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

The Great Dramas: The Night of the Iguana (1964).

The Night of the Iguana (1964). Based on the 1961 play The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Directed by John Huston.Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. Actress Grayson Hall received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and Cyril Delevanti received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

A defrocked Minister by the name Shannon, is now working as a tour guide for Blake Tours, his first job is to take a group of Baptist School teachers on a bus to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Charlotte's aunt, accuses Shannon of trying to seduce her niece and fires him. Panicked, Shannon drives the bus and ladies, to a Costa Verde Hotel in Mismaloya on the coast of Mexico, where he tries to prevent Fellowes from calling his boss. Shannon is surprised when he hears that his old friend Fred, died a month earlier, and the hotel is now run by Fred's widow, Maxine Faulk. Soon after, Hannah Jelkes, a painter from Nantucket who travels from place to place with her elderly poet grandfather show up. They have run out of money and Shannon convinces the not to happy Maxine, to let them stay.

While Shannon ties to battle his demons, Miss Fellows niece continues to make trouble for him.

Shannon suffers a breakdown, the cabana boys tie him in a hammock, Hannah calms him with poppy tea and understanding..





Another emotional  scene.


Night of the Iguana is deeply emotional film. The characters all have their troubles, but.. they are also thoughtful and courageous. Creating a film that is absolutely amazing. One that you will want to watch many times.

Happy Birthday Claude And Richard!

It would have been Claude Rains' 121st birthday today if he were still with us. A truly remarkable actor who doesn't always get the credit he is due. Plus he was best friends with Bette Davis which is always a good thing. It is perhaps unknown to you that he also had 6 wives.

Claude Rains ~10th November 1889 - 30th May 1967

Richard Burton is also an amazing actor who happens to share his birthday with Claude Rains. Although best known for his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor, he was a very good actor who I really love.

Richard Burton ~ 10th November - 5th August 1984

And guess what... THEY ARE BOTH FROM ENGLAND!!!! So cool.

~Bette

P.S. The results came in from my Bette Davis VS Joan Crawford poll, and I am happy to anounce.....

Nail drying with style.

A Bette Davis cigarette card. How cool.

That dahling Bette won! The exact votes were 5 for Bette, 4 for I-Don't-Know and 1 for Joan Crawford.

My Top 5 On Screen Couples

Here is a list of my all time top 6 on screen couples, in reverse order.
6. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy:
One of the most tragic off screen romances as well as one of the most heartwarming on screen ones. tracy was married to a strict catholic, and a catholic himself, she refused to divorce his wife even though it was well known by the public and his wife that he and Katharine were involved in an affair for most of his marraige.

Favourite On Screen Pairing: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)

5. Bette Davis and George Brent:
Dispite brent's not-quite-amazing performances in all of the films that he and Bette starred in (11), the chemistry between them is very good. Perhaps that was helped by the Hollywood legend that they were always in a constant on-off relationship. The chemistry between Bette and a man is only equaled perhaps by Paul Henried (Now, Voyager, Deception), and Gary Merril (All About Eve, Another Man's Poison, and some other English movie I can never remember the name of).

Favourite On Screen Pairing: Dark Victory (1939)

4. Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant:
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman were only paired together in two films, Notorious and Indiscreet. A big mistake in my opinion. They have some strange on screen relationship that is caused by her laid back beauty and his akward charm that you can't force.

Favourite On Screen Pairing: Notorious (1946)

3. Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon:
My only fear with the pairings of these two is that they will be soooo cute that I will be forced to go into a coma and never come out. How can you get sweeter? Greer's lovely warmth and Walter's soft lovely speaking voice, create a couple that will have you in tears in minutes, provided that that is what the film is attempting.

Favourite On Screen Pairing: Mrs. Miniver (1942)

2. Judy Garland and Fred Astaire:
I have only seen one film with them in it (Easter Parade, is that all?), and they are so good together that it made me want to cry! Judy crying over the fact that she thinks Ann Miller has run away with Fred Astaire singing "Better Luck Next Time" is soooooo moving.

Favourite On Screen Pairing: Easter Parade (1948)

1. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton:
The first film that I saw with them was Cleopatra, and was so entranced by them (and Richard Burton :D) that me and my mum got my dad "The Taylor And Burton Collection" as a sort of "Thank you in advance for letting us watch these" present, and I have been hooked ever since. When I watch The VIPs and see Richard Burton so upset and Elizabeth trying to show that she is not upset but is really devastated it the saddest thing i've ever seen! They are just romantic beyond words, and their charisma is so wonderful. Definately my tope couple EVAH!

Favourite On Screen Pairing: The VIPs (1963) and The Sandpiper (1965)

Well, that was a hard descision, but in my mind no one beats Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. Here is a funny "Lets prove Joan Crawford wrong" thing that I discovered on Tumblr.

On the set of “Baby Jane” Joan was asked about the differences between herself and Bette Davis, Joan stated: “Bette likes to rant and rave. I just sit and knit. She yelled and I knitted a scarf from Hollywood to Malibu.”

 I rest my case.

~Bette

BEHIND THE SCENES OF: NIGHT OF THE IGUANA (1964).

I always find it fascinating to learn what goes on behind the scenes of my favorite films. The Night of the Iguana(1964), is one of my favorites. The film is based on the 1961 play The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Directed by John Huston. Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. Actress Grayson Hall received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and Cyril Delevanti received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film had plenty of behind the scene stories. Richard Burton brought his soon-to-be-wife Elizabeth Taylor to the location shoot. The filming attracted the paparazzi, and turned the city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico into a tourist attraction.






Director John Huston, was a filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. Along with Night of the Iguana, he directed: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952) The Misfits (1960), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
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Poem from Night of the Iguana

How calmly does the olive branch
Observe the sky begin to blanch
Without a cry, without a prayer
With no betrayal of despair

Some time while light obscures the tree
The zenith of its life will be
Gone past forever
And from thence
A second history will commence

A chronicle no longer gold
A bargaining with mist and mold
And finally the broken stem
The plummeting to earth, and then

And intercourse not well designed
For beings of a golden kind
Whose native green must arch above
The earth's obscene corrupting love

And still the ripe fruit and the branch
Observe the sky begin to blanch
Without a cry, without a prayer
With no betrayal of despair

Oh courage! Could you not as well
Select a second place to dwell
Not only in that golden tree
But in the frightened heart of me.