X Y & Zee

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.

• Elizabeth Taylor as Zee Blakeley
• Michael Caine as Robert Blakeley
• Susannah York as Stella
• Margaret Leighton as Gladys
• John Standing as Gordon
• Mary Larkin as Rita
• Michael Cashman as Gavin
• Gino Melvazzi as Head Waiter

X Y & Zee was shot at Shepperton Studios and on location in London.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjDqfZZNzosC&dq=Elizabeth+Taylor+Michael+Caine&pg=PA316|author=Heymann, C. David|title=Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor |publisher=Atria Books|page=316|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4391-9190-3 }} The film's sets were designed by the art director Peter Mullins. Caine claimed decades later that Elizabeth Taylor was paid ten times more than he was for the film.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/06/17/michael-caine-rubbishes-hollywood-gender-pay-gap-elizabeth-taylo/|title=Michael Caine rubbishes Hollywood gender pay gap: 'Elizabeth Taylor got 10 times what I did' |newspaper=The Telegraph|date=17 June 2016|accessdate=10 January 2022}}

The theme song "Going in Circles" was covered by Three Dog Night, appearing as the b-side to the single "The Family of Man" as well as on their album Seven Separate Fools, both released in 1972.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

Critical opinions of the film were varied. Roger Ebert wrote that while the movie is "no masterpiece" it still satisfies audiences as it "unzips along at a nice, vulgar clip".{{cite news|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720308/REVIEWS/203080301/1023|title=X, Y and Zee|last=Ebert|first=Roger|date=8 March 1972|work=Chicago Sun-Times|access-date=26 August 2014}} 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.{{cite book|last=Scheuer|first=Steven|title=Movies on TV and Videocassette|publisher=Bamtam Books, New York.|year=1990|pages=1211}} 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 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."{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeYCAAAAMBAJ&dq=Elizabeth+Taylor+Michael+Caine&pg=PA12|title=New York Magazine 6 Mar 1972|magazine=New York Magazine|date=6 March 1972|page=12}} Leonard Maltin wrote the film was "contrived [and] often 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).

A Region 1 DVD-R[http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/columbiaclassics/the-films/film.php?catalogid=10662&sphesku_index=0&upc=043396373648 Remastered Region 1 DVD released], sonypictures.com; retrieved 26 August 2014. was released by Sony Pictures on 17 December 2010.

• {{cite book|last1=Hirschhorn|first1=Clive|title=The Columbia story|date=1990|publisher=Crown|location=New York|isbn=978-0517575581|edition=1}}
• {{cite book|editor1-last=Maltin|editor1-first=Leonard|editor1-link=Leonard Maltin|title=Leonard Maltin's movie and video guide|date=1991|publisher=Signet|location=New York, N.Y.|isbn=978-0452266919|edition=1992}}
• {{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Mick|last2=Porter|first2=Marsha|editor1-last=Bang|editor1-first=Derrick|title=Video movie guide, 1997|date=1996|publisher=Ballantine Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0345406439|url=https://archive.org/details/videomovieguide100mars}}
• {{cite book|last1=McWilliams|first1=Michael|title=TV sirens : a tantalizing look at prime time's fabulous females|date=1987|publisher=Putnam|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0399512926|url=https://archive.org/details/tvsirenstantaliz0000mcwi}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0069516|X Y & Zee}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160527215109/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bb8c36e X Y & Zee] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|x_y_and_zee}}

{{Brian G. Hutton}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:X Y and Zee}}

Category:1972 films

Category:1970s English-language films

Category:Columbia Pictures films

Category:1972 LGBTQ-related films

Category:1972 drama films

Category:Films directed by Brian G. Hutton

Category:Films scored by Stanley Myers

Category:British drama films

Category:Films based on Irish novels

Category:Films set in London

Category:Films shot at Shepperton Studios

Category:1970s British films

Category:English-language drama films

Category:British LGBTQ-related films