Secret Ceremony

Secret Ceremony is a 1968 film, produced in Britain and released by Universal Pictures. Based on the book by argentine writer Marco Denevi, it stars Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum, Pamela Brown, and Peggy Ashcroft. Joseph Losey directed, from a script by George Tabori.
Taylor plays Leonora, a prostitute despondent over the death of her daughter. Mia Farrow is Cenci, a lonely young woman who is immediately attracted to Leonora and practically adopts her as her mother. Albert (Robert Mitchum), Cenci’s stepfather, intrudes into this make-believe mother and daughter relationship, and tragedy ensues.
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, other film analysts regard the film as compelling because of its deep psychological portraits. Taylor’s performance has been characterized as occasionally tacky, but justified by the fact that she is playing a prostitute and mother at the same time.

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