Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes

Academy Award® nominee Nanette Burstein builds an insightful and moving documentary of one of the greatest Hollywood icons that ever existed using what could be very obvious resources for a project like this, recorded interviews, photographs and files footage.

However, she uses all these resources and her expertise properly, creating an intimate and gracious 100 minutes journey worthy of an acclaimed actress as Elizabeth Taylor.

We find out what we've all been knowing all along but we happen to disregard very often, behind the glamorous legend, she was just a person.

A person with insecurities, a person who made mistakes, and a person trying to learn and improve...

Elizabeth Taylor's achievements didn't only occur in her amazing career (5 Academy Awards® nominations - twice winner - and becoming the first actor ever earning 1 million dollars for a movie) but in her personal life, being her one of the first public figures talking openly about subjects that were taboo over that time, drugs and alcohol addiction, rehab process and AIDS.

As fascinating as once was Elizabeth Taylor, this documentary is an exceptional tribute for her and an outstanding addition to this genre.

"Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes" is without a doubt a compelling, provocative, and revealing doc that any film buff or movie history fan should see. Elizabeth from an early age shined by getting her start at age 10 in 1943's "Lassie Come Home". Soon Taylor electrified as she became the stuff of legend. On the "HBO" doc it's mostly her voice that we hear which was pulled from over 40 hours of discovered audio recordings with Richard Meryman.

Taylor admits she made mistakes and was not perfect as her love life and many marriages would prove, and like any doc we the viewers are treated to photos, film clips, footage, and headlines, always when she wed and divorced it was front page news.

Highlighted was Elizabeth growing up in front of the camera from her young teen roles to winning an Oscar for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?". She owed much of her success to her parents for helping her get involved in movies learning to act at acting and film school.

Taylor's life was a roller coaster from being swept off her feet by director Mike Todd and dealing with his tragic death in a plane crash. Then Liz romanced Eddie Fisher after he left Debbie Reynolds, only Elizabeth changed again leaving Eddie for Richard Burton whom she meet on the set of "Cleopatra".

Touching was highlighting Taylor's friendships with closeted gay actors such as Roddy McDowall and Rock Hudson, which later lead to her activism for AIDS research. Good look at a legendary actress who's work public and private will never be forgotten.

Elizabeth Taylor brings to mind many things: her glamor, her numerous marriages, her calling attention to AIDS, and so on. But who was she as a person?

Nanette Burstein's "Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes" sets out to answer this question. Featuring a recently unearthed 1964 interview with Liz. The actress talks about her career, her personal life, and other things. Although Taylor doesn't mention it in the interview, the documentary notes her friendship with gay actors Montgomery Clift and Rock Hudson; it sounds as though she was more comfortable around gay men than straight men, and she made sure to cover for her gay friends. As to Liz's serial marriages, I guess that we could chalk this up to her fame sweeping over her at a young age, or maybe that Hollywood was trying to boost her image (not counting her marriage to Mike Todd, which ended with his death in a plane crash). The documentary doesn't mention Taylor's friendship with Michael Jackson; I guess that his reputation has suffered too much to reference.

What emerges is an actress who was more than the sum of her parts. Whatever you think of Elizabeth Taylor's movies or about her as a person, you can't deny the impact that she had on popular culture. I think it's safe to say that her legacy will live on forever.

As "Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes" (2024 releas4e; 101 min.) opens, we are told that Taylor did extensive audio interviews with a reporter starting in 1964 and that these tapes were finally unearthed. We then go to "1942" as we are reminded of Taylor's upbringing in Beverly Hills, and how she became a child star actress. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documetnary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest biopic documentary from director Nanette Burstein ("Hillary"). Here she revisits the life and times of one of Hollywood's greatest stars ever, Elizabeth Taylor, at one point the highest-paid star in Hollywood. While there are some other talking heads, it is mostly Taylor herself reflecting on her life and career, how marriages came and fell apart, and again and again ("I was infatuated with love", comments Taylor. The video footage including many of Taylor's private stash of 8mm film and polaroid photos, in particular to full color footage) reminds us that this indeed was a very different era. One thing that I kept thinking is that they don't make movie starts like that anymore. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, I will leave that in the middle.

"Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival to good critical acclaim. The movie is currently rate 80% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Last weekend it started airing on HNBO and streaming on Max, where I caught it last night. Whether you are of a certain age and is reminded of Hollywood of a certain age, or you are a younger person not necessarily all that familiar with Elizabeth Taylor, I think this documentary serves young(er) and old(er) alike quite well. I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

Greetings again from the darkness. Not many people are famous for their entire life. Elizabeth Taylor came about as close as one can. Director Nanette Burstein uses 40 hours of recordings that resulted from journalist Richard Meryman's 1964 interviews with 32-year-old Ms. Taylor. This was at the height of her fame and popularity.

Liz claims her infamous "violet" eyes are actually "dark blue". She is quite forthcoming during the recordings, and we can't even imagine a top-tier celebrity today offering this much personal insight ... outside of the obvious blabbering we are subjected to on social media and talk shows. Liz became famous at 10 years old when she starred in LASSIE COME HOME (1943) and was a cinema sex-symbol at age 16 when she played the beautiful wife of Robert Taylor (12 years her senior) in CONSPIRATOR (1949). We hear Liz recall her idyllic childhood, yet also describing herself as a "terrified little girl" during those early Hollywood years.

In addition to the recordings which give the documentary a certain structure, director Burstein also includes a treasure trove of personal photos, home movies, archival interviews, and archival footage. A slew of photos of her famous dates stream by - even including football star Glenn "Mr. Outside" Davis. Liz was only 18 years old when she married Conrad "Nick" Hilton Jr, heir to the hotel magnate. She explains how she locked herself in the bathroom on her wedding night, and was so nervous, it took 3 days to consummate the marriage. Of course, Elizabeth Taylor is as famous for her marriages as she is her acting. She wed 8 times to seven different men. The most interesting of those are detailed here, including the plane crash death of true love Mike Todd, which led to Liz wooing singer Eddie Fisher from her friend Debbie Reynolds. What a scandal!

Despite the marriages, she also had close friends - some of whom were closeted homosexuals in order to protect their career and image. Roddy McDowell, Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift, and James Dean were all close to Liz. She details the shock at Dean's car crash death and notes she had been cruising with him in his Porsche earlier that same day.

During the interviews, Liz makes the point a few times that it was so important for her to be accepted as an actress, not just a movie star. She expresses a humble pride in being the first actor to be paid one million dollars for a role, but then things went sideways for CLEOPATRA, when Liz was hospitalized with pneumonia so serious it required a tracheotomy. Production on the film was delayed more than two years, and it was during her recovery that she won the first of her two Oscars. However, it's surreal hearing her bash BUTTERFIELD 8 as an inferior film. When production on CLEOPATRA re-started, she met her real life Marc Antony in actor Richard Burton, thus kicking off their years-long on-again/off-again intense relationship (including two marriages).

Director Burstein flashes clip after clip to convince those who don't already know that Elizabeth Taylor was an actor, a movie star, and a cultural icon. The film is quite a tribute, though it kind of blows through the later years of a couple of marriages, rehab, and weight gain. She does commit time to Liz's relentless work as an AIDS activist, including her support of long-time friend Rock Hudson. So many of Liz's memorable performances came in 1967 and earlier (some of those not mentioned above are NATIONAL VELVET (1944), FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950), A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951), GIANT (1956), CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958), and of course, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966, her second Oscar). Despite her career peaking in that era, Elizabeth Taylor remained a star until her death in 2011 at age 79. Nanette Burstein has delivered a worthy tribute.

Premieres August 3, 2024 on HBO and MAX.