“Here, with a director who knows how to get an actor’s confidence and knows what to do with it after he gets it, [Taylor] does the best work of her career, sustained and urgent. Of course, she has an initial advantage. Her acceptance of gray hair and her use of profanity make her seem to be acting even (figuratively) before she begins. (‘Gee, she let them show her looking old!’ ‘Wow, she just said ‘Son of a bitch’! A star!’) It is not the first time an American star has gotten mileage out of that sort of daring. Miss Taylor does not have qualities that, for instance, Uta Hagen had in the Broadway version, no suggestion of endlessly coiled involutions. Her venom is nearer the surface. But, under Mr. Nichols’s hand, she gets vocal variety, never relapses out of the role, and she charges it with the utmost of her powers—which is an achievement for any actress, great or little. . . . In its forthright dealing with the play, this becomes one of the most scathingly honest American films ever made.”
—The New York Times (Stanley Kauffmann)
In conference with director Mike Nichols
With George Segal, Sandy Dennis, and Burton. The movie posters read, “You are cordially invited to George and Martha’s for an evening of fun and games.”
With Richard Burton
“It’s a silly thing, letting a bloody play work on you. . . . This one has exorcised several ghosts.” The extreme dramatics of the film proved cathartic for the Burtons.
notes
EDWARD ALBEE’S STARTLINGLY FEROCIOUS DRAMA, WHO’S Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, provided Elizabeth with what was arguably the single greatest role of her career, and the star’s personal favorite. The smash hit play opened on Broadway October 13, 1962, and had a run of 664 performances. Warner Bros. purchased the film rights for $500,000 and dictated that Tony winners Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill be replaced by box-office attractions to ensure return on a sizable investment.
At long last, in the finale, Martha’s vulnerability comes shining through.
Writer-producer Ernest Lehman, fresh from his success as screenwriter of The Sound of Music, and director Mike Nichols, a Broadway export making his cinematic debut, had the controversial idea of casting Elizabeth in the role of the frumpy, foul-mouthed Martha. Lehman said, “From the very beginning, she kept coming back into my mind.” Elizabeth herself was unsure she wanted the part: “I was absolutely terrified. . . . I thought I was too young, and I hope and trust I’m unlike Martha as a person. It meant I’d have to create a totally different being. I didn’t know whether I could.” She knew though, that it was the role of a lifetime, and Richard Burton ultimately convinced her to take the opportunity. Burton was then signed to star opposite his wife. For the only two other characters in the story, Nick and Honey, George Segal and Sandy Dennis were cast. Dennis was an acclaimed stage actress, and this was touted as her screen debut, though it was not.
Elizabeth and Burton, one of the world’s greatest acting couples
Elizabeth began preparing for her role by gaining twenty pounds. She wore a salt-and-pepper wig, prosthetics, and padding to aid in the physical transformation, and extra tight clothing gave the illusion of adding more volume to her frame. Shooting in black and white allowed her to cake on makeup for an aged appearance. Nichols and the cast of four went into three weeks of intense rehearsals beginning July 6, 1965. The actual filming took place in Northampton, Massachusetts, where rain and fog caused numerous delays but provided a fitting backdrop for the story.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was by no means an obvious vehicle for the transition from stage to screen. One struggle was opening up the story from the play’s single setting to make it cinematic. The biggest departure in the film was adding a roadhouse set. This also brought two fleeting additional characters into the story, a roadhouse manager and waitress, who were portrayed by Frank and Agnes Flanagan. The husband and wife were part of the company who worked on the film every day; Frank as a gaffer, Agnes as Elizabeth’s hairdresser.
A greater struggle for the film versus the play was that Albee’s dialogue was riddled with phrases which the censors had diligently kept off the screen for decades. Lehman told the press, “We’ve retained as much as possible of the corrosive controversy of Albee’s play—its scathing dialogue, explosive dramatics, and electrifying emotions.” The screen adaptation remained remarkably true to Albee, making the film the first to carry the warning tag “No one under 18 will be admitted unless accompanied by his parent.”
Many wondered how playing such a ferociously antagonistic couple would affect Burton and Elizabeth. Burton noted, “I think ours is the strongest marriage I know, and Virginia Woolf didn’t alter that.” They came to look at playing George and Martha as a cathartic experience. Elizabeth said “I’ve never had a better time in my life,” but when asked if it was easy to turn off Martha at the end of the day’s shooting she admitted, “My God, no. When we first started shooting, I couldn’t turn her off at all. She’s so complex—vulgar, gross, cruel, and soft as an unborn bird. . . . It seems I’ve been Martha forever. She’s not anyone I’d want to be forever.”
Each of the stars put forth their best efforts in the film and earned Oscar nominations for their work. Sandy Dennis took home the award for Best Supporting Actress, and Elizabeth won the honor of Best Actress for her performance as Martha. She was angry that Burton did not also win, but took enormous satisfaction in the completed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, later saying, “I was overcome with such a sense of joy and pride. God, we were good together.”
Each of the stars put forth their best efforts in the film and earned Oscar nominations for their work.
During rehearsals, with director Mike Nichols
A visit to the set by Marlene Dietrich
The Taming of the Shrew
ROYAL FILMS INTERNATIONAL/F.A.I. PRODUCTIONS/COLUMBIA PICTURES
CAST
Elizabeth Taylor Katharina
Richard Burton Petruchio
Cyril Cusack Grumio
Michael Hordern Baptista
Alfred Lynch Tranio
Alan Webb Gremio
Giancarlo Cobelli the Priest
Vernon Dobtcheff Pedant
Ken Parry Tailor
Anthony Gardner Haberdasher
Natasha Pyne Bianca
Michael York Lucentio
CREDITS
Richard McWhorter (executive producer); Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Franco Zeffirelli (producers); Franco Zeffirelli (director); Franco Zeffirelli, Paul Dehn, Suso Cecchi d’Amico (screenplay), based on play by William Shakespeare; Oswald Morris (photography); Nino Rota (music); John De Cuir, Renzo Mongiardino (production designs); Giuseppe Mariani, Elven Webb (art directors); Dario Simoni, Luigi Gervasi (set decorations); Carlo Lastricati, Albino Cocco, Rinaldo Ricci (assistant directors); Peter Taylor (editor); Danilo Donati, Gloria Musetta, Irene Sharaff (costumes); Alexandre de Paris (Elizabeth Taylor’s hairstylist); Alberto De Rossi, Giannetto De Rossi, Frank Larue, Ron Berkeley (makeup)
RELEASE DATE: March 8, 1967
RUN TIME: 122 minutes, color
SUMMARY: In sixteenth-century Padua, the beauteous and delicate Bianca would be set to marry suitor Lucentio, but for her father, Baptista, who mandates that Bianca may not marry until her older sister Katharina is wed. The problem is, though Katharina be rich and beautiful, she has a fierce personality and is perpetually in a fit of rage. No man is willing to subject himself to a lifetime of her abuse. Then, traveler Petruchio arrives in town to “wive it wealthily.” Petruchio cares not that Katharina is a hellion and becomes determined to subdue her. With the help of all Bianca’s suitors, who wish to see Katharina married for their own benefit, Petruchio succeeds in making a series of furious and comic events turn Katharina into a gentle, loving wife. Bianca may now marry the steadfast Lucentio.
A shrew ready for taming. Elizabeth came to love a role which at first frightened her with its Shakespearean text.
Petruchio comes to Padua to wive it wealthily, even if it means taming a hellion named Katharina.<
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REVIEWS
“Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew is a film of great visual beauty, a voluptuous feast for those with a hungry eye for the sun-sodden misted glow the Italian director uniquely provides on screen as on stage for Shakespeare’s 16th-century Italy, and/or a ravenous one for the exquisite face and décolletage of Elizabeth Taylor. Both scene and set and leading lady are set forth in lavish splendor and in such glowing tones that play and performance can well assume secondary status.’”
—New York World Journal Tribune (Judith Crist)
“Director Franco Zeffirelli has made a lusty comedy and a beautiful canvas of The Taming of the Shrew. . . . It would be hard to find a better Petruchio than Richard Burton—rip-roaring male in his cups, humorously gutsy in his swagger, stout-hearted in his dual with Katharina, yet with a gleam of tenderness when he finds her softening. Elizabeth Taylor’s Kate is more like a furious kitten than a snarling termagant in the earlier scenes, she is irresistible to watch, she speaks her Shakespeare nicely and becomes moving in her final obeisance to her ‘lord and master.’”
—New York Post (Frances Herridge)
“Having had at one another very roundly and in a serious dramatic vein in their most recent husband-wife tangle, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the Burtons are now turned loose with slapsticks for a free-swinging hit-as-hit-can in this forthrightly campy entertainment. They are refereed by Franco Zeffirelli out of the corner of one winking eye. And if any crusty customer doesn’t like it—well, a pox on him!”
—The New York Times (Bosley Crowther)
Katharina the Shrew
Elizabeth always loved riding. Her cloak was by Irene Sharaff, part of the Oscar-nominated costuming team on the movie.
Elizabeth and Richard Burton take on Shakespeare. They had toyed with the idea of doing Macbeth, but Elizabeth always maintained that The Taming of the Shrew would be more fitting for her.
notes
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ZESTFUL ROMANTIC COMEDY The Taming of the Shrew was a natural for married actors to play. Forceful fortune-seeker Petruchio and Katharina the shrew were portrayed by famed couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne onstage in the mid-1930s and on the screen by the husband-and-wife team of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in an early talkie of 1929. Italian producer-director Franco Zeffirelli originally conceived his production as a vehicle for Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, but ultimately continued the tradition of couples casting with the most famous acting pair in the world, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
In addition to starring in the film, Elizabeth and Burton coproduced with Zeffirelli, waiving their usual generous salaries in exchange for a profit share in the movie. The Taming of the Shrew was an intriguing follow-up to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It had the shrew in common, though the Shakespeare film adaptation was a beautiful Technicolor production with lavish (Oscar-nominated) art direction and costumes. Elizabeth shed the pounds of Virginia Woolf and looked as stunning as ever.
The Shakespeare film adaptation was a beautiful Technicolor production with lavish (Oscar-nominated) art direction and costumes.
As Katharina. The Shakespearean character was also famous simply as Kate, thanks to the popular play and film, Kiss Me Kate.
Behind-the-scenes preparations for filming
Granted, it was not appearances that concerned Elizabeth with this film, but the acting itself. Burton had much experience with Shakespearean acting, but Elizabeth was apprehensive about it. He was less concerned about how she would fare: “Anything, including Shakespeare, is possible with Elizabeth. Elizabeth is shy about her lack of experience in the classical theatre, but she speaks verse with a kind of deadly authority. I think it would be fascinating to have a youngish Lady Macbeth, a sort of femme fatale.” To his last comment, Elizabeth replied, “Wouldn’t it be better typecasting for me to do Taming of the Shrew?” As Burton suspected, Elizabeth eased into the role of Katharina quickly. She improved as the production went on, so much so that nearing the end Elizabeth talked Zeffirelli into reshooting the first day’s footage. The movie presented a new challenge for Burton, too, when director Zeffirelli had to leave the production for the last few days of filming. Leaving precise instructions, Zeffirelli entrusted directorial duties to his male star.
The Taming of the Shrew was filmed at the studios of Dino De Laurentiis in Italy from March through August 1966. The Roman setting, in the color cinematography of Oswald Morris, helped make it a gorgeously spectacular film. Zeffirelli later said in his memoirs that making the movie with his friends, the Burtons, was one of the best times he ever had. For their part, Elizabeth described the production as “one long honeymoon.” It was a profitable one at that. The Taming of the Shrew drew more than $12 million in gross worldwide, and Elizabeth, Burton, and the film itself won David di Donatello Awards at the Sicilian Film Festival.
Zeffirelli later said in his memoirs that making the movie with his friends, the Burtons, was one of the best times he ever had.
Outside of an Italian restaurant during filming
In Italy, during the making of The Taming of the Shrew
Burton collects a David di Donatello Award for his performance in the film.
Elizabeth’s hairstylist, Alexandre de Paris, outdid himself on the movie.
Doctor Faustus
OXFORD UNIVERSITY SCREEN PRODUCTIONS/NASSAU FILMS/VENFILMS/COLUMBIA PICTURES
CAST
Richard Burton Doctor Faustus
Elizabeth Taylor Helen of Troy
Andreas Teuber Mephistopheles
Ian Marter Emperor
Elizabeth O’Donovan Empress
David McIntosh Lucifer
Jeremy Eccles Belsebub
Ram Chopra Valdes
Richard Carwardine Cornelius
Richard Heffer Disciple No. 1
CREDITS
Richard McWhorter, Richard Burton (executive producers); Richard Burton, Nevill Coghill (directors); Nevill Coghill (screenplay), based on play by Christopher Marlowe; Gábor Pogány (photography); Mario Nascimbene (music); John DeCuir (production design); Boris Juraga (art director); Dario Simoni (set decorations); Jacqueline Harvey (choreographer); Gus Agosti (assistant director); David Hildyard, John Aldred (sound); John Shirley (editor); Peter J. Hall (costumes)
RELEASE DATE: October 10, 1967 (U.K.); February 6, 1968 (U.S.)
RUN TIME: 93 minutes, color
SUMMARY: Doctor Faustus is a dedicated scholar with an insatiable desire to master all the knowledge in the world. He invokes the devil’s demon agent, Mephistopheles, out of hell and through him Faustus enters into a pact, granting his soul to the devil in exchange for the knowledge and power which are of paramount importance to him. Over the next twenty-four years, Faustus is to live the life he thinks he wants, filled with gluttony, pride, avarice, lechery, and all the sins that ultimately lead Faustus to a wretched existence. God becomes the doctor’s only hope to spare him from an eternity of misery, but the devil will not allow Faustus to break his pact without a fight.
As the wife of Faustus. Elizabeth appeared in all her glamorous glory in Richard Burton’s pet project.
notes
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE’S PLAY DOCTOR FAUSTUS, BASED on a tale of German legend about a man who sells his soul to the devil, first appeared on the stage sometime in the late sixteenth century, with the first known performances taking place in 1594. Many modernized Faustian tragedies appeared on the American screen over the years, among them The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), Alias Nick Beal (1949), the classic 1953 musical The Band Wagon, and Damn Yankees (1958). A straightforward classical treatment was not a popular idea for mass consumption and indeed, such a treatment was never made into a major motion picture in Hollywood, though it had been done several times in Europe. The success of The Taming of the Shrew, however, assisted Richard Burton and coproducer Richard McWhorter in generating financial backing for their classic interpretation of Faustus.
Mute throughout,
Elizabeth was presented like a jewel, adorned with glitter, metallic paint, wigs, headdresses, and stunning costuming.
The film was based on a stage edition in which Burton had appeared in 1966. (Elizabeth participated too, in a walk-on role.) He was drawn to the production by his alma mater, Oxford University, and specifically by his former tutor, Nevill Coghill. The Burtons provided their services free of charge, with all proceeds going to the Oxford University Dramatic Society. The play was a success, and Burton and Coghill were then inspired to bring it to the big screen.
In costume, with the aging Faustus
Embellishments were used for each of Elizabeth’s entrances, and a specific tune was repeated whenever she appeared.
The stars prepare for a scene.
The movie was filmed both at England’s Shepperton studios and Italy’s Dino Di Laurentiis studios in September and October 1966. Save for Elizabeth and Burton, the cast was composed of members of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. Elizabeth appeared in several different roles in the film. Mute throughout, each time she was presented like a jewel, adorned with glitter, metallic paint, wigs, headdresses, and stunning costuming, and each time she appeared more breathtaking than in the previous sighting.
Offscreen with Burton
Elizabeth and Burton give a press conference upon arrival in England for the film’s premiere.
Elizabeth Taylor Page 15