With Lindsay Lohan ‘s ill-fated Lifetime flick Liz & Dick still burnished in memories of Elizabeth Taylor fans, many are skeptical about BBC’s upcoming look at a difficult period in the life of the late, beloved star. But what do you know? Helena Bonham Carter, not exactly a dead ringer for the stunning Taylor, whom some consider the most beautiful actress of all time, kind of pulls it off — at least in the trailer for Burton and Taylor.
The drama examines the fabled duo of La Liz and Richard Burton (played by The Wire‘s Dominic West), as they starred in a Broadway production of Private Lives in 1983. The casting of twice-married and divorced couple in Noel Coward’s comedy about a divorced couple running into each other in France while honeymooning with their new spouses played on the public’s fascination with the duo’s own fabled relationship. It came at a low point for both stars: Taylor’s addictions would soon require a well-publicized stint at the Betty Ford Center and Burton’s long battle with alcoholism would help bring about his death a year later.
It’s not yet been announced when the film will be broadcast in the U.K. or the U.S.
avesraggiana
Whatever one’s misgivings about the “Beeb”, they can almost always be counted on to produce television of a much higher quality than just about anything any of the US network and cable outlets can put out. Just like in the USA, the British version of trash TV can be found on their commercial channels. The taxpayer funded BBC on the other hand can be counted on to produce some pretty high quality offerings. “Downton Abbey” and the 1995 miniseries, “Pride and Prejudice” anyone?
I would expect this version of the Liz and Dick story, produced by the BBC, to be no different.
Winter79
@avesraggiana: Downton Abbey may have been shown on BBC America over there, but it is emphatically NOT a BBC production – it is and always has been produced by the (commercial) Carnival Films on behalf of the (commercial) ITV.
avesraggiana
@Winter79:
Oops, my mistake. I’ll take that reference out right now.
Winter79
@avesraggiana: No worries 🙂 You’re not the first American to assume it’s a BBC production, and you almost certainly won’t be the last either.
I do agree that the majority of crap on UK television comes from the commercial channels, but there’s a lot of good stuff there as well – in addition to Downton, ITV does a lot of great detective dramas like Morse/Lewis and “Foyle’s War”, and C4 often goes in for quirky and groundbreaking indie stuff (such as the original version of QAF).
Channel 5, however, is pretty much total crap, the only good things on it are US imports.
andy0529
Where’s the Tits…..can’t be Liz without the knockers!
Red Meat
@avesraggiana: HBO (an American company) produces the greatest shows and films for television. So you can just not try so hard next time with your sweeping statements.
avesraggiana
@Red Meat: I’m not convinced about the truth of your sweeping statement, and I take well your point about not trying so hard next time.
*most assuredly chastised and put back in my place…*
Cobalt Blue
Helena Bohan Carter as Liz Taylor seems as Helena Boham Carter. What about Britney Spears as Greta Garbo or Reese Witherspoon as Gina Lollobrigida?
glitterbang
I love me some Liz Taylor, but haven’t there been at LEAST 2 bio-pics about her life thus far (played by Tiffani Amber-Thiessen & then Ms. Lohan)? What can HBC possibly add to this role?
rickgould
This movie seems skewed: While Carter is about the same age and height as Liz, they picked 42 year old, 6 ft. buff Dominic West to play Burton, who was 58, wore lifts, and was literally on his last legs when Richard reunited with ET for Private Lives.