''Zee and Co'' (also known as ''X Y and Zee'' and ''Zee and Company'') is a 1972 British
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Brian G. Hutton
Brian Geoffrey Hutton (January 1, 1935 – August 19, 2014) was an American actor and film director whose notable credits are for the action films '' Where Eagles Dare'' (1968) and ''Kelly's Heroes'' (1970).
Acting career
Hutton was born in New Y ...
and starring
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
,
Michael Caine, and
Susannah York
Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...
. Released by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
, it was based upon a novel by
Edna O'Brien. The screenplay concerns a middle-aged, bickering couple whose marriage is near its end, and the woman who comes between them.
Plot
Zee Blakely is a loud, coarse, 40-something socialite, whose marriage to her architect husband Robert is on the rocks as witnessed by their frequent verbal sparring matches. Sick of Zee's antics, Robert is drawn to quiet boutique owner Stella who is the complete antithesis to Zee in terms of personality.
Feeling bored and rejected, Zee attempts several methods to regain Robert's sympathy, such as attempting suicide, but these do not work. Zee discovers that Stella had a lesbian affair in the past, and uses this against both her and Robert and then dares him to partake in a love triangle with Stella.
Cast
*
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
as Zee Blakeley
*
Michael Caine as Robert Blakeley
*
Susannah York
Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...
as Stella
*
Margaret Leighton as Gladys
*
John Standing
Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English actor and baronet who is known as John Standing. He is the stepson of John Clements.
Early life
Standing was born in London, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherin ...
as Gordon
* Mary Larkin as Rita
*
Michael Cashman as Gavin
* Gino Melvazzi as Head Waiter
Production
Filming
Zee and Co. was shot at
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...
and
on location in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The film's sets were designed by the
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Peter Mullins
Peter Mullins (9 July 1926 – 13 April 2012) was an Australian decathlete and basketball player. He competed in the decathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics. As a basketball player, he played at the 1959 FIBA World Championship on the Cana ...
. Caine claimed decades later that Elizabeth Taylor was paid ten times more than he was for the film.
Music
The theme song "Going in Circles" was covered by
Three Dog Night, appearing as the b-side to the single "
The Family of Man
''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photography, photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) Department of Photography. According to Steichen, ...
" as well as on their album ''
Seven Separate Fools'', both released in 1972.
Critical reception
Critical opinions of the film were varied.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
wrote that while the movie is "no masterpiece" it still satisfies audiences as it "unzips along at a nice, vulgar clip".
He said that Elizabeth Taylor is the film's main attraction, but the emphasis upon her detracts somewhat from a fuller representation of the love triangle in the film.
Steven Scheuer praised the film for its "intelligent dialogue" and as a "change of pace" for its director.
Michael McWilliams cited Taylor's work as "her greatest movie performance" and called the film "outrageously funny" (McWilliams, 1987: 32).
Other critics were less sympathetic. ''
New York Magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
'' wrote: "The characters played by Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine and Susannah York are uniformly repulsive; the style completely vulgar; the dialogue moronic, and the situations simply beyond belief in this triangular affair."
Leonard Maltin wrote the film was "contrived
ndoften perverse," with the Elizabeth Taylor/Susannah York love scene ranking "high in the annals of poor taste," (Maltin, 1990: 1386).
Clive Hirschhorn felt the film was sabotaged by the director's "indulgent" take on it, thereby skewing
Edna O'Brien's screenplay to its detriment (Hirshhorn, 1989: 298).
Mick Martin offered a very brief review of the film, writing that it was a "pointless tale of sexual relationships", (Martin and Porter, 1996: p. 1213).
Home media
A Region 1 DVD-R
[Remastered Region 1 DVD released](_blank)
sonypictures.com; retrieved 26 August 2014. was released by Sony Pictures on 17 December 2010.
Bibliography
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zee And Co.
1972 films
1970s English-language films
Columbia Pictures films
1972 LGBT-related films
1972 drama films
Films directed by Brian G. Hutton
Films scored by Stanley Myers
British drama films
Films based on Irish novels
Films set in London
Films shot at Shepperton Studios
1970s British films