Zee and Co.

Big, boozy, and beautiful Elizabeth Taylor (as Zee) has an "modern marriage" with London architect Michael Caine (as Robert Blakeley). Their extra-curricular activities aren't too serious. Then, Mr. Caine falls in "love at first sight" with blonde boutique owner Susannah York (as Stella). Caine sets her up in an apartment and plans to leave Ms. Taylor. Sensing a rival who will truly threaten her marriage, Taylor ingratiates herself into her husband's romance - intending to end the affair, or go crazy trying.

Neatly re-titled "X Y & Zee" for American consumption, enjoying this film will depend on your tolerance for Taylor's shrill, boisterous character. The drama was very "adult" for the time, but seems reluctant to show much concerning the final plan "Zee" uses to keep her husband. It also is altered from the blatant (and necessarily bisexual) "ménage à trois" in the original story (by Edna O'Brien). The more tenuous ending does retain the integrity of Taylor's character, and leaves "Zee" in a similar position.

****** Zee and Co. (12/71) Brian G. Hutton ~ Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, Susannah York. Margaret Leighton

What film fan does not adore La Liz who more than anyone gives movies the sparkle they deserve. After all, we go to the movies to escape the rat race for a couple hours - no other reason, right? And Liz never disappoints. What makes her so great is the simple fact she knows she's the best and she always gives her best. Even in a pedestrian vehicle like this one, it is impossible to ignore La Liz in all her glory. She is what stardom is about and will always be the ultimate star regardless of what the AFI says. Number 7??? Give me a break! La Liz defines stardom because she is the ultimate star and the AFI can go blow smoke rings. Michael Caine, of course, is always wonderful with the ability to make you interested even if you do not want to be. He manages to be incredibly sexy without half trying and that more than anything else is why he is a star. The script is utter nonsense without a single redeeming moment in it but Taylor and Caine make the most of it and it is impossible not to care what happens.

... but without Edward Ablee's Pulitzer Prize winning touch. Taylor is firing on all eight cylinders again, as she did against Burton's George. This time 'George' is a remote, self-centered, enterprising individual and often on mute control around his tiger wife.

You quickly get a belly full of Taylor's ranting and antics - but there are real performance gems strewn around. And you wonder why in the world York's character with her quiet temperament and lifestyle would risk getting consumed alive by two battling idiots. If it was for the excitement, a crash landing was her sad reward.

Nevertheless, this forgotten film is worth watching just to see the three talented principals on the same set together go through their paces.

X, Y and Zee is one of those rare films that can be perceived differently now than when it was originally released and be more enjoyable. However, one has to be in the right frame of mind. As a straight drama, it can be trite, uneven and a bit preposterous. But viewed as a kind of fascinating cultural time capsule with an over-the-top performance by Elizabeth Taylor as the scorned wife of a philandering Michael Caine, it can actually be quite entertaining and even hilarious. Never has any woman tried so hard to keep her man in the face of dire circumstances while simultaneously wreaking havoc on just about everyone. X, Y and Zee is a strange little film, but if you're a Taylor fan and don't mind overlooking a few flaws, you might find it quite entertaining and amusing. One thing for sure...this film belongs to Taylor; without her, it would be nothing.

Elizabeth Taylor's bitch character is so captivating, enthralling, and compelling that I felt compelled to do my part in making it known that this film, along with Reflections in a Golden Eye, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, illustrate a kind of woman who rarely gets her due in Hollywood film making. These three films are fantastic vehicles which capture, what I view as, an underappreciated angle of the feminine soul.

There's an intangible and honest quality to Elizabeth Taylor's character that is rarely captured by any actress. The character she plays in these three films make for great entertainment, storytelling, and are true to core sensual feminine qualities.

Off the top of my head, outside of Gone Girl and the Wicked Lady; there are too few archetypal female characters of this kind who exude this exclusively unique feminine character. It is an interesting archetype. An archetype which many of us have met, known, and had relationships with. They should have more stories written about them.