple who are minor characters in the story. Walter's performance was so strong that it probably explains why Sidney Lumet cast her in THE GROUP (1966) two years later, the film that made her reputation. The female star in this film is Jean Seberg, who brilliantly plays the character Lilith who compulsively needs to make everyone fall in love with her, but is mentally disturbed. The film is set at a mental asylum for very rich patients. The main thrust of the film, however, is Warren Beatty's story. He is an ex-solider returned from 'the War' (in this case presumably the Korean War) who lives in a sombre fashion with his grandmother, is single and at a loose end. We slowly come to realize that the real reason why he feels compelled to go to the insane asylum and ask for a job, where he is accepted and trains as an occupational therapist, is because his own mother had been interned there years before, and had died there. He is haunted by this memory and keeps her signed photo by his bed and looks at her all the time. His mother when young resembled Jean Seberg, so he develops an obsessive need to try to help Seberg recover, as a proxy for his mother whom he was unable to help. Beatty's performance is really outstanding and so sensitive and nuanced that it was really worthy of an Oscar. The film is brilliantly directed, lit, scripted, acted, and produced. It is a model example of how to make an excellent film based on difficult material, in an unlikely location, and concerning a subject most people would rather avoid and prefer not to know about. Rossen was very bold in carrying off this risky venture with such complete success, and it was a perfect swan song for his fine career. As for Beatty, it is one of the performances he can be most proud of. And it launched Gene Hackman, though the character he plays here is so unlike the Gene Hackman we are used to, that it will shock and surprise everyone who sees this. In fact, it proves just what a talented and versatile actor Hackman was from the very beginning, before he started to become type-cast as a lead player in roles where he is meant to play the familiar Gene Hackman that everybody pays to see.

Lilith has Jean Seberg in the title role and she's quite beautiful and fetching. She also comes from rich parents who have put her in a country club of an asylum with a lot of other rich dingbats. And this is where newly hired therapist Warren Beatty is drawn into an infatuation with her that by rights should get him terminated from the establishment.

Lilith is a beautifully photographed film with Jean Seberg never looking more lovely and seductive on screen. This was Robert Rossen's last film and he wanted it to be a good one. Unfortunately I think the viewer will leave asking what was the point of all this.

What was daring at the time was the fact that Seberg was bisexual and the reaction of Beatty catching Seberg enjoying a romp in the hay with Jessica Walter was typical for 1964. Her essential amorality both repels and attracts him at once, Beatty does a good job in showing those opposite emotions registering at once.

A couple of Oscar winners in the future Gene Hackman and Olympe Dukakis have small roles in Lilith. Kim Hunter plays the asylum director and Peter Fonda plays a most insecure patient whom Seberg toys with.

But I have to confess I didn't get a whole lot of what Lilith was all about. What I came away with it's lucky the rich have such an expensive facility to pamper their neuroses.

The most remarkable thing about "Lilith" is how many of the actors in this film went on to be huge hollywood names. Peter Fonda, Gene Hackman, & Warren Beatty all rose to be big name stars. Jean Seberg was perhaps more infamous than famous, but she was also a well known individual. It's fascinating to see these actors so young. I think Fonda is the most shocking as he is totally unlike the type of roles he's known for (I didn't even recognise him), which is perhaps a testament to how good an actor he really was.

Unfortunately the film itself is quite pedantic, with perhaps brief glimmers of "something" - the promise of a better film waiting to emerge, but never does. The only thing that really carries the viewer is staring at Seberg and Beatty in all their youthful and photogenic glory. The film is something of a 'talkie,' with an endless stream of long dialogue scenes that must have driven the actors half-mad. It drove me half-asleep. After so much plodding along, a small melodrama plays out at lightning speed at the end, and leaves an unsatisfying feeling in its wake.

Not recommended for viewing unless one really has a keen interest in one of the aforementioned actors.