THE SINPIPER

THE SANDPIPER (1965)
dir: Vincente Minelli

THE SINPIPER
MAD #101, March 1966
w: Larry Siegel
a: Mort Drucker

Laura Reynolds (Elizabeth Taylor), a free-spirited single mother, lives in a beach house in Big Sur, CA and paints all day. She home-schools her son Danny (Morgan Mason), but after several cases of juvenile delinquency, he's ordered by the courts to attend a religious boarding school run by Dr. Edward Hewitt (Richard Burton) and his wife Claire (Eva Marie Saint).

One night, while Laura is being sculpted by her friend Cos (Charles Bronson), and their friend Larry (James Edwards) is also hanging out, Dr. Hewitt stops by to tell her about Danny's progress at the school.

Dr. Hewitt keeps dropping by, which escalates into an affair with Laura. She insists it will be just a fling but ends up falling for him. At the same time, she is nursing a sandpiper back to health, symbolizing the story of the movie.

Claire is initially none the wiser about the affair between Edward and Laura. He tells her he goes away on long business trips. She finds out later overhearing him talk at a faculty meeting.

Liz Taylor was previously married to pop singer Eddie Fisher

Edward resigns from the school in disgrace after confessing his affair with Laura and showing he's betrayed his vowa as a priest. Laura's more upset that he revealed their affair. Danny wants to stay at the school and there's a big event. Laura doesn't want to be near Edward or Claire, but goes to the event to support Danny. Afterwards, they all go their own separate ways.

MAD, 1966, THE SANDPIPER, LARRY SIEGEL, MORT DRUCKER