Night Watch (1973)

Dir. Hutton followed up the disappointing X, Y and Zee (1972) with a slow-moving thriller based on a play by Lucille Fletcher, and again had Liz Taylor cast as the lead. She plays a rich ‘dahhhliiing’ on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She does a much better job this time, but wait until the last third before passing any kind of lasting judgement, because there are red herrings aplenty in both script and direction.
The camera cuts inside and outside of the same window often, into and out of the storm; for the viewer it’s much the same, keeping us at arms reach but attentive, not unlike the frayed-nerved Liz.

3 complete pictures out of 5

X, Y and Zee (1972)

aka Zee and Co.

Robert and Zee Blakeley (Michael Caine and Elizabeth Taylor) are the very definition of a destructive marriage. They spend much of their time trying to out-bitch each other as much as possible. That's the basic plot. The film is a frustrating mess with interesting ideals but an appalling delivery. Liz is in her gaudy clothes and frizzy hair years making me wish I was watching one of her earlier films instead. Caine fails as a cockney Casanova.

1½ bad fish out of 5