When her aunt Cookie (Patricia Neal) tops herself in Holly Springs,
Mississippi, the Blanche DuBois of local amateur dramatics Camille
(Close) gobbles up the suicide note and makes it look like murder, to
avoid bringing shame on the family. Cookie's friend and retainer (the
terrific Dutton) gets fingered, and it's up to the short arm of the
town's law enforcement to work it all out. It's a colourful if
inconsequential yarn, broadly played, perfectly enjoyable, and, for
Altman, safe to a fault.
