Testing...
Do you have your frickin' machine on?
Yeah.
Let's ease into it a little.
Okey dokey.
Let me think now. Wait a minute.
Would you like another drink?
Yeah. You?
Scotch and soda.
One for my friend,
Jack Daniels and Sandy.
Got a half bottle?
Tonight we invented champagne.
- Excuse me.
- What's the matter?
I'm just fascinated
by the phenomenon
of Elizabeth Taylor.
What do you think
your public image is?
- My public image?
- Yeah.
I would think
it was an untrustworthy lady.
Completely superficial.
Not too pretty.
Not too pretty?
I mean, inside.
Not too pretty a picture.
Maybe because of my personal life.
I suggest something illicit.
But I am not illicit.
And I am not immoral.
I made mistakes.
And I have paid for them.
But still, it doesn't make up.
I know that I will never
be able to pay the bill.
But that is not something
you can put in the story.
I'd like to ask a little bit
about, you know, your career.
Do you feel that
you sort of created your career
or that it just happened to you?
What do you mean
by created my career?
I don't know
what kind of a career you mean.
Your movie?
I really...
My career has been kind of odd.
I've been in film since I was ten.
I really had
the most idyllic childhood
and then going to a public school
in California right after we moved.
And everybody's kid
is a producer's daughter,
a director's son.
It's such a small community.
And we've gone to the studio
to have a look around.
Rolling... How are the cameras?
All right. Bob, how are your lights?
All good.
I was very impressed.
It's so huge
in all the studio stages.
And at that time, you know
they would do, maybe,
thirty films at once
so it was teeming with life.
All right, cut it. Print it.
People dressed up in Greek clothes.
People dressed up in cowboy clothes.
People dressed up as apes
and movie stars who's everybody,
even extras were a movie star.
Yeah.
And then I decided
I'd like to be an actress.
And you were not pushed
by your parents at all?
The absolute opposite.
Now, if anything,
they didn't want me to be an actress.
My father, particularly.
My mother was more understanding
because she'd been
an actress herself.
But I was the one that pushed.
Poor Lassie.
Poor Lassie.
Poor girl.
I was a producer at MGM
starting a film called
Lassie Come Home
and in it was
a charming little girl part.
Francis Taylor
who ran the little art gallery
in the Beverly Hills Hotel
began talking to me
about his beautiful daughter
which is the sort of thing
producers hear often.
So I wasn't paying
a lot of attention.
And she walked in.
It was truly
like an eclipse of the sun.
It blotted out
everybody that was in the office.
I took her by the hand.
I walked over to wardrobe.
We never even tested her in the part.
We just took the chance.
Oh, my Lassie, come home.
Elizabeth and I have been friends
since we were in Lassie Come Home.
That's a very long time.
So we've shared
a lot of life together, happily.
What was your first impression
the first time you ever saw Elizabeth
on the set of Lassie?
- Truthfully?
- At last, yeah.
I was absolutely floored by her.
She has the most exquisite face.
Please, Joe.
What do you want?
I hope you won't worry
too much about Lassie.
Her eyes were so astounding
that the cameraman asked
if her mother would please
have the mascara removed.
And she said, "I'm not wearing any."
I mean, those top lashes.
She's the most beautiful thing
I ever saw in my life.
The idea of being in films
was like the most magical extension
of make believe.
Country's going to pot.
- Nonsense.
- What's that?
I said nonsense.
I didn't know that it was a career.
Didn't occur to me
that I was working for money.
It just seemed like a more concrete
extension of make believe.
Isn't he beautiful?
He's new. I've never seen him before.
How did you get the part
of Velvet Brown?
Well, I was under contract
to MGM at the time
and I desperately wanted the part
because it was me.
It was my whole life,
my relationship and love for horses.
And the producer saw me, and he said,
"I'm very sorry, Elizabeth.
You're just too small.
You know, no one would believe it."
But I mean, I was swinging
from doors to make myself grow.
I did forty jumps every morning.
I ate steak
for breakfast, lunch, dinner.
I literally stretched myself and
I grew three inches in three months.
And Pandro Berman, the producer
he said, "With that kind of tenacity,
honey, you've got the part."
Velvet, you're too young
to understand something.
Have you ever really felt keen
about anything?
Oh, yeah.
Horses.
Steady now.
Elizabeth is about
the best looking 15-year-old girl
known to the public at large.
I christen thee, the MGM mayorship.
She will soon be appearing
in Cynthia and Life with Father.
Elizabeth is under contract
with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood
and receives her education
at the MGM Studio School.
Did you like school?
I hated it.
I mean, it was really so grim...
It was a studio school?
Which used to be
Irving Thalberg's bungalow
that they converted into a school.
I don't know.
There was something so false
about trying
to pack in your education.
All it took was three hours a day
but you could be on the set
eight hours.
- Well, how's my big girl?
- Hello, Dad.
And during that eight hours
you had to cram in ten minutes here
- fifteen minutes.
- Yeah.
And in between times
you would have to go out and act.
So your memory was split
between being the character
and then
being hauled back into school
and trying to snap
your brain back into place
and become a student.
And the real business today
is the acting.
You bet yours.
I admire you
but I'm afraid
you're a little too noble for me.
Something funny happened to me.
I was like a child actress.
And then all of a sudden,
I was playing at the age of 16
but looking 24
I was playing
in the film Robert Taylor's wife.
The awful thing is I received
my own real life kiss
one week before I received
my first film kiss.
I must say that the film kiss
was better than my real life kiss.
But it was sort of like
I was thrown into the adult world
when I have to behave
like a sophisticated woman.
And in my own world,
I was a terrified little girl.
Have you ever seen a dream walking?
I have. A dream with
peaches and cream complexion
flowing raven locks, and
big blue eyes that literally talk.
She's five foot five and 110 pounds.
A glorious 16-year-old
CoverGirl beauty.
You'll see her soon
in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's
g*y Technicolor musical comedy
A Date with Judy.
You're the prettiest girl
in Santa Barbara.
That's obvious.
Thank you very much.
And you know it. That's also obvious.
I mean, you know,
from a very, very early age
you represented one of the most
potent sex symbols in the world.
Because I played with that horse
when I was twelve years old.
May I have a cigarette, please?
Good evening, Carol. Good evening.
You look lovely tonight, Carol.
You really do.
And you've grown, too.
You certainly have.
When you weren't in school
there was someone with you
all the time looking after you.
During my teenage years
my mother and a tutor
were with me all the time.
But you can imagine
when you're almost eighteen
having, like, a nanny
take you in tow.
You weren't even supposed
to go into the commissary alone.
And it was only
when I was almost eighteen
that I was allowed
to go any place by myself.
Elizabeth, what do you like to do
when you're not making movies?
Dances and parties on Friday
and Saturday nights, for instance.
Baseball, football games
on Saturday afternoons
long horseback rides
with friends like Jane Powell.
All those things are a lot of fun.
When I was at MGM
and very young people
in the press department
would suggest
that I would date somebody.
For publicity.
Publicity.
It was all pure fabrication.
We would go out on dates so virginal
and we kissed on the cheek, you know.
I mean, that's how serious it was.
You really wanted to get married.
Yes, I did.
Because I was in love with love.
I was infatuated with love.
I was playing parts
that were so highly romantic.
The impression I get is that
you really wanted your freedom.
Absolutely. But I was so naive.
I met Nick Hilton
at the age of eighteen.
I was a virgin.
And not only a virgin
physically, but mentally.
I was not prepared to be an adult.
I'd been sheltered and protected.
The repercussions were that
I made horrendous mistakes.
Hollywood's wedding of the year
at the Beverly Hills Catholic Church
as lovely British born screen star,
Elizabeth Taylor
arrives with her father
for her marriage to Conrad Hilton Jr.
Crowning a romance
everybody's been interested in.
The 23-year-old bridegroom is heir
to one of America's richest men.
Elizabeth at eighteen, is famous
for her loveliness and charm.
Her striking gown,
a gift from her studio friends
simply stagger the enormous
crowds at the wedding.
The ceremony was like a fairytale.
It was perfect.
With this ring, I thee wed.
With this ring, I thee wed.
I felt something would
automatically happen to me inside.
I thought I would obtain maturity
just because I was a Mrs.
Instead of a Miss.
Of course,
it had nothing to do with it.
Then we drove away
and it was a big reception.
For the first time in my life,
I'd had two glasses of champagne.
Then I had
three glasses of champagne.
And the time came to leave
and I became more and more petrified.
Because I really had no idea
what was coming.
Conrad Hilton Jr.
And Elizabeth Taylor
sail on the Queen Mary
for three months in Europe.
And then to the place
where we spent our wedding night.
And I locked myself
in the bathroom and changed and...
I didn't want to unlock the door,
I was so petrified.
Finally, I did unlock the door.
And I guess Nick saw
that I was so terrified.
Anyway. Nothing happened
for three days.
Okay. Stop.
It was just wonderful.
We had such a g*y time.
We love Europe.
Hello, everybody. I'd like you
to meet my new dog, Bonko.
He's three months old.
He's a true Frenchman.
Won't you say hello in French?
Bonko. Bonko.
Dark blue.
Not violet, or...
No, that's some sort of
romantic journalist idea.
Are there relatively
few opportunities
for a good actress to be good?
I fought against the studio
to get a good role for a film.
Look, come with me.
I couldn't.
It was like walking in molasses.
No matter how hard I tried.
They were going to keep me
stuck as an ingnue.
Why are you so quiet?
I wanted a challenge,
something with meaning.
I make you nervous?
Yes.
You look like an Eastman.
Are you one?
Nephew. My name's George.
I'm Angela.
The first time I played
a so-called adult role
was in A Place in the Sun
with Montgomery Clift.
And I was absolutely terrified
because Monty, first of all, was,
you know, the New York stage actor.
And I felt very much
the inadequate teenage Hollywood
sort of, puppet
that had just worn pretty clothes.
And I hadn't really acted
except with horses and dogs.
I'm getting on
pretty well here, Mama.
I'm happy here, too.
Who's there with you, George?
It's me, Mama.
George encouraged me so
because he didn't make me feel
like a puppet.
He gave indications of what he wanted
but didn't tell you
specifically what to do.
This is nice.
I don't want to spoil it.
When we were doing the dance scene
and Monty
- says, "I love you,"
- I love you.
And my instinct was
to look up into his eyes.
And George said, "No, just have
some expression on your face"
whatever it is you're feeling."
You're the fellow who wondered
why I invited you here tonight.
I'll tell you why.
I love...
Are they watching us?
I love you, too. It scares me.
I loved doing that film
and I think I was bitten.
I loved the possibility of acting.
I loved being given the chance
of maybe becoming an actress.
And I took it.
I took it between my teeth
like a horse does.
And I ran.
And it seemed to work.
Eager fans see Elizabeth Taylor
with Montgomery Clift.
Elizabeth,
haven't seen you in a long time.
Thank you. How are you?
We talked about
making horrendous errors.
What sort of things were those?
Well, I think trying to rush things.
Trying to force things.
I mean nothing's to be said
about my first marriage.
Okay.
This is a delicate area
and I don't know how to...
how it should be handled, but...
I don't want to talk
about Nick Hilton
about his kicking me in the stomach
and causing me to have a miscarriage.
That's the kind of thing
nobody in the world knows of.
I think the great interest in this
is to find out what you have to say
about all these things.
Yeah.
The wedding was lovely.
Then came disillusionment.
Also, a few split lips.
I had left because Nick was always
in a temper or stoned or something.
I couldn't really go back
to that life of...
such mental and physical abuse.
And our marriage
was over and done with.
Anyway, after the whole thing
I stayed at the Plaza Hotel
in New York.
The first kind of
free, independent time
I'd ever had in my life.
I was a divorcee and I was nineteen.
Roddy was there with me, and Monty.
Just having fun with my chums,
doing all kinds of crazy things.
If I wanted to go ice skating
at nine o'clock at night, we would.
I would just have hot dogs
all day long.
Completely irresponsible
sort of behavior.
I didn't have to keep proper hours.
I didn't have to do
anything properly.
And I had a ball.
And, of course, Roddy and Monty
were such marvelous friends
and they just took great care of me.
Elizabeth surrounded herself
with g*y men.
She worshipped Montgomery Clift.
She loved Rock Hudson.
She just cherished
those relationships.
They were never going to
come on to her
and I think
she really appreciated that.
She saw people around her
particularly her closest friends,
Monty Clift, I think, and Rock Hudson
who were hidden
in this kind of Hollywood facade.
But they weren't willing
to come out at that stage
because we lived
in such a different world then.
It was just not possible.
Roddy has been, I guess,
my most consistent friend.
My longest friend.
He makes you feel cherished.
Just as you really are.
A lot of my friends, they've
always been, kind of, a sanctuary.
A traditional way of greeting
the new year in London
is the Chelsea Arts Ball
at the Royal Albert Hall.
Clad in very fancy dress,
they dance the old year out
without much regret,
I should imagine.
All cameras at London airports
are focused on
two people very much in love.
Britain's Michael Wilding
and Elizabeth Taylor.
I'm very glad.
Glad to see you, too.
Then, of course, you know,
I met Michael
and he was a great stabilizer.
Is there anything I can do?
Look, I don't know your trouble,
but you don't look very well to me.
Kind of going
from one extreme to another.
Oh yes, quite clearly.
I mean, Michael is
twenty years older than I am
so it was a bit
of the father figure thing.
He represented
tranquility, security, maturity.
He represented all the things
that I needed in myself.
No Hollywood premiere
could ever compete with this.
The siege of Paxton Hall
as thousands of fans fought for just
a glimpse of these glamorous stars
on their wedding day.
Normally staid Londoners
mobbed the newlyweds
as the well-wishers surged forward
to get a better look at the Wildings.
I was dying to have children
but I was at least realistic enough
to know that I was not ready.
I was twenty years old
and I was so inexperienced
and brought up in
a world of such protection
that people did things for me.
But I wanted to be a good wife.
I really wanted
to be a splendid mother.
A new personality makes
his film debut in Hollywood
with his lovely mother,
MGM star Elizabeth Taylor
directing the performance.
Michael Howard Wilding makes his bow
to the great movie audience.
And I went back to MGM
and was forced
to do things that I hated.
I was given such sh*t
that you should choke on.
Elizabeth Taylor
as the beautiful young girl
who recklessly loved
a man she hardly knew.
The dark depths within him,
a mystery she had still to discover.
And then it kind of made me sick.
I died inside.
Because year after year
of reading reviews
that said I was
a vacuous but pretty face
and quite clearly couldn't
read a line upside down.
I can't just turn it on
when you want it, like a light switch
and turn it off when you don't.
There was a kind of rebellion
that started within me.
I thought
maybe I'd start to fight them.
And then I did start to fight.
Out of the special chartered plane
stepped Elizabeth Taylor
Rock Hudson, director George Stevens.
Why hello.
Why, Leslie.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
The opportunity is marvelous
because the character starts from 18
and ends up
very manicured, well-coiffed 50.
And that is difficult to portray
if you are 22, which I was.
How you doing?
Tired, huh?
Now don't you worry about me.
I'm a tough Texian.
I started the film
and again all the method actors
that still give me
an inferiority complex
Jimmy Dean, Carroll Baker.
Now, Luz.
She was a character.
She played my daughter
and she's two years older than I am.
Eat it while it's hot.
George and I had gotten on so well
on A Place in the Sun
but I don't know,
unless it's like... it's hard to say.
We got off on a bad start.
Just difference of opinion
to do with the character
and in front
of the whole crew, everyone.
He said clearly,
I would never become an actress
because I was so concerned
about being pretty.
He constantly reminded me that
I was a movie star, not an actress.
He constantly misinterpreted
ideas of mine
that did not gel with his.
Please do go on talking, I'd love it.
This is men's stuff.
Leslie, how about a cup of coffee
or a drink or something?
Men stuff?
Lord have mercy.
And did you ever think
of taking acting lessons or...
- No.
- Never. You never thought...
Have you ever taken acting?
No. I believe
that any technique or talent
that I might have
is not technique. It's instinct.
It's very impolite, I know.
But in principle,
I was absolutely right.
If I am feeling
something emotional in a scene
I sweat real sweat
and I shake real shakes.
A great deal of effort goes
into making it seem effortless.
When are you going to settle down
and behave like everybody else?
Never.
Rock Hudson and Elizabeth
became very close
when they were filming Giant.
Rock had had
a very public marriage to
sort of, put the nail
in the coffin
of this rumor that he was g*y.
Of course it was all a sham.
Elizabeth knew it was a sham.
Rock trusted her.
And she protected him.
It was 120 in the shade.
It was boiling, but we were like
a very tightly knit family.
Marfa, Texas had
a population of 2,000, I think.
So we were like the real Martians.
We all had a little tiny house.
It was sort of sit across the road
from each other.
And sometimes
Jimmy and I would sit up
until like three o'clock
in the morning talking.
He would tell me about some of
the grief and unhappiness in his life
and some of his loves and tragedies.
And the next day on the set,
I'd say, hi, Jimmy.
And it was almost as if
he didn't want to sort of recognize
that he had revealed
so much of himself the night before.
And it would just be
a cursory nod of the head
and it would take maybe a day or two
for him to become my friend again.
One lump, or do you like two?
The night that Jimmy was k*lled
we were in the projection room
watching the rushes
and George turned the sound off
and he said, ladies and gentlemen,
I have an announcement to make.
Jimmy Dean is dead.
It occurred on US 466.
It was a sideswipe,
head on collision.
The dead was James Byron Dean
D.O.A., or dead on arrival
at the hospital.
He's only 24,
and it seemed impossible.
I'd just been with him that day
driving around the studio
in his Porsche.
He was so alive, he was so vital.
I couldn't believe that he was dead.
Okay.
Then after that I went into a whole,
kind of, period of examining.
My own life.
It was Michael. We were married
five years and for three
it was just sort of...
I mean, it just wasn't working out.
I'm afraid I gave him
a rather rough time.
I tended to be a bit stronger
than he was.
Our divorce was friendly.
If you can call a divorce
being friendly.
Did you have any worries
about the children?
You said, "My children are
very remarkable people."
- What did you mean?
- I love my kids.
But I absolutely cannot
talk about them.
I feel terribly protective.
They have the right to privacy.
What kind of a woman
did you say she was?
How many kinds are there?
Elizabeth?
She never had all these boyfriends,
you know, like other people.
She fell in love, got married
and then got divorced.
I once said to Elizabeth, "Then why
do you have to marry all these fellas"
why can't you just be
a mistress or whatever?"
And she said to me,
"Because I want to be a bride."
And then came
the love of her life, Mike Todd.
Mr. Todd, are you planning
to star Elizabeth Taylor
in any of your forthcoming films?
I didn't get the name.
Elizabeth Taylor.
You mean the cinema actress.
- Yes.
- Oh, yes. Yes.
Well, I read that
Elizabeth Taylor is not going to make
like an actress very much longer.
She's going to marry you, I'm told.
- Huh?
- Marry you, Mr. Todd.
I didn't hear you very well.
The acoustics, the airplanes.
Producer Michael Todd
led a rich career
most of it on Broadway.
But it was his first movie,
Around the World in 80 Days
that made his name
an international byword.
Are you formally challenging me to
undertake a journey around the world
in 80 days?
What kind of a man is Mike Todd?
Mike was one of the most flamboyant
characters I've ever known.
There was a joy
about being alive and a vitality
and he was a real con artist.
He could con the gold
out of your teeth.
Hello? Yes. What?
I don't want orchestras
for the boats.
I want bands and in uniform.
It was during the period
that Mike was producing 80 Days
that I became part of his life.
I'd seen Mike, and knew him.
It was fun being with him.
I was attracted to him,
but not overly.
The day after my separation
from Michael Wilding
Mike called me and said
he had to see me right away.
He said I was to meet him at MGM.
And Mike charged in.
We went into a deserted office.
He sort of plopped me down,
pulled a chair around
started in on a spiel,
saying that he loved me
and that there was
no question about it
that we were going to be married.
I looked at him like a rabbit
I imagine looks at a mongoose.
And I thought, "You know something?"
I think he's right."
He talked me into it.
That's what I mean,
con the gold out of your teeth.
When she married Mike,
I was her matron of honor
and I was married to Eddie Fisher.
I greet the dawn when I awaken
Mike Todd was Eddie's best friend
and the four of us
had a lot of fun together.
Elizabeth, she just was
madly in love with Mike Todd
who was really a charismatic guy.
When Mike bought me
my engagement ring
he said it was 29 and 7/8 carats
because thirty would
have been vulgar.
I call it my ice skating rink.
What do you want to ask me?
I talked to some of the presents
you've given Ms. Taylor.
I wouldn't want to discuss that
but I can hear you loud and clear
when you talk about...
Did you say Ms. Taylor?
You mean, Mrs. Todd?
- I beg your pardon.
- Oh, yes.
Well, Mrs. Todd is my favorite person
in the whole world
and there's no secret about it.
And I'm very fortunate
and have to get my hands
on a few dollars occasionally.
And I think there's no better way
in the world of spending it
than trying to spoil Elizabeth.
You can't let that be...
Somebody once said,
is Elizabeth spoiled?
And I said, I know nothing more
pleasant than trying to spoil her.
I won't be able to, I don't think.
We traveled
all over the world together
to promote
Around the World in 80 Days
and we couldn't have had
more of a ball.
Mike, some of your critics say that
much of your success is due to luck.
You agree?
It proves that it's much better
to be lucky than smart
which I am a living example of.
And ending that sentence
with a preposition proves it.
Around the World in 80 Days.
The Best Picture producer
Mike Todd receives his Oscar.
Mike was self-educated
not really out of books,
but by out of listening.
Curiosity.
For me, I always had
a feeling of inadequacy
as a student and as a human being.
With Mike, I learned
to enjoy life much more
and not to feel ashamed
because you don't know
about something which I had before.
Not to be ashamed of being curious.
The curiosity was a marvelous thing.
One time I was teasing him
unmercifully
and some photographer got a picture.
Mike, there's been a lot of publicity
about your public spat.
- What? Bite your tongue.
- Is that thing...
Would you suggest
a good fight now and then?
We're not introverts.
We have... we have something to say.
I say, hey, Liz,
she hollers, hey, Mike.
You make a case out of that,
then it's too bad.
We're very... Well, we're so happy.
It doesn't matter. I don't really
care what anybody thinks anyway.
Because we know.
I used to try sometimes
to deliberately drive Mike mad.
And I loved it when he then would
lose his temper and dominate me
and I'd start to purr inside
because he had won and I hadn't.
What sort of things would you do?
Oh, be late.
Be deliberately...
Just fiddle around and be late.
I suppose it was like
testing my strength.
Each time hoping and praying
that I would lose.
It's really very important to you,
isn't it? The strength.
Oh, I need it.
I need that quality,
and that with any other quality
because I know myself
and I know that I will try
and get away with m*rder.
When are you expecting the baby?
I'm not actually quite sure.
I haven't been to see the doctor yet.
I'm going this afternoon.
But sometime around October, I think.
Liz, I'm quoting you now.
You once said
you had the mind of a child
in a woman's body. Am I right?
That was when I was fifteen. Yeah.
Oh, I see. I was wondering
since you've been married to
such a more mature man of the world
as Mr. Todd, you feel
you've matured somewhat now.
I hope so. Otherwise,
I'd be slightly Ret*rded, wouldn't I?
Thanks very much, Mike and Liz,
and best of luck with the baby.
See you're not playing with children.
That was a pretty good comeback.
Yes, it was. Yeah.
That was for me, not for your camera.
When Liza was born,
she looked like all premature babies
a bit like Methuselah.
But to Mike, she was a total miracle.
He's quite convinced
she was the most brilliant child
and certainly going to be the first
female president of the United States
and, of course, the first Jewish
president of the United States.
Evening, Liz.
- Hello, Ed. How are you?
- Good.
Are you going
to continue making movies
or just be a housewife?
I couldn't really...
care less about making movies,
to tell you the truth.
I consider it much more important
to be a good woman than
a great actor or any kind of actor.
I was going to quit
and I had one more film
to do on the studio contract.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
It was a weird experience for me.
And I don't remember
too much about it
because I was on the film
for two weeks before Mike was k*lled.
Michael Todd died today
at the height of his career.
Today his plane crashed and exploded
in mountains thirty miles
southwest of Grants, New Mexico.
Mr. Todd was on his way to New York
to accept an award
as Showman of the Year.
His wife, Elizabeth Taylor,
might have gone with him
but she had a cold and stayed behind.
It's funny, I... I had a feeling
so did Mike, all during our marriage
that something was going to happen.
It was the first time
that I had been happy.
And he was almost fifty years old
and he had never
he told me, been that happy before.
And it was like
something was going to happen.
It was too good to be true.
And when it did happen...
I was so unprepared.
I was unprepared for the death...
of the person
that I put all my trust in.
It was really
more than I could handle.
Eddie and I both went
to Elizabeth's house
and she was screaming,
and it was just awful.
And so I said to Eddie,
you should stay.
I'll take the children
and take them home
because now the press is
swarming all over her house.
I was absolutely in...
I mean,
really almost incoherent state.
I didn't ever want to work again
but I was so dead
that I thought the only way
I could regain my sanity at all
was to go back and finish the film.
I had to finish it.
One of those no neck monsters
hit me with some ice cream.
Now, why did you call
Goober's kiddies no neck monsters?
Because your brother's children
got necks, that's why.
I went back to work after two weeks
and I was more or less like a robot
until I became Maggie.
And when I was Maggie,
I could talk and I could function
until they said cut.
I get so lonely.
Everybody gets that.
Living with somebody you love can
be lonely as living entirely alone.
When the one you love
doesn't love you.
It was a trance-like thing about me
after Mike's death.
I think I really did have
a strong urge to...
just lay down. Quit.
It seemed almost certain
that I was heading to disaster
and I could not stop myself.
So now you're going to enjoy
a pause that really refreshes
as we bring you Eddie Fisher singing
his newest RCA Victor recording
of Without You.
There'll never be a love for me
Without you
After Mike's plane crash
my husband, he was
great comfort for Elizabeth.
And then she had to go to New York.
And then he said
he had to go for work.
And, but he really went to be
with Elizabeth, which I found out
and realized that there was
something going on seriously there.
Eddie Fisher in New York
had taken me out
I think, two or three times.
And then all the sh*t hit the fan.
A short time ago,
one of the Hollywood columnist
broke a story about
you and Debbie breaking up.
There's nothing to it, but I would
prefer not going into it at all.
Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
seem to have a storybook marriage.
The crooner's hits drew
thousands of adoring fans
while the starlet's roles in films
such as Singin' in the Rain
earned her
the title America's Sweetheart.
As a couple, they appeared
to adore each other.
Yes. Where is she? Debbie.
She's a very, very wonderful girl.
She's a funny cook.
You mean a lousy cook.
That's what he really means.
- Wait a minute.
- Yeah.
I was still in love
with the memory of Mike.
I was keeping Mike alive.
By talking about him.
Just Eddie was
a great friend of Mike's.
That was the only thing
we had in common. It was Mike.
I never loved Eddie. I liked him.
I felt sorry for him
and I like talking
with him about Mike.
I was sick.
But I trapped myself into that,
and I did that myself.
I can't say anything against Debbie
but she put on such an act
with the pigtails and
the diaper pins.
And, you know, as the whole thing
coming as a big shock.
I mean, the public
didn't know any of the...
personal unhappinesses
of Debbie and Eddie
that Mike and I knew about.
As far as they were concerned
I had broken up
a perfectly happy marriage.
In the capper
to Hollywood's biggest scandal
a radiant Elizabeth Taylor
marries Eddie Fisher
just three hours after
his divorce from Debbie Reynolds.
Am I right in thinking that
after you married Eddie Fisher that
you encountered
terrific public animosity?
Oh, sure.
Hostility in people's faces,
and letters, and looks.
Did the public animosity
bother you a lot?
Well, sure.
It was more or less justified
as far as they were concerned.
Matter of fact, I don't remember
too much about my marriage
except that it was
one big friggin' awful mistake.
And that I knew it
before we got married
and didn't know how to get out of it.
You're going to honeymoon in Europe.
Whereabouts?
Some place around Spain.
You happy?
Very happy. Thank you.
Eddie, this is probably the most
publicized wedding in a long time.
How do you two feel
about all the publicity?
The... About what?
About all the publicity
attending the wedding?
I don't think that's a...
We're more concerned
about each other right now.
I see.
Eddie, are you are a little bit dizzy
by the pace of this thing?
- We're a little weary.
- It's true.
Very tired, but we feel wonderful.
Can she cook?
She doesn't have to.
I question whether
you ever thought at the time
perhaps it would have been marvelous
if I had never been a movie star
and never been in a success.
Oh, yes.
I think that some part of me
is sorry that I became...
a public utility.
I know I should be grateful, I know.
I don't like fame.
I don't like
the sense of belonging to the public.
I like being an actress,
or trying to be an actress.
I had done some films
and by all kind of rules
of the business I shouldn't have done
and that I was advised not to do.
For instance, Suddenly Last Summer.
This generation's
greatest author and poet
writer of A Streetcar Named Desire
and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
unashamedly writes
of a woman's strong wants
and a man's strange needs.
What did really happen?
I failed him. I wasn't able
to keep the web from breaking.
I saw it breaking,
but I couldn't save it or repair it.
There now. The truth's coming out.
Everyone advised me not to do it.
Because of the theme?
Oh. Only the theme. Because
the theme was so controversial.
Elizabeth was never afraid
of controversial things.
Suddenly Last Summer
dealt with a troubled g*y man
who was deeply closeted.
Of course, because of
the production code at the time
the underlying h*m*
was whitewashed.
People said, "Don't do it,
it'll be the end of your career."
So if I've been really ambitious
about my career
I would have done Ben-Hur.
Oscar Night,
the 32nd Annual Academy Awards.
Charlton Heston, the star of Ben-Hur.
Keeping his fingers crossed.
Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher.
I did get nominated
for Suddenly Last Summer.
You really wanted an Academy Award.
Sure.
What does it represent?
Well, I suppose to me it...
was finally being considered
by my own industry
an actress, not a movie star.
And that was
terribly important to me.
Best actress, Simone Signoret,
for her performance in the British...
And I think probably
without being a good girl
I probably would have won.
Didn't you think so, Roddy?
- Ms. Taylor?
- Yes. Mr. McDowell, darling.
Yes. Randy McNutt.
How about a movie,
like, that you really hated?
Like Butterfield, for instance.
I hated it so much.
I thought, f*ck them.
They made me do the film.
I didn't want to.
I did it with a p*stol to my head.
Butterfield Eight.
With Laurence Harvey is one
of Elizabeth Taylor's major films
after the death of Mike Todd
and a storm of her next marriage
to Eddie Fisher.
To the three of us.
Who also stars in the movie.
One for all and all for one.
The question is which one?
Most critics think
the picture is a b*mb.
But as a model
and freelance call girl
she does, as usual,
dominate the screen.
We both know
what kind of a girl I've been.
- We both know when...
- No, I don't want to hear about it.
Mama, you have to.
Mama, I am different.
Yesterday it was men,
a whole world full of men.
- But to...
- Let me go, you're hurting me.
Mama, face it.
I was the sl*t of all time.
You're very good in it.
- I tried. I mean, I was...
- I mean very, very good in it.
The lines was so diabolical.
It was such a piece of sh*t
that it made me angry.
And out of the anger,
it kind of gave me an incentive.
That character is
one of the most potent things
that I've seen you play.
You were marvelous and tragic
and wild and passionate.
Well, it was done out of anger.
We did have a drink together
last night.
One?
Dozen, maybe.
And this morning, you stagger
out of his apartment. Charming.
Funny thing,
I don't even remember going there.
Better than sleeping pills.
Married to Eddie Fisher,
did you feel very lonely? Was that...
Yes. And he made sure
that I felt lonely.
We never went out.
No.
It was like he didn't like me
to mingle with other people.
And it was like being locked up.
I started to sleep
14 or 15 hours at once.
I was trying to avoid everything.
I was trying to avoid life.
But I was so desperate at one time
that I did take some sleeping pills.
I did it deliberately, calmly, and...
in front of Eddie.
I was fed up with living
and couldn't then face
the thought of divorce.
I'd rather have been dead
than face going through a divorce.
Did you get...
Were you taken to the hospital?
No, a doctor came to the hotel.
And thank, God.
I'm so deeply ashamed of that.
It's the most
self-indulgent kind of behavior.
Because the consequences
to the children was so horrific.
I wasn't thinking
of anybody but myself.
That's why I say it's so selfish.
- Hey, what time is it, boy?
- It's not very late.
- What is it?
- 11:30.
- Is the machine on?
- Yes, the machine is on.
Okay.
I want to push on.
The motion picture
casting achievement of the year
is about to become a recorded fact.
The occasion? The Hollywood signing
of the exotic Elizabeth
for the most exotic role
in her career.
Cleopatra, of whom Shakespeare wrote
age cannot weather her
nor customs stale
of her infinite variety.
Elizabeth was the first movie star
man or woman
to be paid a million dollars
for a part in a film.
And she asked for
10% of the absolute gross.
When it came to business,
she was ruthless.
I finally got away from MGM
and was one of the first ones
to make my own deals
and I enjoyed
dealing with the studios.
And I was quite a good businesswoman.
Are you ever made to feel by
the movie industry like so much meat?
I was.
But when you, very coolly
ask for a million dollars
for a film and get it
you don't feel like a piece of meat.
You feel like a big steak.
Well, all I can do is
to ask the same question.
Why do you think that you're paid
a million dollars for a movie?
What do you think
is your salable goods?
I really haven't thought about it.
Come on now.
You were offered a million dollars.
Now, what was that based on?
Have you never thought of yourself
to be a sex symbol?
Sex symbol... What the hell
is a sex symbol? What is it?
Marilyn Monroe is a good example.
Yeah, but I don't think I am.
I really don't.
You don't think your public image
is that of a sex symbol?
I don't want to be a sex symbol.
A man.
It's you.
I summoned you yesterday
to an audience in my throne room.
Because I am a woman
and I am in the prime of my life.
Sex, of course, must enter
into any role that I play.
Am I to understand that you feel free
to do with me whatever you want?
Whenever you want.
Yes, I want that understood.
This is one of the reasons
I have a problem
over your not feeling
like a sex goddess
is how can you be built that way
and not be aware of what this
must be doing to people?
You two put so bloody much
emphasis on this sex goddess thing...
I swear to God, before you, I never
thought about being a sex goddess.
I know I'm an actress
and I know I'm female
and I'm very proud of being a woman.
I love being a woman.
And I think
sex is absolutely gorgeous.
And as far as
being a sex goddess is concerned
I've never
thought of myself that way.
I'm a broad. I'm a woman.
- Well...
- I really don't think it's unique.
You seem sort of excited about it.
Because it's about the 19th time
it's come up in the conversation.
It won't come up again.
Okay.
Listen, we have to go, you know
because you have to leave
by the side door.
What?
There're a great many photographers.
I'm going to arrange about the car.
Your machine's off, isn't it?
No, it isn't.
When I was doing Cleopatra
in England
location work can be
terribly monotonous
because you have to rely
and wait for the weather.
You wait for the gods.
And you can sit there for days.
We started out in September
and they got, I don't know,
three weeks done
and they had to abandon it
for eight months or something
because there was not a dry day.
And I was sick in bed
with what I thought,
you know, the 24-hour-flu.
Hollywood's epic production
of Cleopatra grinds to a halt
after its leading lady,
Elizabeth Taylor
is rushed to the London clinic
with life threatening pneumonia.
And I was on the operating table
for eighteen hours.
And actually four times,
I was called dead
and stopped breathing.
And they had pipes
going into my lungs
pouring gook out
and shoving oxygen in.
And when I came to on the table,
the operating table
that when I tried to scream
no sound came out.
There was only just air coming
in a big hole in my throat
with its lever open.
Well, as you know,
Ms. Taylor has not been well.
So we've been trying
to get everything we can
that does not include her...
You're now basically waiting on her.
Yes. Basically waiting on Ms. Taylor.
Good news from the London clinic,
Eddie Fisher arriving
to escort his beautiful wife
as she left the hospital.
There has been widespread sympathy
for Liz Taylor over her illness.
Now interest in her recovery
reached a cl*max.
Stand back! Back!
Glad to see you, Ms. Taylor,
how are you? How do you feel?
I feel a little weak. Thank you.
You're going for
a nice long rest now, are you?
- Yes.
- How long?
About six months.
And after that,
back to Cleopatra, is it?
- I hope so.
- Okay.
Jolly good luck, then.
- Thank you.
- Okay.
Okay. Alright.
I must say, after I recovered,
I was so consumed with life.
Everything became a miracle.
Elizabeth Taylor...
On the rise
from her recent grave illness
Elizabeth Taylor receives
a prolonged accolade
from the audience.
It's a popular choice.
Butterfield Eight was
my fourth nomination in a row.
And I won the award
from my tracheotomy.
You really feel that?
Yes, I do.
There must have been
some kind of sympathy thing
because I think
the film is so embarrassing.
It's just dreadful.
I don't really know
how to express my gratitude
for this and for everything.
I guess what I can do
is say thank you.
Thank you. With all my heart.
- Are you feeling alright now?
- Yes, fine.
You're the second director
who's been on this film.
Is this a rescue operation?
No, I wouldn't call it
a rescue operation.
I'm starting a film called Cleopatra,
and we are starting from scratch.
When they started up
production in Rome
the film was hugely over budget.
Constantly behind schedule.
One of the most
troubled productions ever.
It almost bankrupted
20th Century Fox.
And of course,
because the film was re-shot
most of the original cast
had to be recast.
That's how
Richard became part of the film.
You remember the very first time
you ever met Richard?
Richard came on the set
and I've never seen a gentleman
so hung over in my whole life.
But he was kind of quivering
from head to foot.
Mark Anthony, how prompt you are.
If I had not been,
it would be unforgivable of me.
First time I ever came on set,
it was a very distinct moment.
I... every so often,
I go to a real bender.
I drink everything I can.
Drinks that
people leave behind, anything.
And I was on one of my benders not
knowing that I would have to work.
And they suddenly called me.
And so I arrived at the studio
and I was in a shocking state.
I don't think I slept for two nights,
so I was a real mess.
He ordered a cup of coffee
to sort of still his trembling fist.
So I got some coffee,
but I couldn't get it to my mouth.
So I said to Elizabeth,
"Hold this love for me, will you?"
And I fed him coffee
and he was terribly nervous
and sweet and shaky.
And that just endeared me so much.
My heart just
sort of went out to him.
She was very friendly to me.
The first time I ever met her,
she burped.
Richard, what'd you think
about her press as the bad girl?
I don't really read the entertainment
sections of newspapers
so I don't know
what they wrote about her
except I remember being furious
before we started Cleopatra
for a totally different reason.
Because I was only getting $300,000
and Elizabeth was getting a million.
I will never be free of you.
I've never seen her in a movie
except when she was a tiny girl.
And I thought she was just,
in quotation marks, "a star"
and I didn't think
she could act at all.
You will kneel.
I will what?
On your knees.
And then I watched
Elizabeth do a scene
in which she appeared
to be doing nothing.
Then you go and see the rushes.
And Elizabeth, she was hair-raising.
So brilliant. And you can't learn it,
I don't think.
You have not been dismissed.
You are now dismissed.
Elizabeth is royal.
She's queen-like.
It's distant.
Like, don't touch.
It's the inaccessibility of Elizabeth
that makes her exciting.
The dance, I take it, is over.
I remember going to Rome
and there was a dinner.
Richard was there and
the whole room just felt
this heat between the two of them.
And I think the only person
that didn't get it was Eddie.
Elizabeth came over.
She was still married to Eddie.
And she said to me
"Pussycat, I've got
something to tell you."
And she told me about Richard.
And she was really
so madly in love with Richard.
I'd never seen her like that before.
Eddie left. Back to California.
Richard and I, we tried to be
what is considered good
but it didn't work.
There is still time.
If someone asked me what I want
to live with you in peace and love.
It's very difficult to talk about
because I loved Richard.
I didn't want
his marriage to break up.
Sybil was a wonderful woman.
I couldn't help loving him.
It was a fact.
I think Sybil always thought
he would come back
because Richard had had past affairs
and he'd always come back.
Anthony.
But they were totally obsessed
with each other.
It was a very, very, very,
very intense relationship.
People would say, we don't care
what they do in private life
but why do they have to air
their dirty laundry in public?
But when the press photographers
chase you for miles
get a photograph of you in the car
going to the studio or something.
Photographers dressed up as priests
would come to the door.
Photographers
would get inside the house
dressed up as workmen or plumbers.
It's affected my children.
They don't like journalists.
I mean, the only way out for them,
was to make a big game of it.
So when the paparazzi
would climb over the wall
we'd turn the hose on them.
And the kids would help,
and they had a ball.
It was the only way
otherwise I think they would've
felt like hunted little animals.
So it became
Cops and Robbers instead.
The press had gotten very nasty.
I remember when
the word paparazzi came along
and it just meant a bunch of guys
who were all photographers
looking for Elizabeth Taylor.
Desperately looking
for Elizabeth Taylor.
And that was
the beginning of paparazzi.
They were not going
for glamor anymore.
They were going
for the destruction of glamor.
All the Elizabeth,
Richard, Eddie, saga
in Rome during Cleopatra
it was a nightmare.
Nobody had ever seen
anything like this.
It was a huge wordless gamble.
I think even the Pope
got involved at some point.
The Vatican newspaper had come out
with an item saying that
I was so despicable a woman.
That my own children
should be taken away from me.
An attack that really...
It made me vomit.
The day after that
somebody was out at the studio
trying to blow me up with a b*mb.
So the Italian FBI were
out there for five days
and it was really a horrendous week.
In Cleopatra's entrance to Rome
I had to sit on top of the Sphinx
with a little boy.
We shot on the backlot
with 10,000 irate Italians, I thought
who'd read the Vatican newspaper
about this vicious woman.
And as the Sphinx
came through the archway
the crowd had been told,
you know, "Cleopatra. Wave."
And they were all silent.
Nobody was waving
and I really was trembling
that they might run up
and tear me to shreds.
And all of a sudden
they ran to the Sphinx
and broke the line
and started yelling, "Bacia, Liz".
And they started blowing kisses.
And they started
screaming and cheering.
And I sat there with the tears
just pouring down my face.
And everybody, Richard, my mother,
and everybody was dissolved in tears.
There wasn't one unfriendly word.
The Queen has conquered
the people of Rome.
This spring, Revlon brings you
the new Cleopatra look.
Brilliantly translated into the most
exciting and wearable look today.
Sphinx Pink makes all other pinks
look positively pallid.
Our turnout, over 10,000 New Yorkers
jammed Broadway for
the world premiere
- of Cleopatra...
- The world premiere of Cleopatra
the biggest and most publicized
ever known.
And is that surprising?
It's the most talked about and
the most expensive film ever made.
Cleopatra was
notorious when it was released.
Absolutely notorious.
Good, bad or indifferent
it had become a film
of such character and notoriety
that I don't think anybody could
see the forest for the trees.
How about it? You and I'll take
that night boat on the Nile.
Just the two of us.
Sure, just the two of us.
And a thousand sl*ves rowing.
Just my luck.
One of them will be Eddie Fisher.
I knew what I was doing
by loving Richard was wrong.
There was only one thing I could do,
and that was to leave him.
Eddie and I were back together
and I told him I would try.
And Eddie at nighttime would sit up.
He had a g*n.
Every time I start
to close my eyes or nod off
he would, like, stroke my arm
and say, "I'm not going to k*ll you."
I wouldn't sh**t you.
You're much too pretty."
All night long.
I finally ran from the house
and stayed at an apartment.
I was so scared.
And Richard and I
did another film together
and we both did the film really
in all honesty,
so we could be together.
That was the only reason.
We didn't admit it then.
And it was then
really that the situation was so...
desperate, I think,
for everybody concerned.
So Richard started
talking about marriage.
I met such opposition from everyone.
Roddy, my mother and father.
My father called me a wh*re.
Do you still have
attacks of guilt about it?
Oh, yes.
Especially about Richard's children.
We both do.
For having inflicted such awful pain.
Do you have any religious worries
about all this?
You mean, do I think
I'm going to be punished in hell?
I don't think we can plan
on being rewarded
or being punished afterwards.
I think we must pay on this earth.
We should do our penance now.
There will be no press conference,
There will be no questions to be had.
When the two lovers arrived
this was the barrage
of reporters and cameramen
that met them at the airport.
Do you have any comment at all, Liz?
Ms. Taylor, do you have
no comment whatsoever?
How do we get out? Please.
They sought sanctuary
in an airport baggage tunnel.
Finally a refuge,
but only temporarily
in a nearby bar with Ms. Taylor
and Burton still tight lipped
still refusing to answer questions.
At the hotel,
Burton eluded photographers.
Ms. Taylor headed
for a police protected hotel suite.
Do you have any statement
about your wife's statement
that she will not buy a divorce?
I don't understand it.
Liz's lawyers say that
you are asking for $1,000,000
as your price for a divorce.
I said before that I don't...
They have been saying
a lot of things.
Things are being twisted and turned
and made to appear as a...
It's very confusing to me.
Do you have any plans or any plans
to meet with Mr. Fisher
when you're in town here?
- No.
- No, we didn't know he was here
until you guys informed us
last night, you know.
In what way
is he being unpleasant about this?
Do you read the papers, love?
- Well, I see different things.
- I suggest you do.
- Different days.
- Yeah.
- Am I bitter?
- Yes.
Not at all. I am not bitter.
This part of it that I'm in right now
is like walking to a bad dream and...
I just don't belong in it, so...
I want to get out.
- You have no...
- Now.
You have a lot of
what I would call bad publicity.
Do you care?
I gave up a long time ago
and, you know, probably I could
hire a press agent to fix my image.
I could probably even
try and fix it myself
by doing a lot of justifying
and all that.
I'm not going to.
It's a losing game. You can't.
People already have a set image.
They want to believe
either the good or the bad.
And if you try and explain
then you lose yourself along the way.
Richard Burton
and his bride, Elizabeth Taylor
have returned to Toronto
after being married in Montreal.
Newsmen who greeted the couple
at Toronto's International airport
congratulated Ms. Taylor
on her fifth marriage
and she thanked them.
I think she's finally found
her true love.
I think she's ready
to settle down now.
I don't think she's as attractive
as she used to be.
So she'll have a harder time
finding another one.
I'm looking forward to getting fat,
obese, wrinkled, gray haired...
And with liver spots.
Sagging, everything's going to sag
in about two years.
One of your shorter marriages, then.
You told me you loved every ton.
You did so.
After we were married
it was really as if we had been
bonded together with bands of steel.
There was finally a relaxation.
Like a golden flood of warmth.
The children, they worshipped Richard
'cause he's so wonderful with them.
He becomes the same age as the kids.
Sometimes I think
they're older than he is.
What did you worry about
in terms of the children?
I mean, the obvious.
I've been married too many times.
Have you ever tried to explain
to them about the divorces?
Oh sure, of course I have.
I mean, they are no fools.
They're very sensitive children.
They knew that Eddie and I
were not happy.
Yeah.
It's funny, that animal instinct.
They absolutely know
that Richard and I
are going to be alright.
And our marriage will be here
fifty years from now.
I love, sort of, not being me,
but being Richard's wife.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf
Who's Afraid of Virginia...
Movie audiences will soon be seeing
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
in what quite likely will be one of
the most talked about films of 1966.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
I was 32 years old
playing a woman of 50.
I gained 20 pounds.
I wore rubber under my eyes,
under my neck.
I wore a gray wig.
What a dump.
Hey, what's that from? What a dump.
How would I know?
Come on. What's it from? You know.
From...
It's the most difficult part
that I've ever done.
But because it's such a complete
change from anything I've ever done
in a sense, it's one of
the easiest things I've ever done.
I have Martha to hide behind.
So I've lost Elizabeth Taylor.
I feel much freer
and much more experimental.
Things just kind of seem to come
like the walk, the voice.
It's like my Martha's skin.
You still look like you have
a pretty good body now, too.
Is that right, have you?
- Martha. Decency...
- Shut up.
Martha is bawdy, sloppy, snarly.
But there are moments
when all of a sudden
the facade will crack
and you will see the hurt.
The infinite kind of pain
of this woman.
There's an intimacy
between George and Martha
that I think is really
so strange and strong.
Do you want to know
what's happened, George?
Do you want to know
what's really happened?
It snapped.
Finally. Not me, it.
The whole arrangement.
Or you can go on forever.
And everything is manageable.
You make all sorts of excuses
to yourself. To hell with it.
This is life.
Maybe tomorrow he'll be dead.
Maybe tomorrow you'll be dead.
All sorts of excuses
that one day, one night
something happens and snap.
It breaks and you just
don't give a damn anymore.
I tried with you, baby.
I really tried.
Come off it, Martha.
I really tried.
You're a monster. You are.
I'm loud and I'm vulgar
and I wear the pants in the house
because somebody's got to.
But I am not a monster.
I'm not!
I think at the end...
they'll never be happy.
They'll always be slobs.
They'll always be drunk.
They'll always be picking
at each other, destroying each other.
I can see the attraction of this
full time professional partnership
but I'm wondering if at times it gets
a bit maritally claustrophobic.
Maritally? No.
We had a lot of people thought
that in the last picture, we did.
You know, that the two
central characters are
forever at each other, and...
scratching each other
and tearing, and creating...
Many people who didn't
know us very well said
"It's going to be
very difficult for you both"
you know, doing this film,
which is quite clearly
you know, both people
have very high temperament
and indeed the film may carry over
after six o'clock at night.
We ignored them and survived.
Elizabeth dominated the film.
She won an Oscar for it.
He said bitterly.
And I didn't.
He said, equally bitterly.
The Elizabeth Taylor Burton was
her husband's greatest press agent.
Crowds had lined the sidewalks
outside the theater
where Burton was previewing
his starring role in Equus.
They were waiting for Liz.
I'm still astounded
by the phenomenon of the crowds.
It's something
that I thought would cease
once Elizabeth and myself
were married.
But they get bigger and bigger
instead of less and less.
I think that somewhere around
a mysterious third
personality came about
which was the combination
two of us together.
You're a major industry, you two.
I suppose so.
A horrible way to look at it.
When you are too much
in the public eye for too long
there's so much, it is performance.
When I first saw Elizabeth act
I thought that was very clear
she's not doing anything.
A lot of people have said that.
But when I saw the rushes
I realized that
something extraordinary was going on.
When I first worked with Elizabeth,
I thought, she's not doing anything.
- And then I saw the rushes...
- A lot of people have said that
sweetheart.
Then I saw the rushes...
I mean, she's not doing anything.
And then, then I saw the rushes
and I realized she was doing
a great many things.
I think what I have done is
deliberately make a dividing line.
The person that my family know
is real.
The other Elizabeth Taylor,
the famous one
really has no depth or meaning to me.
It's a commodity that makes money.
One is flesh and blood,
and one is cellophane.
In a world where glamor is out
and reality is in
two remnants of the glitter age,
not only hang on, but thrive.
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
What about all these rouse?
You can't pick up
a movie magazine or anything
about Liz and d*ck battling?
I think that fighting is
one of the greatest exercises
in marital togetherness.
I do not attack that soft spot
in the underbelly.
- My double chin?
- When she attacks me...
Double chins.
You bloody well have.
She's got a slightly fat belly.
- I never got that...
- I got his pockmarks, you know.
You think he dominates you?
- You must be joking.
- In your real life?
Charles? You've got to be kidding.
He sure does.
Do you think that you dominate now?
I think that if there is a henpecked
around the place, it's me.
Oh, mamma mia.
Did anything, do you think,
come out coherent the other night?
Yes.
Things weren't going well.
I saw it the first time
on their yacht.
They were drinking
champagne and cognac.
And I saw this emotional pit
that she fell into.
I saw the physical deterioration...
It turned dark.
It turned out of Virginia Woolf.
My god, so is he.
You come back here.
Come back here, you.
I haven't dismissed you yet.
But just the fact that
we love each other is a haven.
And I terribly kind of, I don't know
I don't think
I've ever really tried to be alone.
If I say to you, Elizabeth Taylor
do you think you could tell me
exactly who that is?
I know
that so far all I have achieved
is being a movie star
that once or twice has managed
to do a fairly capable job of acting.
I am not satisfied with what I am.
I am not satisfied
with what I've done.
I want to improve.
God, I think I...
I think I finished my list.
I think I finished my list.
Good job.
Would you like a drink now?
Did you turn your little machine off?
Yeah.
Cut here. Stop transcribing.
Stop transcribing.
Today the word was out.
Liz Taylor was leaving town following
her breakup with Richard Burton.
Reporters and cameramen staked out
the only two possible exits.
It was probably
one of the most public occurrences
since Anthony first met Cleopatra.
The couple are now staying...
Miss Taylor and Mr. Burton,
celebrating their re-engagement
convened a presidential star
press conference.
Asked to be left
to their new lives...
The Burton's raised
all this attention
because they fulfill
a sacred Hollywood formula.
They must have done something
wicked that we can forgive them for.
He succinctly confirmed the split.
Is it true that you're separated
from Liz Taylor?
- Yes.
- Will you be getting a divorce?
Mr. and Mrs. John Warner,
otherwise known as Elizabeth Taylor
and her sixth husband
of seven marriages
were having such a good time
that they extended the visit...
This is... I'm in Beverly Hills,
California. The Beverly Hills Hotel.
About to interview
Miss Elizabeth Taylor.
You know, once you said to me
something I've never forgotten,
Elizabeth.
It was one of those late nights,
and you said to me
"You know, sometimes I can't remember
when I wasn't famous."
It's very frightening.
I thought it would decrease
when I sort of retired.
Now, let me just ask you
something about Betty Ford...
Now how did that come about?
I had a family intervention,
and I don't know if you know...
I do. I'm one of the group.
- Oh, okay.
- I know all about it.
It's amazing, isn't it?
It's terrifying.
Humiliating.
Did you feel betrayed?
No. I realized that
they must really love me.
And I didn't resent it.
- You didn't?
- No.
I was riddled with guilt and shame.
See, I'd taken sleeping pills
every night of my life for 35 years.
I was, at the point,
going to take one or two Percodan
mixed with booze
before I could go out.
You must have caused
a sensation with them.
They'd never had a celebrity go.
- You were the first?
- Yeah.
Was it hard for you
to talk in front of those people?
In the beginning, yes.
In the beginning,
I felt like I was giving interviews.
And then I broke all those barriers
down and told the truth
and like the onion always
peeled down to the absolute core.
I get this just
the sense of contentment
or something
that's like a new phase...
- I hope it's not a phase.
- Of life.
It's a new beginning.
This is one of the first
extended period in your life
when you are...
Yeah.
That's a tremendous growth step
- isn't it?
- It is.
Yeah.
It's for getting to know yourself
- isn't it?
- Yeah, and...
quite liking myself.
And not being afraid
to be with yourself.
And I think
that's why I can give more.
Fight back! Fight A*DS!
Act up! Fight back! Fight A*DS!
Fifty-nine year old,
Rock Hudson, revealed
that he is seriously ill from A*DS.
You know, when Rock went public,
you know, that was very brave.
I saw Rock just before he died.
He had no idea where he was.
And when I asked him
if he was in pain
he didn't really know
what I was talking about.
A*DS was this terrible stigma.
It was like, it's their problem.
Let them handle it. They,
meaning the h*m* community.
There would have been no Hollywood
without the h*m* community.
And just as human beings
we owe our fellow man
a certain responsibility.
No one wanted to talk about it.
No one wanted to become involved.
And it so angered me
that I finally thought to myself
"b*tch,
do something yourself."
Last night in Hollywood
more than one million dollars
was raised to benefit A*DS victims.
Elizabeth Taylor organized
the star-studded gala
as a tribute to her longtime friend,
Rock Hudson.
You're very much involved now
working for A*DS research
what is the name of the organization
that you're the Chair?
- AMFAR.
- AMFAR. And what does that mean?
American Foundation
for A*DS Research.
Elizabeth gave away
her entire career
to focus on A*DS.
She helped found AMFAR.
Then she founded
The Elizabeth Taylor A*DS Foundation.
I think there is
a reason for having fame.
A reason that can be turned
into constructive uses
because fame can be
a very negative thing.
And unless you turn it around
and make it work for you
what is the point of having it?
How strangely awake, I feel.
There's just something...
There's a calmness about you
that is beautiful.
Now, I mean, I find life so exciting.
There's so many things to do.
There's so many things to learn.
And I'm doing that now.
If I want to go someplace, I go
if there's something I want to study,
I'll study it now.
I'm not under
any obligation to anyone
but myself.
And to thine own self to be true.
That's all I have to do.
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Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes (2024)
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