Dawn's Favorite Movie actresses and their films of the "60's".

These are my top 10 movie actresses of the 60's and the films that they performed in:

Katharine Hepburn:
1962 Long Day's Journey Into Night
1967 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1968 The Lion in Winter
1969 The Madwoman of Chaillot

By the 1960′s Katherine Hepburn had been making films for over 30 years, with 8 Academy Award Nominations and one win. In 1960 she was nominated a 9th time for Best Actress in the film, Suddenly Last Summer, opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. In 1963, she again was nominated for a tenth Oscar as Mary Tyrone in the film, Long Day’s Journey Into Night(1962). Then in 1968 and 1969, Kathrine won her second and third Oscar for Best Actress in, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and The Lion in Winter. The 1960′s introduced her to a whole new group of fans.

Video is from: (1969) The Madwoman of Chaillot, which is based on a Giraudoux play about modern society endangered by the forces of power and greed.

Fay Dunaway:
1969 The Extraordinary Seaman
1969 The Arrangement
1968 A Place for Lovers
1968 The Thomas Crown Affair
1967 Bonnie and Clyde
1967 The Happening
1967 Hurry Sundown

Her first film was in 1967 in, Hurry Sundown, but that same year, she got the leading female role in, Bonnie and Clyde (opposite Warren Beatty) which won her an Oscar nomination. Very few actresses started off their Hollywood careers with Oscar nominated roles.

It would be another ten years before she won her Oscar, but in my opinion her greatest role was that of Bonnie Parker in, Bonnie and Clyde.

Audrey Hepburn:
1967 Wait Until Dark
1967 Two for the Road
1966 How to Steal a Million
1964 My Fair Lady
1964 Paris When It Sizzles
1963 Charade
1961 The Children's Hour
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's
1960 The Unforgiven

Audrey Hepburn, best work may have been in the 1960′s with one of her best known roles as Holly Golightly in, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or Eliza Doolitle in, My Fair Lady (even though her voice was dubbed in the singing parts). Beautiful, elegant, Hollywood.. had very few actresses like, Audrey.

Audrey's work with UNICEF, made the organization a household name.

Elizabeth Taylor:
1969 Anne of the Thousand Days
1968 Secret Ceremony
1968 Boom!
1967 The Comedians
1967 Reflections in a Golden Eye
1967 Doctor Faustus
1967 The Taming of the Shrew
1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1965 The Sandpiper
1964 Becket
1963 The V.I.P.s
1963 Cleopatra
1960 BUtterfield 8
1960 Scent of Mystery

In the 1960′s Taylor was known for her beauty, but she also was very talented. She was the winner of the 1960 Best Actress award in the film, Butterfield8 as a prostitute and in 1963′s Cleopatra and in 1966 she won the Best Actress award for the second time for her performance in, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe. Based on the controversial play by Edward Albee, this noir-ish 1966 drama stars former real-life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, which maybe their best performances.

Video: 1960 BUtterfield 8 movie Trailer.

Jane Fonda:
1969 They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1968 Barbarella
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Barefoot in the Park
1967 Hurry Sundown
1966 Any Wednesday
1966 The Game Is Over
1966 The Chase
1965 Cat Ballou
1964 Circle of Love
1964 Joy House
1963 Sunday in New York
1963 In the Cool of the Day
1962 Period of Adjustment
1962 The Chapman Report
1962 Walk on the Wild Side
1960 Tall Story

Her stage work in the late 1950's help prepared her for her film career in the 1960s. She averaged almost two movies a year throughout the decade, starting in 1960 with Tall Story, in which she recreated one of her Broadway roles as a college cheerleader pursuing a basketball star, played by Anthony Perkins. Period of Adjustment and Walk on the Wild Side followed in 1962. In Walk on the Wild Side Fonda played a prostitute, and earned a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.

Fonda's breakthrough came with the film, Cat Ballou (1965), in which she played a schoolmarm turned outlaw. This comedy Western received five Oscar nominations. Soon after she performed in the comedies, Any Wednesday (1966) and Barefoot in the Park (1967).

In 1968 she played the lead role in, Barbarella, directed by her French film director husband Roger Vadim. The film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) earned her first Oscar nomination. Fonda was very selective by the end of the 1960s, turning down lead roles in Rosemary's Baby and Bonnie and Clyde.

Video from: Barefoot in the Park.

Marilyn Monroe:
1960 Let's Make Love
1961 Misfits
1962 Something's Got to Give

Marilyn, had no real acting techniques. It was only Marilyn, a "star" and "sex symbol" of the "60's".

Her last completed film, The Misfits, was directed by John Huston and costarring Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter. Shooting taking place in the hot Northern Nevada desert. Monroe was frequently ill and unable to perform. Making the film was a difficult experience for all the actors; in addition to Monroe's illness, Montgomery Clift had frequently been unable to perform and by the final day of shooting, Thelma Ritter was in hospital suffering from exhaustion. Gable, commenting that he did not fell well, left the set without attending the wrap party. Within ten days Gable had died from a heart attack. Gable's widow, Kay, commented to Louella Parsons that it had been the "eternal waiting" on the set of The Misfits that had contributed to his death.

In 1962 Monroe began filming Something's Got to Give. It was to be directed by George Cukor, and co-starred Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse.

On May 19, 1962, she attended a birthday celebration of President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, at the suggestion of Kennedy's brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford. Where Monroe performed "Happy Birthday".

Monroe returned to the set of, Something's Got to Give and filmed a scene in which she performed nude in a swimming pool. Commenting that she wanted to "push Liz Taylor off the magazine covers", she gave permission for several partially nude photographs to be published by Life. Monroe was dismissed and was replaced by Lee Remick, and Dean Martin refused to work with any other actress.

Following her dismissal, she gave an interview to Cosmopolitan and was photographed at Peter Lawford's beach house sipping champagne and walking on the beach. She next posed for Vogue in a series of photographs that included several nudes. Published after her death, they became known as "The Last Sitting".

In the final weeks of her life, Monroe was planning future film projects, and to continue negotiations on the film, Something's Got to Give.. Among the projects was a biography of Jean Harlow filmed two years later with, Carroll Baker. Starring roles in, Irma la Douce and What a Way to Go! were also discussed. A film version of the Broadway musical, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, and an unnamed World War I–themed musical co-starring Gene Kelly were also discussed, but the projects were never to be.

Brigitte Bardot:
1969 Les femmes
 1968 Shalako
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Two Weeks in September
1965 Dear Brigitte
1965 Viva Maria!
1964 Agent 38-24-36
1963 Contempt
1962 Love on a Pillow
1962 A Very Private Affair
1961 Famous Love Affairs
1961 Please, Not Now!
1960 The Truth
1960 It Happened All Night

Brigitte's, "sex kitten" beauty took the US by storm. In 1965 she performed as herself  in, "Dear Brigitte" (1965) with James Steward (she only appeared in one scene).



She prefers life outside of stardom. The Paparazzi constantly hounded her with their cameras. After her life in the spotlight, Brigitte went on to become a leading spokesperson for animal rights and started the "Foundation Brigitte Bardot".

Goldie Hawn:
1969 Cactus Flower
1969 Five the Hard Way (unconfirmed)
1968 The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.

Hawn, began her acting career as a cast member of the comedy Good Morning, World during 1967-1968, her role was the girlfriend of a radio disc jockey, with a stereotype "dumb blonde" personality. Her next role, was as one of the regular cast members on the 1968-1973 comedy show, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. On the show, she would break out into giggles in the middle of a joke, and deliver a perfect performance a minute later. Hawn, was known as the "60s It" girl.

Hawn's Laugh-In personaiity was used in the film, Cactus Flower. Hawn had made her feature film debut in a bit role as a giggling dancer in the 1968 film, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, in which she was billed as "Goldie Jeanne", but in her first major film role, in Cactus Flower (1969), she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Walter Matthau's suicidal fiancée.




 

Sharon Tate:

Sharon Tate had performed only bit parts, but was considered a beautiful and rising actress. Tate met film director Roman Polanski then starred in Valley of the Dolls, followed by, The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin.

1969 The Wrecking Crew
1967 Valley of the Dolls
1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers
1967 Don't Make Waves
1966 Eye of the Devil

Ava Gardner:
1968 Mayerling
1966 The Bible: In the Beginning...
1964 The Night of the Iguana
1964 Seven Days in May
1963 55 Days at Peking
1960 The Angel Wore Red

Ava Gardner, is thought of as one of the most beautiful actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. In 1966, Gardner tried out for the role of Mrs. Robinson in the film, The Graduate (1967).

In 1968, she made what some consider to be one of her best films, Mayerling, in which she played the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria opposite James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I.

Elizabeth Taylor's cherished possessions to be auctioned at Christie's.

Please click here to read People Magazine Article

A Midsummer Night's Dream (As Cast By Me)

{Also known as the post where Bette gets to ramble on and on about Shakespeare in relation to classic movies :-D}

My english teacher set me a great task the other day. We are studying "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare in class and she told us all to cast the play with actors we wanted and then write a letter to one of the key actors asking them to be in your adaptation. Now, this seemed to me like a great blog post to do, and it will give me the chance to write a letter involving random behind the scenes movie knowledge that might scare the rest of my classmates.

After mi amigo (who braved The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie with me the other day *shudder*, see the P.S. at the bottom of the post) asked the teacher if the actors could be dead, I set about my work. I knew that I didn't want the cast to be the same as previous movie adaptations. And after a little conversation with my mother (serious craziness went on during this conversation!) this was my final main cast list:

• Queen Titania: Ingrid Bergman
• King Oberon: Cary Grant
• Hermia: Elizabeth Taylor
• Lysander: Tony Curtis
• Helena: Katharine Hepburn
• Demetrius: James Stewart
• Puck: Henry Travers (Clarence the angel in It's A Wonderful Life)
• Nick Bottom: Steve Martin
• King Egeus: Lawrence Olivier (older years)

As you can see, there is one outlier in the cast, but Steve Martin cracks me up so much :-)

Here is the letter I wrote to Elizabeth Taylor asking her to play the part of Hermia. Just to tell you, this version is slightly more full of classic movie references than the one I handed in at school, but this is how I would have liked it.

Dear Elizabeth Taylor, 

I am writing to you to ask you to play the part of Hermia in my upcoming screen adaptation of "A Midsummer Nights Dream". My casting director and I think you are perfect for the role. Your way of portraying such heartbreak in so many of your films (in a good way) leads us to beleive that you would be more than capable of acting Hermia. Of course, as the director I will have to look into the character with you and help you really empathise with her. 

You may know me more as a supporting player in major motion pictures than as a director, in fact, this will be my debut in the directorial department. You may also have seen me in family portraits in fan magazines as I come from a long line of actors. The two movies you will know me best for are probably "The Women" and "Citizen Kane" in which I played a yoga instructor and Orson Welles's third cousin respectively. Although I am deeply proud of these achievements, I feel I will be more satisfied when behind the camera. 

Your fellow cast includes such big names as Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and Ingrid Bergman. I had wanted to cast Richard Burton opposite you as Lysander, but knowing that relations between the two of you have not been brilliant over the past few months, I thought it best to cast someone else. I have decided to cast Tony Curtis as Lysander instead. This role should hopefully give him a great start in "serious movies". 

There should be no problem getting the others in the intended cast to play their roles. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman have already agreed to play their characters and Jimmy Stewart is also in on the picture. I have tried to contact Kate Hepburn, but she is holidaying with Spencer Tracy on some unknown island and goodness knows when she will be back. But if she fails us, we will always have Rosalind Russel to call on. 

Just in case you where wondering, the picture is to be filmed in black and white. I had hoped for Technicoclour, but the the budget the studio has given me does not have enough left to cover that. As you can see, the cast will set the studio back a little... 

Please think seriously about this film, we are going to stick to all of Shakespeare's dialogue, and the period. The sets will consist of intricate palace backdrops and beautiful on-location scenes in moonlit forests. 

Sincerely, 

Bette Barrymore of Warner Brother's Studios

I hope you liked it!

~Bette

P.S. I did watch The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie with my friend the other day... It was rated a 12 so we both thought it would be fine to watch as we are both over twelve. Maggie Smith was great in it and it was overall a good film, but both my friend and I will have a phobia of art teachers forever after watching this film.

Epic: Giant(1956).

Giant(1956). Directed by George Stevens from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from the novel by Edna Ferber. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and features Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor and Earl Holliman. Giant, was the last of James Dean's three films as a leading actor, and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination.

The epic begins when, Jordan "Bick" Benedict, travels from Texas to Maryland, to buy a stud horse, named War Winds. There he meets and marries southern belle, Leslie Lynnton. They return to the Texas family ranch, Reata, which is run by Luz, Bick's sister, who does not care much for Leslie. Jett Rink, works for Luz and he also falls in love with Leslie from a far.

Luz takes out her hate for Leslie, by digging her spurs into Leslie's beloved horse, War Winds, while riding him home one afternoon. Luz, dies after War Winds bucks her off and as part of her will, Jett is given some land on the Benedict ranch. Bick tries to buy back the land, but Jett refuses.

Later Leslie, gives birth to twins, Jordan Benedict III and Judy Benedict, named after his sister.

Jett discovers oil in a footprint left by Leslie. He drives to the Benedict home promising to the family, that he will be richer than the Benedicts. After which Jett makes sexual advances towards Leslie, Bick and Jett get into a fight.

The trouble really begins, when Bick, insists that Jordy must grow up to run the ranch, but Jordy wants to become a doctor. Leslie, wants Judy to attend school in Switzerland, but Judy loves the ranch and wants to stay in Texas. After war breaks out, Jett visits the Benedicts and tries to convince Bick to allow oil production to help the war effort. Bick realizes that there is nobody to take over the ranch after him, agrees.

The Benedict/Rink feud comes to a head when the Benedicts learn that Luz Jr. and the much older Jett Rink have been dating. At a huge dinner party that Jett is holding in his own honor, an angry Jordy goes gunning for him, after his Mexican American wife, Juana, was turned away at the beauty parlor.

Bick, steps in and is about to fight him, but .. soon realizes that Jett is a drunk. He tells him, "You're not even worth hitting...You're all through," and leaves, but not before pushing over many shelves of wine. The party ends when Jett, slumps down in front of everyone before his big speech. Luz Jr. sees him and does not like what she sees..

I loved the beautiful Texas landscapes, which couldn't have been more dramatic. The Benedict mansion, is a beautiful Victorian home that changes with the times.. This heartwarming epic covers two generations of family and many issues: marriage, family life and racism. Elizabeth Taylor, gives a wonderful performance playing a Southern belle, in this drama that almost everyone in the film loves her,  because she is smart and caring. It makes me sad to know we lost another great actress of Hollywood's golden age.




Fun Facts:

The hat that Mercedes McCambridge wore in her exterior scenes was given to her by the wardrobe department. It was then "aged" by actor Gary Cooper so that it would look authentic. Mercedes McCambridge wrote in her memoirs that James Dean threatened to steal it.

Before Elizabeth Taylor accepted it, the role of Leslie was offered to Grace Kelly.

The start date of the film was delayed a few months so that Elizabeth Taylor could give birth to a son. Link

Elizabeth Taylor was said to be so upset the day after James Dean was killed in a road accident that she was excused from working on the picture for the day.

Audrey Hepburn was one of first choices for the part later played by Elizabeth Taylor, while John Wayne was considered for the Rock Hudson part. William Holden, Forrest Tucker and Sterling Hayden were also considered for the part of Bick Benedict.

Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor went for get-to-know-you drinks one night at the very start of the production. They both got exceedingly drunk, finishing the evening at 3:00 am. Their call-time was 5:30 am. Fortunately the scene being shot that morning was a wedding scene with no dialog, so instead of talking, all they had to do was look lovingly at each other. The two actors were concentrating so hard on not being sick that they were quite surprised when some of the people on-set started to cry, so convinced were they of their supposed looks of adoration at each other.

Carroll Baker, who plays Elizabeth Taylor's daughter, was older in real life than Taylor.

When Rock Hudson was cast, director George Stevens asked him whom he preferred as his leading lady, 'Grace Kelly' or Elizabeth Taylor. Hudson picked Elizabeth Taylor, who was cast in the film and ended up becoming lifelong friends with Hudson.


Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931). Baker began her film career in 1953, with a small part in the film, Easy to Love. While she was performing in the role of the Broadway production, All Summer Long. That roll caught the attention of director Elia Kazan, who cast her in the film, Baby Doll. Baby Doll would remain the film for which she is best remembered she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. Two months prior to Baby Doll's release, she performed in the supporting role of Luz Benedict II in the film, Giant.

She would go on to work in films throughout the late fifties and early sixties, performing in a many films: The Miracle, But Not for Me (both 1959),The Big Country (1958), How the West Was Won (1962), Something Wild (1961), directed by her then-husband Jack Garfein, and Station Six-Sahara (1962). While Baker was on location in Africa for the 1965 movie Mister Moses, story has it that a Maasai chief offered 150 cows, 200 goats, sheep, and $750 for her hand in marriage. She then appeared with Masai warriors on the cover of Life's 1964 issue.

Based on her Carpetbaggers performance, Levine began to develop Baker as a movie sex symbol, casting her in the title roles of two 1965 films, Sylvia and Harlow.

Following a legal battle with Paramount Pictures and divorce from her second husband, Jack Garfein, Baker moved to Europe. Settling in Italy, performing in the films: Her Harem (1967), The Sweet Body of Deborah (1968), Paranoia (1969), and Baba Yaga (1973). A lead role in Andy Warhol's Bad (1977) brought her back to America.

By the eighties, Baker moved into character work, playing the mother of Dorothy Stratten in the film, Star 80 (1983) and Jack Nicholson's wife in, Ironweed (1987). In 1990, she played a villainess in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Kindergarten Cop.

Baker has also been featured in documentaries on several of her co-stars, including Clark Gable, Roger Moore, Sal Mineo, and James Dean, including the 1975 James Dean: The First American Teenager. Also, she appeared in the documentary, Cinerama Adventure released along with How the West was Won (2008).

ON TCM: Elizabeth Taylor Memorial April 10, 2011.

Click for more info on Elizabeth Taylor Memorial Program on TCM 4-10.

Goodbye Elizabeth Taylor

Dame Elizabeth Taylor, 1932-2011

I was so upset to hear that one of my all time favourite actresses passed away this morning. She was an amazing actress and an amazingly generous person, too. Even after her movie career dried up, she started a charity in aid of HIV. It was so sad to think that only a short while ago I wrote a "Happy 79th Birthday" post about her. If you want to read some more about her you can read my other posts about  her here, here and here.

Elizabeth Taylor in a car with Walter Pidgeon, Greer Garson and someone else who I don't recognise.

For ages she was known as the most beautiful woman in Hollywood

~Bette

In Memory: Elizabeth Taylor (27 February 1932 – 23 March 2011).

Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, the film goddess whose life was often upstaged by her stormy personal life, died Wednesday at age 79. Taylor was considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's golden age. She was one of my favorite film actresses.

Please click here to read past Elizabeth Taylor movie reviews.

National Velvet (1944) Because... IT'S ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Elizabeth Taylor is one of the only actresses to successfully make the transition from child star to grown up drama star. She was cute in films like National Velvet and Little Women, and she was also very good in Cleopatra, The V.I.Ps, and The Sandpiper. Unfortunately, she has been plagued with bad health throughout her life, and with eight marriages down the drain, she has had a tough emotional life to say the least. At the moment she is in hospital being treated for heart problems, but the doctors say that she is in a stable condition. Get well soon Elizabeth Taylor!

National Velvet

Cast:

• Mickey Rooney as Mi Taylor
• Donald Crisp as Mr. Herbert Brown
• Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet Brown
• Anne Revere as Mrs. Araminty Brown
• Angela Lansbury as Edwina Brown

Plot:
Twelve year old, Velvet Brown and her parents and three siblings live in a small village near Sussex and live a fairly normal life. Velvet dreams of having a horse of her own, and goes down to watch other horses run in the fields near her village most days after school.

It is there that she meets wanderer and handyman Mi Taylor, who is shocked when she manages to calm down a new horse called Pie. He also later realizes that Pie jumped the equivalent of the hardest jump at the Grand National, the biggest horse race in England.

Velvet's father takes Mi in because he claims that his late father had a connection with the village and their family. Velvet wins Pie in a lottery and tells her mum that she would like to enter him in the grand national. Her mother takes her to the attic and gives her the entry fee out of her reward for swimming the channel. Mi reluctantly agrees to train Pie for the national, after changing his mind about stealing money from the Brown family.

The day before the Grand National they meet the Jockey they have employed, and Velvet is disgusted to see that he doesn't care about the horse and doesn't even think he could win. Velvet asks Mi to cut all her hair off and dress her like a boy so she can race the horse in the National. She nearly wins but faints and falls of her horse just before the finish line. The doctors on the track realize she is a girl and there is a huge scandal but she becomes known throughout the country as "the girl who nearly won the Grand National".

Review:
This is a really sweet film and it gives Mickey Rooney his best shot at a grown up role. He really does very well in it, too. I am definitely not a Mickey Rooney fan. He has a bad case of small-man syndrome. He has to act big and annoying to make up for his height. No offense. Elizabeth Taylor does an amazing job playing Velvet. She was only twelve at the time, just my age. Angela Lansbury is really funny as the "sophisticated" older sister. Donald Crisp and Anne Revere are great as Velvet's parents, and Anne Revere is amazing and really deserved the Best Supporting Actress award she received at the Oscars. The show stealer, though is the toddler who plays Velvet's younger brother. He is adorable!!!!

My family have plans to watch Mrs. Miniver (1942, Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright) and then The Odd Couple (1967, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau) tonight, which means starting with tears and ending with hysterical laughter. And my sister spending ages trying to say Greer Garson in a Scottish accent. It comes out "Grere Gaaason". It's hilarious :D!

I am wondering about how to set up my reviews. I usually do them like this, sectioned of into different parts, but I also have done them as one long post like in my My Fair Lady post. Which do you prefer?

~Bette

Happy Birthday: Elizabeth Taylor!

Elizabeth Taylor was born in London, England, on February 27, 1932. Her father was a art dealer who had his own gallery in a fashionable part of London. Her mother was an actress under the stage name, Sara Sothern. In 1939 the family moved to Los Angeles, CA, where Elizabeth was encouraged by her mother to become an actress. It did not take long for Elizabeth to be signed on by Universal in 1941.

The following year, Elizabeth Taylor signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and landed a part in the film, Lassie Come Home. In 1943 Taylor was cast opposite Mickey Rooney in the film, National Velvet, the story of a young girl who wins a horse in the lottery and rides it in England's Grand National Steeplechase.

Elizabeth Taylor loved the costumes, the make-up, and the attention while making films such as: Little Women, Father of the Bride, Cynthia and A Place in the Sun (1951), based on the novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. It tells the story of a young man who is involved with two women. One who works in his wealthy uncle's factory and the other a beautiful socialite, with tragic results. Cliff and Taylor are wonderful together, in romance that will not be soon forgotten. If you are looking for a film with a good example of method acting this film is for you.



In 1956 she played opposite James Dean in the film, in a couple more of my of my favorite Elizabeth films, Giant, followed by Raintree County (1957), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. She also performed in the film, Suddenly Last Summer (1959)for which she received her third Academy Award nomination. A melodrama/mystery. Based on the play of the same title by Tennessee Williams. The film is about a psychiatric doctor treating a female patient who, with the help of her wealthy aunt, is now a lobotomy candidate after witnessing the death of her male cousin while traveling in Spain. Hepburn and Taylor, are both at the top of their game in roles that seemed to be made especially for them. It's rare treat to see Hepburn play the villain.



While struggling with personal problems, she played the emotional part of Maggie in a wonderful film, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof(1958). Her portrayal of Maggie won her a second Academy Award nomination. The film is based on the play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. The story takes place on the plantation home of wealthy cotton tycoon that goes by the name Big Daddy Pollitt and his relationships with his son Brick, Brick's wife Maggie the Cat, as well as Brick and his father and other family members. Even though this is a Elizabeth Taylor tribute, I would like to mention Jack Carter, who gives what I think one of his best performances. He seems to have a good heart even after years of jumping through Big Daddy's hoops and his scheming, wife plans.



In 1960 Taylor performed in one of her best screen performances as a call-girl in the film, Butterfield 8, for which she won an Oscar as Best Actress. A few months later, in 1961, she signed with 20th Century-Fox to perform in the film, Cleopatra, with Richard Burton. Which I saw for the first time not to long ago. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The music score was by Alex North. Cleopatra, is about the struggles of Cleopatra VII, the young Queen of Egypt, to fight off Rome.



Two films, The VIPs (1963) and The Sandpiper (1965), preceded Elizabeth Taylor's screen triumph, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which she won another Oscar. Set on the campus of a small New England college, the film focuses on the challenging relationship of history professor George and his hard-drinking wife Martha, the daughter of the college president.



My favorite Elizabeth Taylor films:

1948 A Date with Judy
1949 Little Women
1950 Father of the Bride
1951 Father's Little Dividend
1951 A Place in the Sun
1954 Elephant Walk
1954 The Last Time I Saw Paris
1956 Giant
1957 Raintree
1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1959 Suddenly, Last Summer
1960 Butterfield 8
1994 The Flintstones

Pawsome Pet Pictures: Elizabeth Taylor.

Personal Quote:

"Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses".

Great On Screen Couples: Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton

As I write this post, I just learned Liz has been admitted to a hospital for congestive heart failure, so I may get a little emotional as I write. I pray everything turns out fine for her and she will be home soon. Now onto my post about her and Richard Burton, one of the most well known and fiery couples both onscreen and off. They were married and divorced...twice! And they made 11 films together, some of them being instant classics. Their relationship was turbulent to say the least but they were magic on camera, producing some of the best acting on film ever. Their performances in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? should be shown in acting school as a primer to show how it's done. Liz and Dick put on quite the show in real life and on film. It's ironic their film together was the massive and troubled Cleopatra, which turned out to be one disaster after another. Production delays, Liz getting sick, directors being fired then rehired, etc. But it's where Liz and Dick met and fell in love and married 2 years later, and their history would go on for the next 15 years. While Cleopatra may have been a financial disaster and almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox, the pair would go on to make 10 more films, including the star-studded drama The V.I.P.s (1963) co-starring Maggie Smith, Orson Welles, Rod Taylor, and Margaret Rutherford. It's ironic because Liz and Dick play an unhappily married couple. Shades of things to come maybe?

The two would reunite the following year for the gorgeously filmed The Sandpiper. It's noted that the cinematography stands out more than the couple. It is a very beautiful film, that had Big Sur, California as it's setting. And while The Sandpiper is not one of their best films, it is still engaging to watch Liz as a single mom falling in love with a married headmaster of an Episcopal school (Burton).

Their masterpiece Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? came out the following year and brought Liz her second Best Actress Oscar. She gives one of the best film performances I have ever seen as Martha, the frumpy wife of a New England college professor (Burton). Liz gained 30 pounds and used no make-up to turn herself into a 50ish housewife who tends to drink a lot and scream at her husband. Dick gets to deliver some of his best acting as well and the pair's volatile on screen relationship on full display brought more attention to their off screen relationship.

Another volatile on screen relationship beckoned with 1967's The Taming Of The Shrew with Liz and Dick playing Shakespeare's Kate and Petruchio. A perfect fit for this combustible pair. It would be one of their last great films. They would make several more films including Boom!, The Comedians, and Hammersmith Is Out, but their best work had already came and went. Still 11 films, 2 marriages, and so much drama that could fill a dozen novels and several soap operas assures us we will never forget Liz and Dick.
Below are my top 5 Liz and Dick movies plus a little video of their relationship:
1. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (1963)
2. The Taming Of The Shrew (1967)
3. The Sandpiper (1965)
4. The V.I.P.s (1963)
5. Cleopatra (1963)

The VIPs

The VIPs is a real ensemble piece. I read somewhere about Love Actually that, "If the set burned down British showbiz would be in trouble." Well, this has *gasps*: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Maggie Smith, Louis Jourdan, Rod Taylor, Margaret Rutherford (I wish she was my, ancient benefactress, or... something)

In Murder Most Foul (I think, they all morph into one!), one of her amazing characterizations of Agatha Christie's Ms. Marple

and the incomparable Orson Welles. That's a lot of awesome people for one building. Just to say, how amazing is Maggie Smith in like, everything? She doesn't get the credit she deserves! My grandma called my mum up a few weeks ago to tell her that some newspaper had done a top 100 British actresses list, and guess what. SHE WASN'T EVEN FLIPPIN' ON IT!!!!!!!!! That makes me so mad. She is one of the best actresses evah. After this long intro, here is some VIP stuff.

The V.I.Ps

Cast:

• Elizabeth Taylor - Frances Andros
• Richard Burton - Paul Andros
• Louis Jourdan - Marc Champselle
• Elsa Martinelli - Gloria Gritti
• Margaret Rutherford - Duchess of Brighton
• Maggie Smith - Miss Mead
• Rod Taylor - Les Mangrum
• Orson Welles - Max Buda

Plot:
Famous actress Frances Andros is flying out to New York from a London airport to get a connecting flight to Jamaica for a holiday escorted to the airport by millionaire husband Paul Andros. What he doesn't know is that she is really eloping aging playboy Marc Champselle because she is despairing of his checkbook generosity in place of emotion.

Les Mangrum is about to fly to New York to stop his business being sold, all of which has to be done within 24 hours. His secretary Mrs. Mead (who is secretly in love with him) is doing everything she can to ensure a safe journey for him.

The Duchess of Brighton is traveling to Florida to become a hostess at a resort in an attempt to save her stately home with the new money she will be earning.

Max Buda, movie tycoon has to leave London by midnight to avoid a hefty British tax bill. He takes his new protégée, Gloria Gritti with him.

But then a thick layer of fog moves in around the airport and they are all grounded. Leaving time for Frances and Marc to be descovered, Les to lose his business, The Duchess to go crazy with all of her hypocondriac pills and Max Buda to lose a fortune...

The Review:
This film (much like Maggie Smith) does not get the credit it deserves! It has amazing acting in it and great script! I love the Taylor/Burton story, but my favourite is the Taylor (Rod)/Smith story. There is a hilarious scene on a plane where Margaret Rutherford's hat box keeps falling on this Sidney Poitier lookalike's head. Great film. I gotta start reviewing some bad ones. All my reviews are of good films!



Ok, so I have one film I don't really want to rewatch; Suddenly Last Summer. Elizabeth Taylor in a mental asylum, Katherine Hepburn in a tropical garden in an advance state of insanity, Montgomery Clift as a brain surgeon and some guy in a white suit being eaten by cannibals. Disturbing on so many levels. Joseph Mankiewicz at his worst co-writing with Tennessee Williams.

As my blogger friend Libby posted the other day, I love listening to Doris day's christmas album. She is so cheerful and christmassy. I especially like her rendition of "White Christmas".




~Bette

Pawsome Pet Pictures - Liz Taylor and friend

Pawsome Pet Pictures: Lassie and friends

Lassie always kept good company in films with stars such as Janet Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, June Lockhart and Roddy McDowall