Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (1966)

I picked this film up today (for £1.00 in a charity shop).

I'd not seen it for years. The performances and photography (Haskell Wexler) have stood up very well indeed.

Some points:

1) The film is extremely faithful to Albee's source play (he may have insisted on this). As a result, it is VERY long and, despite Mike Nichols' efforts to open it out, it does come across as a stage play put on film.

2) Elizabeth Taylor was not, imo, a good or consistent actress but this is probably her best performance. She manages to overcome the fact that she's twenty years' too young for the part. Richard Burton is better but looks too significant (and substantial) to play a fading college professor. George Segal is slightly too quirky and interesting to be a perfect Nick but he's always a pleasure to watch. Sandy Dennis is....Sandy Dennis: people tend to love her or hate her (I quite like her).

3) Because this was conceived as a big budget mainstream film, it needed 'stars' but I find stars distracting. I wish Uta Hagen had been allowed to preserve her original stage performance on film (she made too few films and usually only had supporting roles). In fact, I wish the stage production had been filmed (there was a sound recording, but it really DID need to be filmed, imo).

 

I am only familiar with the movie version and know nothing of the stage play, other than seeing a performance at a local theater back when I was college. I’ve never seen a grittier, more emotional performance by ET. It seemed she really stretched outside her comfort zone in this one. I didn’t know about the age discrepancy. I thought Richard Burton was excellent here, going from thoughtful and somewhat mild-mannered to bitter and confrontational. I was surprised he didn’t win an Oscar for this. George Segal’s character does seem a little goofy but I always thought it was intentional. I think Sandy Dennis is great but she seemsed to have limited range as an actress.

Overall, one of my favorites, although I feel emotionally-drained when it’s over.

 

love it. my favorite Burton/Taylor performances. ps the commentary track with Nichols / Soderbergh is excellent (also on youtube)

burtons finest moment (imo)

 

2 hours of yelling. It's basically my family at get togethers.

 

What a dump!

 

It's been one of my favorite films for years. The thing that keeps me rewatching it is the play's central issue, which is the tragic fact that most people cannot live without illusions. This is what we see all four characters contending with throughout the film. Course, the most obvious fantasy (Martha's baby) is destroyed in spectacular fashion toward the end but all of them come face to face with their own illusions at some point. It's why the event is more than just the ordinarily loud/drunken late Saturday night romp, imo. My family used to get into similarity loud brawls but no one's psychic life has ever been on the line. George and Martha are lethal.

 

. . . thought that was Bette Davis . . .

 

good commentary track by Haskell Wexler as well....

 

Pick up the Warner Archive release on Blu-ray.

 

One of the greatest movies ever made about marriage & an acting clinic par excellence. Other actors probably watch this movie & then take a long hard look in the mirror...

 

...It's interesting that you note the audio recording - have you ever heard it? I would presumd it was done in a studio and was condesed a touch, both in thhe words and in skipping over physical? non-verbal, moments.

 

I've never heard it and I don't think it's currently available.

A few stage productions were recorded for posterity in the late fifties/early sixties and I think they were mostly recorded live. Olivier's performance in The Entertainer was recorded in 1957 (by George Martin, no less!) but not released until decades later; Pinter's The Caretaker was recorded by the same EMI team in 1960. The Olivier Othello was recorded with props in a recording studio, so it is effectively a stage production without an audience. Quite a few Broadway/American repertory productions were recorded, too.

 

...I recently happened to run into a listing for a Caedmon?? LP of a Lee J. Cobb??-starring production of Death Of A Salesman, too.

 

My next door neighbor growing up was Bob Irving, a Warner Brothers carpenter who worked on this film. He came away from the shoot loving Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Beyond being the ultimate professionals and showing up to the set prepared, they made it a point to learn the names of everyone on the crew, including his. If they saw you in the morning, they said hello to you by name. They also hosted a wrap party for everyone at their house, again greeting everyone personally and gave you a lovely gift to take home.

 

Another great thing about this film is that it’s Mike Nichols very first movie. It’s so beautifully and creatively directed.

 

What can you say? When a George and Martha are going at it, it’s some of the best comedy ever written. I adore this film.

 

the cast album with Hagen and Hiller is on youtube (what isn't) pretty good listen and Uta Hagen is savage and brilliant (imo) Hiller seems stiff compared to Burton but that's a tough comparison.

 

Oh, thanks for the headsup! I'll go have a listen....

I think George is meant to be a bit stiff - he's a dry, etiolated old stick at first glance and, physically, probably needs to look think and ascetic. Burton's too good-looking, even though they dowdy him down in an ancient cardigan. Plus, he's BURTON and that carries a lot of baggage.

 

I think Burton is wonderful in the part and transcends those issues really successfully which is impressive.