LILITH

title: LILITH

year: 1964

cast: Warren Beatty, Jean Seberg, Peter Fonda, Kim Hunter, Gene Hackman, Jessica Walter

rating: **

I always have problems with movies made in the EARLY sixties because it was a time when films were getting more "realistic" and yet they still held back (they still HAD TO) and what's with all the dissolves from one scene to next? In this era there were SO MANY scenes that never really play out and simply dissolve right as they get interesting. This movie is no different than most of the others. It pushes an envelope that's been delivered so many times, that although it is ahead of its time as far as being controversial goes (implied lesbianism and some swearing), it all seems very tame and a bit boring now. Warren Beatty isn't bad as a really good looking war vet (but he doesn't seem like he's been through ANY war to me) who works at a mental ward and meets the most beautiful woman in the world, named LILITH, a patient who draws men (and women) in with her alluring beauty, and eventually drives them to insanity, suicide, or both. A very young Peter Fonda is nice to see as an uptight yet friendly mental patient smitten by the title character, and his acting is just-okay-but-cool as usual. Gene Hackman appears in a cameo but adds little to the film's overall somewhat boring tone (same with Kim Hunter and Jessica Walter)... all that leads to a conclusion that leaves you feeling somewhat in-complete.