Liz'n'Dick II: "My Friend The Witch Doctor/He Told Me What To Do --"...
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1Michael_Welch
I once suggested Rick Harsch watch Maximilian Schell's documentary "Marlene" about the great actress diva Marlene Dietrich and he said he'd rather watch her "in action." Well Rick was wrong about the movie -- it's very good -- but right that watching actors "in action" is necessary so I've been watching some of the early "Liz'n'Dick" pictures, all but one I haven't seen in forty plus years.
I got a "Liz'n'Dick" collection from Amazon at a "reasonable" price which includes "The VIPs" (1965) directed by Anthony Asquith with Taylor-Burton, Louis Jourdan, Orson Welles and Elsa Martinelli (a great comedy team by the way) among others; "The Sandpiper" (1965) directed by Vincente Minelli with T-B, Charles Bronson (I kid you not and he's good), Eva Marie Saint, James Edwards (a black actor from the '50s and '60s too often overshadowed by Poitier; remember him in "The Manchurian Candidate"?) and others; "The Comedians" (1967) directed by Peter Glenville with B-T (this time Burton gets top billing), Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Raymond St Jacques (another underrated black actor), Paul Ford (a "legend") and Lillian Gish (a "legend" and "present at the beginning").
"The VIPs" is "Grand Hotel" in an airport terminal and altogether satisfying as a drama with comedic intervals, sharp writing (Terence Rattigan) and Burton as his "burnt out case" and Elizabeth as his unhappy wife. It's also a bit of Shaw's "Candida" and isn't at all a waste of one's time.
"The Sandpiper" is written in part by Dalton Trumbo and is a very intelligent movie about faith, non faith, escape from society and duty to society with the T-B illicit romance at the "core," Bronson as an atheist who can never best Burton as the Episcopal priest and the unbelievable tension of who's going to tell Burton's wife (in the movie), the lovely gentle Eva Marie Saint and it's the slimy Robert Webber (also a fine actor underrated but NOT black).
"The Comedians" is another Graham Greene exploration of decadence and corruption among those who think they are too "superior" to be part of it but discover otherwise. It's Papa Doc Duvalier's Haiti and it's a swine pit of murderous thugs working for a meglomaniacal "leader" who as Burton's character aptly puts it "lives for his people and they die for him." Burton's burnt out case of a hotelier reminds a bit of Harsch and I think Rick would like this movie.
Oh and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is in the collection too and it's with T-B, George Segal and Sandy Dennis and directed of course by Mike Nichols, released in '67 and I haven't rewatched it yet but I've seen it (a couple times with Harsch I believe) before and enough so that I can as per Rick recall lines of dialogue. It's the very best of T-B really but I am intrigued by "Boom!" the adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" which I read and found the leading roles made for T-B but I can see why the audience might be a bit put off by the play which is "Orpheus Descending" and "Suddenly Last Summer" without the "shock" value.
All in all I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Taylor-Burton "coupling," movie wise, at least in the 1960s actually results in some quite good films and one "great" one. I recommend all the above...
I got a "Liz'n'Dick" collection from Amazon at a "reasonable" price which includes "The VIPs" (1965) directed by Anthony Asquith with Taylor-Burton, Louis Jourdan, Orson Welles and Elsa Martinelli (a great comedy team by the way) among others; "The Sandpiper" (1965) directed by Vincente Minelli with T-B, Charles Bronson (I kid you not and he's good), Eva Marie Saint, James Edwards (a black actor from the '50s and '60s too often overshadowed by Poitier; remember him in "The Manchurian Candidate"?) and others; "The Comedians" (1967) directed by Peter Glenville with B-T (this time Burton gets top billing), Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Raymond St Jacques (another underrated black actor), Paul Ford (a "legend") and Lillian Gish (a "legend" and "present at the beginning").
"The VIPs" is "Grand Hotel" in an airport terminal and altogether satisfying as a drama with comedic intervals, sharp writing (Terence Rattigan) and Burton as his "burnt out case" and Elizabeth as his unhappy wife. It's also a bit of Shaw's "Candida" and isn't at all a waste of one's time.
"The Sandpiper" is written in part by Dalton Trumbo and is a very intelligent movie about faith, non faith, escape from society and duty to society with the T-B illicit romance at the "core," Bronson as an atheist who can never best Burton as the Episcopal priest and the unbelievable tension of who's going to tell Burton's wife (in the movie), the lovely gentle Eva Marie Saint and it's the slimy Robert Webber (also a fine actor underrated but NOT black).
"The Comedians" is another Graham Greene exploration of decadence and corruption among those who think they are too "superior" to be part of it but discover otherwise. It's Papa Doc Duvalier's Haiti and it's a swine pit of murderous thugs working for a meglomaniacal "leader" who as Burton's character aptly puts it "lives for his people and they die for him." Burton's burnt out case of a hotelier reminds a bit of Harsch and I think Rick would like this movie.
Oh and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is in the collection too and it's with T-B, George Segal and Sandy Dennis and directed of course by Mike Nichols, released in '67 and I haven't rewatched it yet but I've seen it (a couple times with Harsch I believe) before and enough so that I can as per Rick recall lines of dialogue. It's the very best of T-B really but I am intrigued by "Boom!" the adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" which I read and found the leading roles made for T-B but I can see why the audience might be a bit put off by the play which is "Orpheus Descending" and "Suddenly Last Summer" without the "shock" value.
All in all I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Taylor-Burton "coupling," movie wise, at least in the 1960s actually results in some quite good films and one "great" one. I recommend all the above...
2RickHarsch
George? Why didn't you want to kiss me?
3RickHarsch
I found The Comedians and will download it overnight.
4Michael_Welch
It was filmed in Dahomey, now Benin, in Africa and it's the inspiration for the "My Friend The Witch Doctor" subtitle which of course is a reference to Papa Doc.
It was not the success that "VIPs" and "Sandpiper" were as it focused on an "unpleasant" place and has some, for the time, rather graphic violence. But it's "vintage Greene" yet without the humor (there's a little) but then Haiti isn't a very "funny" place eh.
Irony: some years later in the '70s Burton bought a "villa" in Haiti where he lived for a time with his third wife (there were four eventually or five if you count Taylor twice) I believe, Suzy Hunt, the tall blond skier's ex wife...
It was not the success that "VIPs" and "Sandpiper" were as it focused on an "unpleasant" place and has some, for the time, rather graphic violence. But it's "vintage Greene" yet without the humor (there's a little) but then Haiti isn't a very "funny" place eh.
Irony: some years later in the '70s Burton bought a "villa" in Haiti where he lived for a time with his third wife (there were four eventually or five if you count Taylor twice) I believe, Suzy Hunt, the tall blond skier's ex wife...
5Michael_Welch
I've been watching "Who's Afraid" again -- Taylor is very VERY good but Burton is well SUBLIME! A great actor when uh "properly used"...
