All language subtitles for Elizabeth Taylor The Lost Tapes 2024 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP5 1 H264-FLUX.Hi

[clicking]

[player clicks, tape hisses]

[Richard Meryman] Testing...

[Elizabeth Taylor] Do you
have your frickin' machine on?

[Meryman] Yeah.

Well, let-let's ease
into it a little. Uh...

[Meryman and Taylor laugh]

[Taylor] Okey-dokey.

Let me think now. Wait
a minute. [laughs]

- Would you like another drink?
- [Meryman] Yeah. You?

[Taylor] Scotch and
soda, for my friend.

Jack Daniel's [inaudible].

[Meryman] Got a half bottle?

[Taylor] ♪ The night
we invented champagne ♪

[Taylor humming]

- [Meryman] Excuse me.
- [Taylor] What's the matter?

[both laughing]

[Meryman] Uh...
I'm just fascinated

by the phenomenon
of Elizabeth Taylor.

[Taylor] Mm-hmm.

[Meryman] What do you
think your public image is?

- [Taylor] My public image?
- [Meryman] Yeah.

[Taylor] Oh.

[dramatic orchestral
music playing]

I would think it was, uh,
an untrustworthy lady,

completely superficial.

Not too pretty.

[Meryman] Not too pretty?

[Taylor] 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 have 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.

[dramatic music continues]

[music fades]

[Meryman] I'd like
to ask a little bit

about your, you know, career.

Do you feel that you sort
of created your career,

or that it just happened to you?

[Taylor] What do you mean
by "created my career"?

I don't know what kind
of a career you mean.

- [laughs]
- [Meryman] Your movies.

- [Meryman laughs] Uh...
- [Taylor] Well, I really...

My career has been kind of odd.

Um, you know, I've been
in films since I was ten.

[bright jazz music playing]

I really had the most
idyllic childhood.

I remember going
to a public school

in California right
after we'd moved there.

And everybody's kid is
a producer's daughter

or a director's son.

It's such a small community.

And we'd gone to the studio,
to have a look around.

[tinkling, ethereal
music playing]

- We're rolling.
- How are the cameras?

All ready.

- Bob, how are your lights?
- All set.

[Taylor] I was very
impressed. It's so huge,

all the studio stages.

And at that time, you know,

they were doing maybe
30 films at once.

So it was teeming with life.

Alright, cut it.
Print it, Jane.

[Taylor] People dressed
up in Greek clothes.

People dressed up
in cowboy clothes.

People dressed up as apes.

And movie stars. [giggles]

Of course everybody,
even the extras,

- looked like movie stars.
- [Meryman] Yeah.

[Taylor] And then I decided
I'd like to be an actress.

[Meryman] And you were...

you were not pushed by
your parents at all?

[Taylor] Oh, the
absolute opposite.

No, 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.

[sentimental music playing]

Poor Lassie.

Poor Lassie.

Poor girl.

[Marx] 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...

[bright, soaring music playing]

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 her over to wardrobe.

We never even tested
her in the part.

We just took the chance.

I knew my Lassie'd come home.

[Roddy McDowall] Elizabeth
and I have been friends

since we were in
Lassie Come Home.

That's a very long time.

So we've, uh,

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?
- [Peter Lawford] Of course.

I was absolutely floored by her.

She has the most exquisite face.

[gentle music playing]

Please, Joe.

What do you want?

I hope you won't worry
too much about Lassie.

[McDowall] 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 was the most beautiful
thing I ever saw in my life.

[sentimental music playing]

[gentle, whimsical
music playing]

[Taylor] 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."

[Taylor] 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.

[McDowall] How did you get
the part of Velvet Brown?

[Taylor] 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, "Well, 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 40 jumps every morning.

I ate steak for
breakfast, lunch, dinner.

[soaring music playing]

[Taylor] 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 some things.

Have you ever really
felt keen about anything?

- Oh, yes.
- Horses.

[horses whinnying]

Steady now.

- [bell rings]
- [crowd cheers]

[upbeat, jazzy music playing]

[announcer] Elizabeth is
about the best-looking

15-year-old girl known
to the public at large.

I christen thee
the MGM Mayer Ship.

[announcer] 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.

[player clicks, tape hisses]

- [McDowall] Did you like school?
- [Taylor] I hated it.

[somber music playing]

[Taylor] I mean, it
was really so grim.

[Meryman] It was
a studio school?

[Taylor] 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.

[Taylor] And during
that eight hours,

you had to cram in 10
minutes here, 15 minutes.

- [Meryman] Yeah.
- [Taylor] 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.

[Meryman] The real
business of the day

is the acting.

- [McDowall] You bet yours.
- [all laughing]

[dreamy jazz music playing]

I admire you.

But I'm afraid you're a
little too noble for me.

[dreamy music continues]

[Taylor] 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 a 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 the film kiss was
better than my real-life kiss.

[Meryman chuckles]

[Taylor] But it was sort of like

I was thrown into
the adult world

where I had to behave like
a sophisticated woman.

And in my own world, I was
a terrified little girl.

[dreamy orchestral
music playing]

[announcer] Have you ever
seen a dream walking?

Well, 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

of glorious 16-year-old
cover girl beauty.

You'll see her soon in
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's

gay Technicolor musical
comedy, A Date with Judy.

You're the prettiest
girl in Santa Barbara.

That's obvious.

Why, 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.

[Taylor] It's because I
played with that horse

when I was 12 years old.

May I have a cigarette, please?

[McDowall chuckles]

Good evening,
Carol. Good evening.

[gentle music playing]

You look lovely tonight,
Carol. You really do.

And you've, uh, grown too.

You certainly have.

[ethereal harp music playing]

[Meryman] When you
weren't in school,

there was someone
with you all the time,

looking after you?

[Taylor] During
my teenage years,

my mother and a tutor
were with me all the time.

But you can imagine
when you're almost 18,

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 18

that I was allowed to
go anyplace by myself.

[film rolling]

["Easy Living" by
Billie Holiday playing]

[reporter] Elizabeth,
what do you like to do

when you're not making movies?

[Taylor] Oh, dances and parties

on Friday and Saturday
nights, for instance.

Baseball and football games
on Saturday afternoons.

Long horseback rides with
friends like Jane Powell.

All those things
are a lot of fun.

["Easy Living" continues]

[Taylor] When I was
at MGM and very young,

people in the press
department would suggest

that I would date somebody.

[Meryman laughs] For publicity.

[Taylor] Publicity. It
was all pure fabrication.

We would go out on dates.

It was so virginal that
we kissed on the cheek.

You know? I mean, that's
how serious it was.

♪ For you, maybe I'm
a fool but it's fun ♪

♪ People say you rule me
with one wave of your hand ♪

♪ Darling, it's grand ♪

♪ They just don't understand ♪

[Meryman] You really
wanted to get married.

[Taylor] Yes, I did, because
I was in love with love.

I was infatuated with love.

I was playing parts that
were so highly romantic.

[Meryman] The
impression I get is

that you really
wanted your freedom.

[Taylor] Absolutely.
But I was so naive.

I met Nick Hilton
at the age of 18.

I was a virgin.

Not only a virgin
physically, but mentally.

♪ And I'm so in love ♪

[Taylor] I was not
prepared to be an adult.

I'd been sheltered, protected.

The repercussions were that
I made horrendous mistakes.

[triumphant horn music playing]

[reporter] 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 18, is famous
for her loveliness and charm.

Her striking gown, a gift
from her studio friends,

simply stagger the enormous
crowds at the wedding.

[horn fanfare playing]

[Taylor] The ceremony
was like a fairy tale.

It was perfect.

With this ring, I thee wed.

[ethereal harp music playing]

[Taylor] I thought something
would automatically

happen to me inside.

I thought I would
obtain maturity...

just because I was a
missus instead of a miss.

Of course, it had nothing
to do with it. [laughing]

[shutters clicking]

[Taylor] Then we drove away,
and there 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.

[somber music playing]

Because I really had no
idea what was coming.

[announcer] Conrad Hilton
Jr. And Elizabeth Taylor sail

on the Queen Mary for
three months in Europe.

[Taylor] And went to the place

where we spent
our wedding night.

I locked myself in the bathroom,

and changed, and...

I didn't wanna unlock the
door, I was so petrified.

Finally, I did unlock the door.

And, um...

I guess Nick saw that
I was so terrified.

Anyway, nothing happened
for three days. [laughing]

[Meryman laughs]

Okay, stop. [laughing]

[recording stops]

[upbeat big band music playing]

It was just wonderful.
We had such a gay time.

We love Europe.

[music continues]

Hello, everybody. I'd like
you to meet my new dog, Bonko.

He's three months old,
and he's a true Frenchman.

Won't you say hello in French?

Bonko. Bonko. [laughs]

[upbeat jazz music playing]

[music ends]

[Meryman speaking]

- [Taylor] Dark blue.
- [Meryman] Not violet or...?

[Taylor laughs] No.

That's some romantic
journalist's idea.

[tense music playing]

[roaring]

[Meryman] Are there
relatively few opportunities

for a good actress to be good?

[Taylor] I fought
against the studio

to get a good role or a film.

Come with me.

[Taylor] I couldn't.

It was like walking in molasses.

No matter how hard I tried,

they were going to keep
me stuck as an ingenue.

Why are you so quiet?

[Taylor] I wanted a challenge,

something with meaning.

Yeah.

[sentimental music playing]

Do I make you nervous?

Yes. [chuckles]

You look like an Eastman.

- Are you one of them?
- Mm-hmm.

I'm a 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 hadn't really acted
except with horses and dogs.

I'm getting on pretty
well here, Mama.

I'm happy here, too.

[cork pops]

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.

[tender big band music playing]

This is nice. I
don't wanna spoil it.

[Taylor] When we were
doing the dance scene,

- and Monty says, "I love you."
- I love you.

[Taylor] 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."

[music continues]

You're the fella that wondered
why I invited you here tonight.

I'll tell you why.

I love...

Are they watching us?

[music swells]

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.

[applause]

[announcer] Eager fans
see Elizabeth Taylor

with Montgomery Clift.

[laughs]

Haven't seen you in a long time.

Thank you. How are you?

[Meryman] You talked about
making horrendous errors.

What sort of things were those?

[Taylor] Well, I think...

[sighs] trying to rush things,

trying to force things.

I mean, there's
nothing to be said

about my first marriage.

[Meryman] Okay, um...

This is a delicate area,
and I don't know how to...

how it should be handled.

[Taylor] 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 that
nobody in the world knows.

[Meryman] I think the
great interest in this is

to find out what you have to say

about all these things.

[Taylor] Yeah.

[ethereal harp music playing]

[Taylor] The wedding was lovely.

Then came disillusionment.

Also a few split lips.

Um, 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.

[somber music playing]

[gentle jazz music playing]

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 divorcée,

and I was 19.

Roddy was there
with me, and Monty.

Just having fun with my chums,

doing all kinds of crazy things.

[bombastic percussive
music playing]

[Taylor] If I wanted
to go ice skating

at 9:00 at night, we would.

Or we'd just have
hotdogs 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 took, uh,
great care of me.

[gentle piano music playing]

[seagulls squawking]

Elizabeth surrounded herself

with gay men.

She worshiped 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.

'Cause we lived in such
a different world then.

It was just not possible.

[Taylor] 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.

[gentle piano music playing]

[movie reel whirring]

[bombastic orchestral
music playing]

[announcer 1] 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 danced the old year out

without much regret,
I should imagine.

[band playing upbeat music]

[crowd cheering]

[dramatic music playing]

[announcer 2] All cameras at
London airport are focused

on two people very much in love,

Britain's Michael Wilding
and Elizabeth Taylor.

[laughing] I'm very glad.

I'm glad to see you too
as a matter of fact.

[Taylor] Then, of
course, I met Michael,

and he's... he was
a great stabilizer.

[Wilfred Smith] Is
there anything I can do?

Look, I don't know your trouble,

but you don't look
very well to me.

[Meryman] Kind of went from
one extreme to another.

[Taylor] Oh, yes. Quite clearly.

I mean, Michael is 20
years older than I am,

so, uh, it was a bit of
the father figure thing.

How do you do? Awfully
good to see you.

[Taylor] He represented
tranquility,

security, maturity.

[brooding music playing]

[singer] All together now!

[Taylor] He represented
all the things

that I needed in myself.

[upbeat rock music playing]

[announcer 1] No
Hollywood premiere

could ever compete with this,

the siege of Caxton Hall,

as thousands of fans
fought for just a glimpse

of these glamorous stars
on their wedding day.

[announcer 2] Normally
staid Londoners

mobbed the newlyweds
as the well-wishers

surged forward to get a
better look at the Wildings.

[rock music continues]

[music ends]

[horn honking]

[film reel clicking]

[gentle harp music playing]

[Taylor] I was dying
to have children.

But I was at least
realistic enough to know

that I was not ready.

I was 20 years old,

and I was so inexperienced.

And brought up in a
world of such protection.

People did things for me.

But I wanted to be a good wife.

I really wanted to
be a splendid mother.

[announcer] 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.

[dramatic music playing]

[Taylor] Then I
went back to MGM,

and I was forced to do
things that I hated.

I was given such shit
that you should choke on.

[elephant trumpeting]

[announcer] 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.

[Taylor] And that
kind of made me sick.

I died inside.

Because of year after
year of reading reviews

that said I was a
vacuous, pretty face

that 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 then.

And then I did start to fight.

[heavy, grim music playing]

[plane engine roaring]

[announcer] Out of a
special chartered plane

stepped Elizabeth Taylor,

Rock Hudson, director
George Stevens.

[swelling, majestic
music playing]

Hello.

[Dr. Horace Lynnton]
Why, Leslie!

- Good morning.
- Good morning.

[Taylor] The opportunity
was marvelous

because the character
starts from 18

and ends up a very
manicured, well-coiffed 50.

And that is difficult to
portray if you are 22,

which I was.

[cattle bellowing]

- How you doin'?
- Ooh!

Tired, honey?

Now don't you worry about me.

I'm a tough Texian now.

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. [chuckles]

[crowd chatter, whooping]

- Eat it while it's hot!
- [whooping]

[dramatic orchestral
music playing]

[Taylor] George and I
had gotten on so well

on A Place in the Sun.

But I don't know, in
this, it's like, uh...

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 'bout
a cup of coffee,

or a drink or something?

"Men's stuff"?

Lord have mercy.

[McDowall] And did you ever
think of taking acting lessons

- or did you...
- [Taylor] No.

- You never thought that?
- No.

[Meryman] Have you ever
taken acting lessons?

[Taylor] No. I
believe that, uh,

any technique or talent
that I might have

is not technique, it's instinct.

It's very impolite, I know.

[whispers] 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 gonna settle down
and behave, like everybody else?

Never!

[Rosenberg] 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 gay.

Of course, it was all a sham.

Elizabeth knew it was a sham.

Rock trusted her,

and she protected him.

[mechanical rumbling]

[man shouts indistinctly]

[gentle music playing]

[Taylor] It was
120 in the shade.

It was boiling.

But we were like a very
tightly-knit family.

[gentle music continues]

Marfa, Texas, had a
population of 2,000, I think,

so we were like
the real Martians.

We all had little, tiny houses

that were sort of across
the road from each other.

And sometimes, Jimmy and I

would sit up until, like,
3:00 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?

[film reel clicking]

[Taylor] The night
that Jimmy was killed,

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."

[somber music playing]

[news anchor] 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.

[poignant, dramatic
music playing]

[Taylor] He was only 24.
And it seemed impossible.

I'd just been with him that day,

driving around the studio
in his, uh, Porsche.

He was so alive.
He was so vital.

I couldn't believe
that he was dead.

[Meryman] Okay.

[Taylor] Then, after that,

I went into a whole, kind
of, period, examining...

- [Meryman] Mm-hmm.
- [Taylor] ...my own life.

[solemn music playing]

With Michael, we were
married five years,

and for three, it
was just sort of...

I mean, it just
wasn't working out.

Uh...

I'm afraid I gave him
rather a rough time.

I tended to be a bit
stronger than he was.

Our divorce was friendly,

if you can call a
divorce being friendly.

[Meryman] Did you have any
worries about the children?

- [Taylor] Uh, worried?
- You said, "My children are

very remarkable people."

- What did you mean?
- [Taylor] 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?

[Brynner] 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,

"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,

Michael Todd.

[film reel clicking]

Mr. Todd, are you planning
to star Elizabeth Taylor

in any of your
forthcoming films?

I didn't get the name.

[interviewer] Elizabeth Taylor.

Oh.

Oh, you mean the cinema actress?

- Yes.
- Oh, yes, yes.

Well, I read Elizabeth Taylor

is not going to make like
an actress very much longer.

[interviewer] 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.

[upbeat jazz music playing]

[announcer] 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?

[Meryman] What kind
of a man is Mike Todd?

[Taylor] Oh, Mike
was one of the...

most flamboyant characters

I've ever known.

There was a joy about being
alive, and a vitality.

Uh, and he was a
real con artist.

He could con the gold
out of your teeth.

Hello? Yes. What?

Don't want orchestras
for the boats,

I want bands, and in uniform.

[Taylor] 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 plunked me down,
pulled a chair around,

started in on a spiel

saying that he loved me.

And that there was
no question about it,

but we were going to be married.

I looked at him,

like a rabbit, I imagine,
looks at a mongoose.

[Meryman laughs]

And I thought, you
know something?

I think he's right!
He talked me into it.

That's what I mean, he could
con the gold off your teeth!

[Meryman laughs]

- [gentle music playing]
- [distant applause]

When she married Mike, I
was her matron of honor.

And I was married
to Eddie Fisher.

♪ I greet the dawn
when I awaken ♪

[Reynolds] Mike Todd
was Eddie's best friend,

and the four of us had
a lot of fun together.

♪ But yes, indeedy ♪

♪ Give me the simple life ♪

[Reynolds] Elizabeth, she was
madly in love with Mike Todd,

who was really a
charismatic guy.

[Taylor] When Mike bought
me my engagement ring,

he said it was, um,
29 and 7/8ths carats,

because 30 would
have been vulgar.

[giggles] I call it
my ice-skating rink.

- What do you wanna ask me?
- I'd like to ask about

some of the presents
you've given to her.

Oh, I wouldn't want
to discuss that,

but I can hear you loud and
clear when you talk about...

Did you say Miss Taylor?
You mean Mrs. Todd?

- I beg your pardon.
- Oh, yeah.

Well, Mrs. Todd is my favorite
person in the whole world.

There's no secret about it.

And, uh, I'm very fortunate

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... 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.

["Le Paradis Pour Toi"
by Gillian Hills playing]

[Taylor] 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.

[Gillian Hills
singing in French]

[reporter] Mike, some
of your critics say

that much of your success
is due to luck. You agree?

Mm-hmm. It proves that it's much
better to be lucky than smart.

Which I'm a living example of.

And ending that sentence
with a preposition proves it.

- Around the World in 80 Days.
- [audience cheering]

[announcer] For Best
Picture, producer Mike Todd

receives his Oscar.

[Taylor] 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.

That curiosity was
a marvelous thing.

One time, I was teasing
him unmercifully,

and some photographer
got a picture.

[reporter] Mike, there's
been a lot of publicity

about your public spats.

- I think something about...
- What? Bite your tongue.

Would you suggest a
good fight now and then?

[Todd] We're not introverts.

If we have something to
say, I say, "Hey, Liz!"

She hollers, "Hey, Mike!"

If you make a Dreyfus case
out of that, it's too bad.

But we're very, uh...
Well, we're so happy...

It doesn't matter. I don't
really care what anybody thinks,

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.

[Meryman] What sort of
things would you do?

[Taylor] Oh, be late.

Be delib... Just fiddle
around and be late.

I-I suppose it was like
testing my strength.

Each time, hoping and
praying that I would lose.

[Meryman] That's really very
important for you, isn't it?

- The strength...
- [Taylor] Oh, I need it.

I need that quality in a man
more than any other quality.

Because, um, I know myself,

and I know that I will try
and get away with murder.

[upbeat jazz music playing]

[reporter] 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.

Well, 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 15, yes.

Oh, I see. Well,
I was wondering,

since you've been married to
such a mature man of the world

as Mr. Todd, you feel
you've matured somewhat now?

I hope so. Otherwise I'd be
slightly retarded, wouldn't I?

Well, 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 pretty good.

That was for me,
not for your camera.

[gentle, lilting music playing]

[Taylor] When Liza was born,

she looked like, well,
all premature babies,

a bit like Methuselah.

But to Mike, she
was a total miracle.

He was quite convinced that 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.

[Murrow] Evening, Liz.

- Hello, Ed. How are you?
- [Murrow] Good.

Are you going to
continue making movies

or just, uh, be a housewife?

I couldn't really, um...

care less about making movies,

to tell you the truth.

I consider it much
more important

to be a good woman
than a great actress,

or any kind of an actress.

[gentle, sultry music playing]

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.

'Cause, um, I was on
the film for two weeks

before Mike was killed.

Michael Todd died today at
the height of his career.

Today, his plane crashed
and exploded in mountains

30 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.

[grim, solemn music playing]

[gentle, poignant music playing]

[Taylor] It was 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 50 years old

and he had never, he told me,

been that happy before.

- [somber music playing]
- [wind blowing]

And it was like something
was gonna 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
had put all my trust in.

It was really more
than I could handle.

Eddie and I both went
to Elizabeth's house,

and, uh, 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 are
swarming all over her house."

[Taylor] I was absolutely in...

uh, I mean, a 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 Gooper's
kiddies no-neck monsters?

Because your brother's children
got no necks, that's why.

[Taylor] And 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."

[gentle sentimental
music playing]

I get so lonely.

Everybody gets that.

Living with somebody
you love can be...

lonelier than living
entirely alone.

When the one you love
doesn't love you.

[Taylor] There was a
trance-like thing about me

after Mike's death.

[dark, dramatic music playing]

I think I really did
have a strong urge to...

just lay down and quit.

It seemed almost
certain that I was...

heading to disaster,

and I could not stop myself.

So now you can enjoy a
pause that really refreshes,

as we bring you
Eddie Fisher singing

his newest RCA Victor recording,

of "Without You."

[lush orchestral music playing]

♪ There'll never
be a love for me ♪

♪ Without you ♪

[Reynolds] After
Mike's plane crash,

my husband, he was great
comfort to Elizabeth.

And then she had
to go to New York,

and then he said he
had to go for work.

But he really went
to be with Elizabeth,

which I found out,

and uh, realized that
there was something

going on seriously there.

- [dramatic music playing]
- [crowd shouting]

[Taylor] Eddie
Fisher, in New York,

had taken me out,

I think, two or three times.

And then all the
shit hit the fan.

A short time ago, one of
the Hollywood columnists

broke a story about you
and Debbie breaking up.

[Fisher] There's nothing
to it, but I would prefer

not going into it at all.

[announcer] Eddie Fisher
and Debbie Reynolds

seemed 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.
- [interviewer] Uh-huh.

You mean a lousy cook,
that's what you really mean.

- Wait a minute. [chuckles]
- Yeah.

[Taylor] 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, was Mike.

[Meryman] Hmm.

[Taylor] I never loved Eddie.

I liked him, I felt
sorry for him...

and I liked talking
with him about Mike.

I was sick.

But I trapped myself into
that. I did that myself.

[crowd shouting]

I can't say anything
against Debbie,

but she put on such an act,

with the pigtails
and the diaper pins,

and 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.

[announcer] In the capper to
Hollywood's biggest scandal,

a radiant Elizabeth Taylor
marries Eddie Fisher

just three hours after his
divorce from Debbie Reynolds.

[dramatic music playing]

[applause]

[Meryman] Am I right in
thinking that after you married

uh, Eddie Fisher,

that you encountered
terrific public animosity?

[Taylor] Oh, sure.

Hostility in people's faces
and letters and looks.

[Meryman] Did the public
animosity bother you a lot?

[Taylor] Oh, sure.

Probably more or less justified
as far as they were concerned.

As a matter of fact,

I don't remember too much
about my marriage to him

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.

[reporter 1] You're going
to honeymoon in Europe?

Whereabouts?

Someplace 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 this publicity?

About what?

About all the publicity
attending the wedding?

Well, I don't think that's a...

we're more concerned about
each other right now.

[reporter 2] I see.

Are you a little bit dizzy
by the pace of the thing?

- We're a little weary.
- It's true.

Very tired, but
we feel wonderful.

[reporter 3] Can she cook?

Um, she doesn't have to.

That enough?

[Meryman] My question's 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."
- [Taylor] Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

I think that some
part of me is sorry

that I became...

uh...

a public utility.

I know I should be
grateful. I know all that.

I don't like fame.

I don't like the sense of-of
belonging to the public.

I like being an actress,
or trying to be an actress.

[gentle piano music playing]

I have done some films that...

by all kind of rules
of the-of the business,

I shouldn't have done

and that I was
advised not to do.

For instance,
Suddenly, Last Summer.

[dramatic theme music playing]

[announcer] 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.

[Taylor] Everyone
advised me not to do it.

[Meryman] Because of the theme?

[Taylor] Oh, only the theme.

Because the theme
was so controversial.

Elizabeth was never afraid
of controversial things.

Suddenly, Last Summer dealt
with a troubled gay man

who was deeply closeted.

Of course, because of the
production code at the time,

the underlying homosexuality
was whitewashed.

[Taylor] People
said, "Don't do it,

it'll be the end
of your career."

So if I'd been really
ambitious about my career,

I would have done Ben-Hur.

[laughter]

[announcer] Oscar Night. The
32nd Annual Academy Awards.

Charlton Heston,
the star of Ben-Hur,

keeping his fingers crossed.

Elizabeth Taylor
and Eddie Fisher.

[Taylor] I did get nominated
for Suddenly Last Summer.

[Meryman] You really
wanted an Academy Award.

[Taylor] Sure!

[Meryman] What
does it represent?

[Taylor] Well, I
suppose to me it, uh,

was finally being considered
by my own industry

an actress, not a movie star.

And that was terribly
important to me.

[announcer] Best
actress, Simone Signoret,

for her performance...

[Taylor] I think probably
if I'd been a good girl,

I probably would have won.

[laughter]

- Didn't you think so, Roddy?
- [McDowall laughs]

- Ms. Taylor? Darling?
- [Taylor] Yes, Mr. McDowall.

- [Taylor] Yes, Randy McNutt.
- [laughter]

[McDowall] How about
a movie like...

that you really hated? Like
Butterfield, for instance.

[Taylor] I hated it so much.

I thought, "Fuck them."
They made me do the film.

I didn't want to.

I did it with a
pistol to my head.

[announcer] Butterfield
8 with Laurence Harvey

is one of Elizabeth
Taylor's major films

after the death of Mike Todd

and the storm over 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?

[announcer] Most critics
think the picture is a bomb.

But as a model and
freelance call girl,

she does, as usual,
dominate the screen.

We-we both know what
kind of a girl I've been.

- We both know...
- 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.

Let me go, you're hurting me!

Mama, face it! I was
the slut of all time!

[McDowall] You're
very good in it.

[Taylor] I tried to
do as well as I could.

[McDowall] You're
very good in it.

[Taylor] The lines
were so diabolical.

It was such a piece of
shit that it made me angry.

And out of the anger, it
kind of gave me an incentive.

[McDowall] That character
is one of the most

potent things I've
seen you play.

You were marvelous and tragic
and wild and fascinating.

[Taylor] Well, it was
done out of anger.

We did have a drink
together last night.

- One?
- A dozen, maybe.

And this morning you stagger
out of his apartment.

Charming.

Funny thing, I don't even
remember going there.

[melancholy music playing]

Better than sleeping pills.

[groans]

[Meryman] Married
to Eddie Fisher,

did you feel very
lonely? Was that...?

[Taylor] Yes, and Eddie made
sure that I felt lonely.

Uh, we never went out.

[man] No.

[Taylor] 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, uh...

in front of Eddie.

I was fed up with living.

I couldn't then face
the thought of divorce.

I'd rather have been dead

than face going through divorce.

[Meryman] Did you... Were
you taken to the hospital?

[Taylor] No, a doctor
came to the hotel.

And thank God.

I'm so deeply ashamed of it.

It's the most self-indulgent
kind of behavior.

Because the consequences to
the children were so horrific.

I wasn't thinking of
anybody but myself.

That's why I say
it's so selfish.

[melancholy music continues]

- Hey, what time is it, boy?
- [Meryman] It's not very late.

- What is it?
- [McDowall] 11:30.

[Taylor] Oy gevalt.

Is the machine on?

[Meryman] Yes,
the machine is on.

[Taylor] Okay.

[Meryman] I want to push on.

[bombastic orchestral
music playing]

[announcer] 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 custom stale her
infinite variety."

Elizabeth is 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.

[Taylor] 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.

[Meryman] Are you ever made to
feel, by the movie industry,

like so much meat?

[Taylor] I was.

But when you, uh,
could very coolly,

ask for a million dollars
for a film and get it,

you don't feel like
a piece of meat.

[laughter]

You feel like a big steak.

[laughter]

[Meryman] Well, all I can
do is ask the same question.

Why do you think
that you're paid

a million dollars for a movie?

What do you think is
your... your salable...

- [McDowall laughs]
- Goods?

[Taylor laughs] I really
haven't thought about it.

[McDowall] Come on now.

You were offered
a million dollars.

Now, what was that based on?

Have you never thought of
yourself as being a sex symbol?

[Taylor] Sex symbol?

What the hell is a sex
symbol? What is it?

[Meryman] Well, Marilyn
is a good example.

[Taylor] But I
don't think I am.

I really don't.

[McDowall] You don't
think your public image

is that of a sex symbol?

[Taylor] I don't want
to be a sex symbol.

[woman] A man!

Oh, it's you.

I summoned you yesterday to
an audience in my throne room.

[Taylor] Because I am
a woman and I am in...

the prime of my
life... [chuckles]

sex, of course, must enter
into any role that I play.

Am I to understand, then, that
you feel free to do with me

whatever you want...

whenever you want?

Yes, I want that understood.

[Meryman] Well, 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?

[Taylor] 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.

But as far as being a
sex goddess is concerned,

I've never thought
of myself that way.

I'm a... I'm a broad.

- I'm a woman.
- [McDowall] Well...

[Taylor] I really don't
think it's unique.

[Meryman] What you getting
so overexcited about?

[Taylor] Because it's
about the 19th time

it's come up in
the conversation!

[Meryman] It won't
come up again.

[Taylor] Okay.

Listen, we have to go,

because you have to
leave by the side door.

[Taylor] What?

[McDowall] There are a
great many photographers.

I'm going to arrange
about the car.

[Taylor] Your machine's
off, isn't it?

[Meryman] No, it isn't.

[player clicks]

[melancholy music playing]

[Taylor] 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, oh, 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.

[thunder rumbling]

And, uh, I was sick in
bed with what I thought

was, you know, the 24-hour flu.

[film projector whirring]

[announcer] 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.

[Taylor] I was on the
operating table for 18 hours.

And actually, four times, I...

was called dead and
stopped breathing.

And they had pipes
going into my lungs,

pulling the gook out
and shoving oxygen in.

And when I came to on the
table, the operating table,

that when I tried to scream,
no... no sound came out.

There was only just air
coming out of a big hole

in my throat where
they'd slit it open.

[somber music playing]

Well, as-as you know, Ms.
Taylor has not been well.

So we've been trying to
get everything we can

that does not include her.

[reporter] You're now
basically waiting on her.

[Mamoulian] Yes. Basically
waiting on Ms. Taylor.

[beeping]

[man] You're in the way.

[announcer] 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 climax.

[man] Stand back! Back!

[reporter] Nice to see you,
Ms. Taylor. How are you?

How do you feel?

[Taylor] I feel a
little weak. Thank you.

[reporter] You're going
for a nice long rest?

- [Taylor] Yes.
- [reporter] How long?

[Taylor] About six months.

[reporter] And after
that, back to Cleopatra?

[Taylor] I hope so.

[reporter] Jolly
good luck, then.

- [Taylor] Thank you.
- [man] Okay.

Okay. Alright.

[gentle piano music playing]

[Taylor] I must say,
after I recovered,

I was so consumed with life.

Everything became a miracle.

Elizabeth Taylor...

[audience cheering]

[Butterfield 8
theme music playing]

[announcer] Convalescing from
her recent grave illness,

Elizabeth Taylor receives
a prolonged accolade

from the audience.

It's a popular choice.

[Taylor] Butterfield 8 was my
fourth nomination in a row.

And I won the award
for my tracheotomy.

- [Meryman] You really feel that?
- [Taylor] Yes, I do.

It must have been some
kind of sympathy thing,

because I think the
film is so embarrassing.

It's just dreadful.

[audience applauding]

Oh!

I don't really know how
to express my gratitude

for this and for everything.

I guess all I can
do is say thank you.

Thank you with all my heart.

- [audience applauding]
- [fanfare playing]

["Tristezza Per Favore Va Via"
by Ornella Vanoni playing]

- 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.

[trumpet fanfare playing]

[onlookers exclaiming
and cheering]

[dramatic music playing]

[Meryman] Do you remember
the very first time

you ever met Richard?

[Taylor] Richard
came on the set,

and I've never seen a gentleman
so hungover in my whole life.

[laughter]

He was kind of quivering
from head to foot.

Mark Antony, how prompt you are.

If I had not been, it would
be unforgivable of me.

[Burton] The first time
I came onto the set,

it was a very distinct moment.

I, uh... Every so often,
I go on 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 in.

So I arrived at the studio
in a shocking state.

I don't think I'd
slept for two nights,

so I was a real mess.

[Taylor] He ordered
a cup of coffee

to sort of still
his trembling fist.

[Burton] 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?"

[Taylor] And I fed him coffee
and he was terribly nervous

and sweet and shaky.

And that just
endeared me so to him.

My heart just sort
of went out to him.

[laughter]

[Burton] She was
fairly friendly to me.

The first time I ever
met her, she burped.

[Taylor laughs]

[Meryman] What'd you
think about her press,

uh, the bad girl?

[Burton] I don't read the
entertainment sections

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.

[laughter]

[romantic orchestral
music playing]

But I will never...

be free of you.

I'd never seen her in a movie

except when she was a tiny girl.

And I thought she was just,
in quotation marks, a "star."

I didn't think she
could act at all.

You will kneel.

I will what?

On your knees.

[Burton] 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.

[Burton] Elizabeth is royal.

She's queenlike.
It's... it's distant.

Like, "Don't touch."

It's the inaccessibility
of Elizabeth

that makes her exciting.

The dance, I take it, is over.

- [upbeat jazzy music playing]
- [crowd cheering]

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.

[Brynner] 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.

[Taylor] 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.

[sighs] Let someone
ask me what I want...

To live with you
in peace and love.

[Taylor] It's very
difficult to talk about

because I loved Richard.

I didn't want his
marriage to break up.

Sybil is a wonderful woman.

I couldn't help loving him.

It was a fact.

[Heyman] I think Sybil always
thought he would come back

because Richard had
had past affairs

and he had always come back.

Antony!

[Heyman] But they were totally

obsessed with each other.

It was a very, very, very,
very intense relationship.

[Taylor] 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...

when the press photographers
chase you for miles

to 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.

[photographers clamoring]

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 paparazzi would
climb over the walls,

uh, we'd turn the hose on them.

And the kids would help,
and they had a ball.

It was-it was the only way.

Otherwise, I think
they would've felt like

hunted little animals.

[photographers clamoring]

So it became Cops
and Robbers instead.

[Meryman chuckles]

[Hamilton] 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.

[laughs] I remember that.

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.

["Nothing But a Heartache"
by The Flirtations playing]

♪ Nothing but a
heartache every day ♪

♪ Nothing but a heartache ♪

♪ Nothing but a teardrop
all of the way ♪

♪ Nothing but a teardrop ♪

♪ Loving a bad guy
is such a sin, yeah ♪

♪ He's got me all won ♪

♪ Can I get him? ♪

♪ I got a lot of
those heartaches ♪

♪ I got a lot of
those teardrops ♪

♪ Heartaches ♪

♪ Teardrops ♪

♪ All of the way... ♪

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 worldly scandal.

I think even the Pope got
involved at some point.

[bells tolling]

[somber music playing]

[Taylor] 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...

Well, it made me vomit.

Um...

The day after that,

somebody was out at the studio

trying to blow me
up with a bomb.

So the Italian FBI were
out there for five days.

[chuckles] And
it was really...

a horrendous week.

[dramatic horn fanfare playing]

[Taylor] In Cleopatra's
entrance to Rome,

I had to sit on top of the
sphinx with a little boy.

We shot on the back lot
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 to
yell "Cleopatra" and 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! Bacia!

Bacia, Liz!"

And they started
blowing me kisses.

And they started
screaming and cheering.

And I sat there with the tears
just pouring down my face.

[laughing]

And everybody,
Richard, my mother,

everybody was dissolved
in tears. [laughs]

There wasn't one
unfriendly word.

[crowd cheering]

The Queen has conquered
the people of Rome.

[crowd cheering and clamoring]

[announcer] This spring,
Revlon brings you

the new Cleopatra look.

Brilliantly translated
into the most exciting

and wearable look today.

[upbeat pop rock music playing]

Sphinx Pink

makes all other pinks
look positively pallid.

[announcer 1] A turnout of
ten thousand New Yorkers

jammed Broadway

for the world
premiere of Cleopatra.

[announcer 2] The world
premiere of Cleopatra,

the biggest and most
publicized ever known.

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 caricature and notoriety

that I don't think

anybody could see the
forest for the trees.

How about it?

You and I will take that
night boat on the Nile.

Just the two of us.

Sure, just the two of us.

And a thousand slaves rowing.

Just my luck, one of them
will be Eddie Fisher.

[laughter and applause]

[melancholy music playing]

[Taylor] I knew what I was doing
by loving Richard was wrong.

There was only one thing I
could do and that was to...

um, leave him.

Eddie and I were back together

and I told him that I would try.

- [melancholy music continues]
- [crowd cheers]

Eddie, at nighttime,

would sit up, and he had a gun.

Every time I'd start to
close my eyes and nod out,

he would stroke my arm and
say, "I'm not gonna kill you.

I wouldn't shoot you.
You're much too pretty."

All night long.

Finally, I ran from the house

and stayed at
[inaudible] apartment.

I was so scared.

And then Richard and I
did another film together.

We both did the film, really,

in all honesty,

so we could be together, and
that was the only reason.

We didn't admit it then.

And it-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 whore.

[soft dramatic music playing]

[Meryman] Do you still have
attacks of guilt about it?

[Taylor] Oh, yes.

Especially about
Richard's children.

We both do.

For having inflicted
such awful pain.

[Meryman] Do you have any
religious worries about this?

[Taylor] Do you mean, do I
think I'm going to be punished?

- [Meryman] Yeah.
- [Taylor] 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.

[plane engine rumbling]

[man] There will be
no press conference.

[man continues indistinctly]

[muffled voices chattering]

[announcer] When the
two lovers arrived,

this was the barrage of
reporters and cameramen

that met them at the airport.

[reporter] You don't have
any comment at all, Liz?

Miss Taylor, do you have
no comment whatsoever?

[Burton] How do we
get out? Please.

[news anchor] They sought
sanctuary in a baggage tunnel.

Finally, refuge, but only
temporarily, in a nearby bar,

with Miss Taylor and
Burton still tight-lipped,

still refusing to
answer questions.

At the hotel, Burton
eluded photographers.

Miss Taylor headed for a
police-protected hotel suite.

[reporter] Do you have any
statement about your wife's

statement that she
will not buy a divorce?

I don't understand it.

[reporter 2] Liz's
lawyers say you are asking

for a million dollars as
your price for a divorce.

I said before that,
um, I don't, uh...

They have been saying
a lot of things.

Things are being
twisted and turned

and made to appear as they...

um...

It's very confusing to me.

[reporter] Do you have any plans

to meet with Mr. Fisher
when you're in town here?

- No.
- We didn't know he was here

until you boys
informed us last night.

[reporter] In what way is he
being unpleasant about this?

Do you read the papers, love?

I read different
things different days.

I suggest you do. Yeah.

[reporters clamoring]

- [Fisher] Am I bitter?
- [reporter] Yes.

[Fisher] Not at all,
I am not bitter.

This part of it that
I'm in right now

is like walking
through a bad dream,

and, uh, uh...

I just don't belong in it.

So, I wanna get out.

- You have...
- Now!

[soft, melancholy music playing]

[Meryman] You have a lot of
what I'd call bad publicity.

Do you care?

[Taylor] I gave up
a long time ago.

And, 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,

but I'm not going to.

It's a... 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.

[music fades]

[joyful fanfare playing]

[announcer] 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 Miss Taylor

on her fifth marriage
and she thanked them.

Oh, 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.

[chuckles]

[Taylor] I'm looking forward to
getting fat, obese, wrinkled,

- gray-haired... sagging.
- [McDowall] With liver spots.

[Taylor] Everything's going
to sag in about two years.

[McDowall laughs]

[Burton] Be one of your
shorter marriages, then.

[laughter]

[Taylor] You told me
you loved every ton.

- [laughter]
- You did do so.

[dramatic string music playing]

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 gold flood of warmth.

The children, they
worshiped 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.

[Meryman] What did
you worry about

in terms of the children?

[Taylor] Well, the obvious.

I've been married
too many times.

[Meryman] Have you ever
tried to explain it to them

about the divorce?

[Taylor] 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.

It's funny, their
animal instinct.

They absolutely know

that Richard and I are
going to be alright,

and that our marriage will
be here 50 years from now.

I love, sort of, not being me,

but being Richard's wife.

[in singsong] Who's
afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Virginia Woolf,

Virginia Woolf.

Who's afraid of
Virginia... [cackles]

[announcer] 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?

[Taylor] 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?

[in posh British
accent] What a dump!

How would I know?

[in normal voice] Oh,
come on. What's it from?

- You know.
- Martha...

[Taylor] It's the most difficult
part that I've ever done.

[upbeat jazz music playing]

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,

much more experimental.

[jazz music continues]

Things just kind
of seem to come,

like, the walk, the voice.

It's like my Martha skin.

You still look like you
have a pretty good body now.

Is that right, have you?

- Martha, decency forbids.
- Shut up!

[Taylor] Martha is bawdy,

sloppy, snarly.

But there are moments
when, all of a sudden,

the facade will crack,

and you'll see the hurt.

The infinite kind of
pain of this woman.

[jazz music continues]

You really are a bastard.

[Taylor] There's an intimacy
between George and Martha

that I think is really so...

strange and strong.

You wanna know what's
happened, George?

Do you wanna know
what's really happened?

It snapped!

Finally. Not me, it.
The whole arrangement.

You can go on forever and
ever, 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.

Then 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.

[chuckles] 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!

[Taylor] 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.

[interviewer] 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.

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...

A great many people who didn't
know us very well said, uh...

"It's going to be difficult
for you both, doing this film,

because quite clearly,
you're both people

of very high temperament
and, indeed, the film

may carry over after
six o'clock at night."

[soft melancholy music playing]

Uh, we ignored
them and survived.

Elizabeth dominated the film.

"She won an Oscar for
it," he said bitterly.

[audience laughs]

"And I didn't," he
said equally bitterly.

[audience laughs]

[overlapping indistinct chatter]

[reporter] 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.

[Burton] 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.

[reporter shouts indistinctly]

[Burton] I think that
somewhere or other,

a mysterious third
personality came about,

which was a combination
of the two of us together.

[Meryman] You're a
major industry, you two.

[Taylor] I suppose so.

- A horrible way to look at it.
- [Meryman laughs]

When you're too much in the
public eye for too long,

there's so much
that is performance.

When I first saw Elizabeth act,

I thought, "It's very curious,
she's not doing anything."

- You know, and...
- A lot of people have said that.

When I saw the
rushes, I realized

something extraordinary
was going on.

When I first worked
with Elizabeth,

I thought, "She's
not doing anything."

- Then I saw the rushes...
- A lot of people have said that.

- [laughter]
- [Burton] I saw the rushes...

"She's not doing anything."
Then I saw the rushes,

and I realized she was
doing a great many things.

[Taylor] I think
what I have done is

deliberately make
a dividing line.

The person that my family know

is real.

But 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.

[music fades]

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 rows?

You can't pick up a movie
magazine or anything

about Liz and Dick battling.

I think that fighting is one
of the greatest exercises

in marital togetherness.

I do not attack,

uh, that soft spot
in the underbelly.

- My double chin.
- When she attacks...

Double chins.

You bloody well have.

She's got a slightly fat belly.

- I never...
- I've got his pockmarks.

[interviewer] 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?
- I think that...

if there is a henpeck
around the place, it's me.

Oh! Mamma mia!

[player clicks]

[Taylor] Did anything come
out coherent the other night?

[Meryman]

[Taylor]

[both laugh]

[water sloshing]

[dog yipping]

[Hamilton] Things
weren't going well.

I saw that 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-it turned dark, it turned
out of Virginia Woolf.

[tense piano music playing]

[Meryman]

[Taylor]

Thank God, so is he.

You come back here!

Come back here, you!

I haven't dismissed you yet!

[dramatic music playing]

[muttering]

[Taylor] But just the fact
that we love each other

is a haven.

And I'm terribly kind
of... I don't know,

I don't think I've ever
really tried to be alone.

[Meryman] Um,

if I say to you,
"Elizabeth Taylor,"

do you think you
could tell me exactly

who that is?

[Taylor] 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.

[Meryman] Mm-hmm.

- [dramatic music continues]
- [page turns]

God, I think I've...

- I think I've finished my list.
- [Taylor] Hm?

- I think I've finished my list.
- [Taylor] Good show.

[both laugh]

[Taylor] Would you
like a drink, dear?

Shall we turn your
little machine off?

[Meryman] Yes.

Cut here. Stop transcribing.

Stop transcribing.

[clicks]

- [tense music playing]
- [indistinct chatter]

[reporter 1] 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.

[reporter 2] It was probably one
of the most public occurrences

since Antony first
met Cleopatra.

The couple are now staying...

[reporter 3] Miss
Taylor and Mr. Burton,

celebrating their re-engagement,

convened a presidential-style
press conference,

asked to be left
to their new lives.

[reporter 4] The Burtons
rate all this attention

because they fulfill a
sacred Hollywood formula.

They must have done something
wicked we can forgive them for.

[reporter 5] He succinctly
confirmed the split.

[reporter 6] Is it true you're
separated from Liz Taylor?

- Yes.
- Will you be getting a divorce?

[reporter 7] 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...

[continues indistinctly]

[dark, dramatic music playing]

[music softens and fades]

[woman 1] Good afternoon.

[woman 2] Hi. Oh,
aren't these beautiful?

[recorder clicks and whirs]

[Dunne] This is... I'm in
Beverly Hills, California,

The Beverly Hills Hotel,

about to interview
Miss Elizabeth Taylor.

Once you said to me something

I've never forgotten, Elizabeth.

It was one of those late nights.

You said to me, "You know,
sometimes I can't remember

when I wasn't famous."

[Taylor] Very frightening.
I thought it would decrease

when I sort of retired.

[Dunne] Now, let me ask you
something about Betty Ford.

Now, how did that come about?

[Taylor] I had a
family intervention.

- I don't know if you know...
- [Dunne] Oh, I...

I'm one of the group.

- [Taylor] Oh, okay.
- I know all about it.

[Taylor] It's
amazing, isn't it?

It's terrifying,

humiliating,

- uh...
- [Dunne] Did you feel betrayed?

[Taylor] No. I realized that
they must really love me.

And I didn't resent it.

- [Dunne] You didn't?
- [Taylor] No.

[Taylor] 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 where
I'd take one or two Percodan

mixed with booze

before I could go out.

[Dunne] Now, you must have
caused a sensation with them.

[Taylor] They'd never
had a celebrity there.

- [Dunne] You were the first?
- [Taylor] Yeah.

[Dunne] Was it hard for you to
talk in front of those people?

[Taylor] In the beginning, yes.

In the beginning, I felt
like I was giving interviews.

Then I broke all
those barriers down

and told the truth.

And like the onion,
always peeled

down to the absolute core.

[solemn piano music playing]

[Dunne] I get this,
just this sense of, um,

contentment or something

that's like a new-new phase...

- I hope it's not a phase.
- Of life.

[Taylor] A new beginning.

[Dunne] This is the first

extended period in your
life when you are...

[Taylor]

- Yeah.
- [Taylor giggles]

[Dunne] A tremendous
step, isn't it?

[Taylor] It is.

[Dunne] Yeah.

It's for getting to
know yourself, isn't it?

[Taylor] Yeah, and
quite liking myself.

And not being afraid
to be with yourself.

And I think that's why...

I can give more.

[gentle, uplifting
music playing]

Fight back! Fight AIDS!

[chanting continues] ACT
UP! Fight back! Fight AIDS!

[reporter] 59-year-old
Rock Hudson

revealed that he is
seriously ill from AIDS.

[Dunne] When Rock went
public, that was very brave.

[Taylor] 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.

AIDS was this terrible stigma.

It was like, "It's
their problem.

Let them handle it."

"They," meaning the
homosexual community.

There would have been
no Hollywood without

the homosexual community.

And just as human beings,

we owe our fellow man a
certain responsibility.

[cheering]

No one wanted to talk about it,

no one wanted to
become involved.

And it so angered me

that I finally
thought to myself,

"Bitch, do something yourself."

Last night in Hollywood,

more than a million
dollars was raised

to benefit AIDS victims.

Elizabeth Taylor organized

the star-studded gala

as a tribute to her longtime
friend, Rock Hudson.

[interviewer] You're
very involved now

working for AIDS research.

What is the name
of the organization

that you're the chair?

- AmfAR.
- AmfAR. What does that mean?

American Foundation
for AIDS Research.

Elizabeth gave away
her entire career

to focus on AIDS.

She helped found amfAR,

then she founded The Elizabeth
Taylor AIDS Foundation.

[Taylor] I think there is
a reason for having fame.

A reason that can be turned
into constructive uses,

uh, 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?

[gentle, poignant music playing]

How strangely awake I feel.

[Dunne] There's something,
there's a calmness about you

that is beautiful.

[Taylor] Now, I mean, I
find life so exciting.

There's so many things to
do, 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 be true.

That's all I have to do.

[gentle music continues]

[music fades]

[sentimental, dreamy
harp music playing]

[music swells, tempo quickens]

[bright, playful
orchestral music playing]

[music fades]