tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post3945519119424646246..comments2023-11-24T07:20:02.991-05:00Comments on Classic Movies Digest: Elizabeth Taylor: In MemoriamRuperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-54952998529651630662013-01-18T03:22:23.417-05:002013-01-18T03:22:23.417-05:00Who could have guessed that of the four principals...Who could have guessed that of the four principals in "Woolf," George Segal would outlive all the others? If "The Women" is my favorite comedy (and it certainly <i>is</i>), "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is my very favorite drama. Both films, in very different ways are sly jabs at heterosexuality. Probably never before 1966 did marriage, portrayed on a movie screen, look as beastly and wounding as in "Woolf?"<br /><br />(And incidentally, the two films have a connection: Taylor insisted on Sydney Guilaroff for her hair in "Woolf," and of course, he had done all the star heads in "The Women" 27 years earlier.)<br /><br />"Woolf" came at a time when many people had forgotten there was a real actress underneath the celebrity, an awareness misplaced in the news of Liz 'stealing' Eddie from Debbie, and the Burton affair drawing condemnation from The Vatican. Taylor biographer Foster Hirsch noted the damage this cost the elephantine production about the Queen of the Nile: "Liz Taylor, modern minx, stole the spotlight from Cleopatra. She was grander in her own person than she was on screen as someone else."<br /><br />At very brave risk, "Woolf" corrected that. It brought Taylor a second and very deserved Oscar and restored her reputation, but as Hirsch further notes, Taylor supplied equivalent gifts to the project: "Brash, yes, but hardly masculine, Taylor brings some welcome shading to the Albee shrew. On stage, you never believed Uta Hagen would say yes to Arthur Hill's milquetoast George, but in the movie you <i>are</i> convinced that Taylor would eventually knuckle under to Burton's quiet, absolute authority."<br /><br />It's funny you should say "love her or hate her," because she <i>was</i> a star who could foster conflicting emotions. After all, it was Taylor who said Michael Jackson "is the most normal man I know." Oy. But you'd also have to have a heart of stone to stay dry-eyed as the Gay Men's Chorus sang "There's Nothing Like A Dame" directly to her at the Kennedy Center Honors.<br /><br />We'll not see her like again in our lifetimes.dvlarieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14154934310323584284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-46329275008397783192011-03-24T01:04:19.525-04:002011-03-24T01:04:19.525-04:00I enjoyed your tribute to the life and career of E...I enjoyed your tribute to the life and career of Elizabeth Taylor - along with the beautiful photos you posted. Was anyone ever more photogenic? Possibly Marilyn Monroe - how intriguing that they both existed and were at their height at the same time.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-6639232204169194692011-03-23T22:53:35.048-04:002011-03-23T22:53:35.048-04:00So many beautiful posts about the passing of a tru...So many beautiful posts about the passing of a true movie star. So many beautiful pictures and tributes. Yours is wonderful, per your usual talents, Rupe.ClassicBeckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591715859057540467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-80137029978168385132011-03-23T20:26:19.682-04:002011-03-23T20:26:19.682-04:00Truely great! R.I.P.Truely great! R.I.P.Marjan Paradoksijahttp://www.paradoksija.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com