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Do you have your frickin' machine on?
Yeah.
Well, let-let's ease into it a little. Uh...
Okey-dokey.
Let me think now. Wait a minute.
- Would you like another drink? Yeah. You?
Scotch and soda, for my friend.
Jack Daniel's [inaudible].
Got a half bottle?
♪ The night we invented champagne ♪
Excuse me. What's the matter?
Uh... I'm just fascinated
by the phenomenon of Elizabeth Taylor.
Mm-hmm.
What do you think your public image is?
My public image? Yeah.
Oh.
I would think it was, uh, 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 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.
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?
What do you mean by "created my career"?
I don't know what kind of a career you mean.
Your movies.
Uh... Well, I really...
My career has been kind of odd.
Um, you know, I've been in films since I was ten.
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.
- We're rolling. - How are the cameras?
All ready.
- Bob, how are your lights? - All set.
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.
People dressed up in Greek clothes.
People dressed up in cowboy clothes.
People dressed up as apes.
And movie stars.
Of course everybody, even the extras,
- looked like movie stars. Yeah.
And then I decided I'd like to be an actress.
And you were...
you were not pushed by your parents at all?
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.
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 her over to wardrobe.
We never even tested her in the part.
We just took the chance.
I knew my Lassie'd come home.
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? Of course.
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 was 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?
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.
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.
Steady now.
Elizabeth is about the best-looking
15-year-old girl known to the public at large.
I christen thee the MGM Mayer Ship.
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 10 minutes here, 15 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.
The real business of the day
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 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.
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.
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.
It's because I played with that horse
when I was 12 years old.
May I have a cigarette, please?
Good evening, Carol. Good evening.
You look lovely tonight, Carol. You really do.
And you've, uh, 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 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.
Elizabeth, what do you like to do
when you're not making movies?
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.
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.
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 ♪
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 18.
I was a virgin.
Not only a virgin physically, but mentally.
♪ And I'm so in love ♪
I was not prepared to be an adult.
I'd been sheltered, 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 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.
The ceremony was like a fairy tale.
It was perfect.
With this ring, I thee wed.
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.
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.
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 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.
Okay, stop.
It was just wonderful. We had such a gay time.
We love Europe.
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.
Dark blue. Not violet or...?
No.
That's some romantic journalist's idea.
Are there relatively few opportunities
for a good actress to be good?
I fought against the studio
to get a good role or a film.
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 ingenue.
Why are you so quiet?
I wanted a challenge,
something with meaning.
Yeah.
Do I make you nervous?
Yes.
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.
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 wanna 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 fella that 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.
Haven't seen you in a long time.
Thank you. How are you?
You talked about making horrendous errors.
What sort of things were those?
Well, I think...
...trying to rush things,
trying to force things.
I mean, there's nothing to be said
about my first marriage.
Okay, um...
This is a delicate area, and I don't know how to...
how it should be handled.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 danced the old year out
without much regret, I should imagine.
All cameras at London airport are focused
on two people very much in love,
Britain's Michael Wilding and Elizabeth Taylor.
I'm very glad.
I'm glad to see you too as a matter of fact.
Then, of course, I met Michael,
and he's... 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 went from one extreme to another.
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.
He represented tranquility,
security, maturity.
All together now!
He represented all the things
that I needed in myself.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Out of a special chartered plane
stepped Elizabeth Taylor,
Rock Hudson, director George Stevens.
Hello.
Why, Leslie!
- Good morning. - Good morning.
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.
- 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.
- 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, 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.
And did you ever think of taking acting lessons
- or did you-- No.
- You never thought that? - No.
Have you ever taken acting lessons?
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.
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!
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.
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 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?
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."
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 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.
Okay.
Then, after that,
I went into a whole, kind of, period, examining...
Mm-hmm. ...my own life.
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.
Did you have any worries about the children?
Uh, worried? - 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,
"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.
Mr. Todd, are you planning to star Elizabeth Taylor
in any of your forthcoming films?
I didn't get the name.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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!
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.
♪ But yes, indeedy ♪
♪ Give me the simple life ♪
Elizabeth, she was madly in love with Mike Todd,
who was really a charismatic guy.
When Mike bought me my engagement ring,
he said it was, um, 29 and 7/8ths carats,
because 30 would have been vulgar.
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.
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?
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.
For 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.
That 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 spats.
- I think something about-- - What? Bite your tongue.
Would you suggest a good fight now and then?
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.
What sort of things would you do?
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.
That's really very important for you, isn't it?
- The strength-- 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.
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.
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.
Evening, Liz.
- Hello, Ed. How are you? 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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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."
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.
There was a trance-like thing about me
after Mike's death.
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."
♪ There'll never be a love for me ♪
♪ Without you ♪
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.
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.
There's nothing to it, but I would prefer
not going into it at all.
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. Uh-huh.
You mean a lousy cook, that's what you really mean.
- 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, was Mike.
Hmm.
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.
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.
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
uh, 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?
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.
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.
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.
Can she cook?
Um, she doesn't have to.
That enough?
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." 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.
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.
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 gay man
who was deeply closeted.
Of course, because of the production code at the time,
the underlying homosexuality was whitewashed.
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.
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, uh,
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...
I think probably if I'd been a good girl,
I probably would have won.
- Didn't you think so, Roddy?
- Ms. Taylor? Darling? Yes, Mr. McDowall.
Yes, Randy McNutt.
How about a movie like...
that you really hated? Like Butterfield, for instance.
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.
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?
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!
You're very good in it.
I tried to do as well as I could.
You're very good in it.
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.
That character is one of the most
potent things I've seen you play.
You were marvelous and tragic and wild and fascinating.
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.
Better than sleeping pills.
Married to Eddie Fisher,
did you feel very lonely? Was that...?
Yes, and Eddie made sure that I felt lonely.
Uh, 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, 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.
Did you-- Were you taken to the hospital?
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.
- Hey, what time is it, boy? It's not very late.
- What is it? 11:30.
Oy gevalt.
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 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.
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, uh, could 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 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...
- ...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 as being a sex symbol?
Sex symbol?
What the hell is a sex symbol? What is it?
Well, Marilyn is a good example.
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!
Oh, 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, then, that you feel free to do with me
whatever you want...
whenever you want?
Yes, I want that understood.
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?
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. Well...
I really don't think it's unique.
What you getting so overexcited about?
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,
because you have to leave by the side door.
What?
There are 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, 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.
And, uh, I was sick in bed with what I thought
was, 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.
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.
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.
You're now basically waiting on her.
Yes. Basically waiting on Ms. Taylor.
You're in the way.
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.
Stand back! Back!
Nice 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?
Yes. How long?
About six months.
And after that, back to Cleopatra?
I hope so.
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...
Convalescing from her recent grave illness,
Elizabeth Taylor receives a prolonged accolade
from the audience.
It's a popular choice.
Butterfield 8 was my fourth nomination in a row.
And I won the award for my tracheotomy.
You really feel that? Yes, I do.
It must have been some kind of sympathy thing,
because I think the film is so embarrassing.
It's just dreadful.
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.
- 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.
Do you remember the very first time
you ever met Richard?
Richard came on the set,
and I've never seen a gentleman so hungover in my whole life.
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.
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.
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 to him.
My heart just sort of went out to him.
She was fairly friendly to me.
The first time I ever met her, she burped.
What'd you think about her press,
uh, the bad girl?
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Let someone ask 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 is 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 had always come back.
Antony!
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...
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
And everybody, Richard, my mother,
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.
A turnout of ten thousand New Yorkers
jammed Broadway
for the world premiere of Cleopatra.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 this?
Do you mean, do I think I'm going to be punished?
Yeah. 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.
When the two lovers arrived,
this was the barrage of reporters and cameramen
that met them at the airport.
You don't have any comment at all, Liz?
Miss Taylor, do you have no comment whatsoever?
How do we get out? Please.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Am I bitter? Yes.
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!
You have a lot of what I'd call bad publicity.
Do you care?
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.
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.
I'm looking forward to getting fat, obese, wrinkled,
- gray-haired... sagging. With liver spots.
Everything's going to sag in about two years.
Be one of your shorter marriages, then.
You told me you loved every ton.
- You did do 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 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.
What did you worry about
in terms of the children?
Well, the obvious.
I've been married too many times.
Have you ever tried to explain it to them
about the divorce?
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.
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?
Oh, come on. What's it from?
- You know. - Martha...
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,
much more experimental.
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!
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.
You really are a bastard.
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.
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.
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."
Uh, 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.
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 or other,
a mysterious third personality came about,
which was a combination of the two of us together.
You're a major industry, you two.
I suppose so.
- A horrible way to look at it.
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.
I saw the rushes...
"She's not doing anything." 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.
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.
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.
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!
Did anything come out coherent the other night?
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.
Thank 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'm terribly kind of... I don't know,
I don't think I've ever really tried to be alone.
Um,
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.
Mm-hmm.
God, I think I've...
- I think I've finished my list. Hm?
- I think I've finished my list. Good show.
Would you like a drink, dear?
Shall we turn your little machine off?
Yes.
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 Antony first met Cleopatra.
The couple are now staying...
Miss Taylor and Mr. Burton,
celebrating their re-engagement,
convened a presidential-style press conference,
asked to be left to their new lives.
The Burtons rate all this attention
because they fulfill a sacred Hollywood formula.
They must have done something wicked we can forgive them for.
He succinctly confirmed the split.
Is it true 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...
Good afternoon.
Hi. Oh, aren't these beautiful?
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."
Very frightening. I thought it would decrease
when I sort of retired.
Now, let me ask you something about Betty Ford.
Now, how did that come about?
I had a family intervention.
- I don't know if you know... Oh, I...
I'm one of the group.
Oh, okay. - I know all about it.
It's amazing, isn't it?
It's terrifying,
humiliating,
- uh... 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 where I'd take one or two Percodan
mixed with booze
before I could go out.
Now, you must have caused a sensation with them.
They'd never had a celebrity there.
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.
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 this sense of, um,
contentment or something
that's like a new-new phase...
- I hope it's not a phase. - ...of life.
A new beginning.
This is the first
extended period in your life when you are...
- Yeah.
A tremendous 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 AIDS!
ACT UP! Fight back! Fight AIDS!
59-year-old Rock Hudson
revealed that he is seriously ill from AIDS.
When Rock went public, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
How strangely awake I feel.
There's 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, 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.