What is Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes?
This new feature-length documentary focuses on Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011), one of the most dazzling stars in cinema history, who was just as famous for her private life as she was for her movie roles. The filmmakers had unprecedented access to the star’s personal archives and this footage is woven around Taylor’s own voice, using 40 hours of rediscovered audio recordings. She reflects on her place in Hollywood as the star of films like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Cleopatra, as well as the media furore around her love life – which included eight marriages (four at the time of the audio recordings in the mid-60s ) – and the challenges of navigating lifelong fame after emerging as a child star.
Who stars?
The famously ‘violet-eyed’ Elizabeth Taylor of course, appearing in clips from her films and the media. But the documentary also features the voices of actors Roddy McDowall, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Burton, George Hamilton, producer Sam Marx, agents Marion Rosenberg and John Heyman, longtime assistant and co-Trustee Tim Mendelson, and friends Liz Smith and Doris Brynner.
Who is the director?
Nanette Burstein, whose previous documentaries include: The Kid Stays in the Picture, about legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans; The Price of Gold, about embattled figure skater Tonya Harding; and Hillary, the Hulu docuseries about Hillary Clinton.
Who wrote Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes?
The director, Nannette Burstein, along with editor and co-writer, Tal Ben-David.
What’s the country of origin?
USA.
When and where did the film premiere?
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes premiered in official selection at the 2024 Cannes International Film Festival in the Cannes Classics Sidebar.
What production companies were involved?
Zipper Bros., Gerber Pictures, Sutter Road Picture Company and Bad Robot.
Who are the producers?
The film is produced by J.J. Abrams, Sean Stuart, Glen Zipper, Bill Gerber and Rachel Rusch Rich. Executive Producers are Nanette Burstein, Barbara Berkowitz, Tim Mendelson.
Who is the distributor?
HBO.
What do the reviews say?
Reviewing the film after its premiere at Cannes, Caryn James for The Hollywood Reporter called it effective, engaging and elegantly constructed, while noting the limitations of the interviews and time period around which it’s built:
‘It was the most frenzied moment of her fame, when she was coming off the paparazzi-fueled scandal that was Cleopatra. Taylor, who died in 2011, recalls her many marriages — four when she made these recordings, since she was on the first of two to Richard Burton — and her career, from her start as a child in Lassie Come Home (1943) through her Oscar-winning performance in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).’
Pete Hammonds for Deadline said: ‘It all makes for a satisfying journey through one of Hollywood’s most memorable careers. There is the feeling of intimacy that makes this one special, if not exactly full of new revelations.’
Read: Wake in Fright retains clarity after all these years
Why do we want to see it?
Elizabeth Taylor was the Taylor Swift of her generation, both an incredible talent in her field, as well as an unpredictable ‘wayward’ celebrity with genuine charisma. She was beautiful and magnetic to watch, often with a dark and dangerous edge that was absent in sunnier contemporaries. The doco is a great chance to watch her again – and hear about her life in her own words.
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Where and when can I watch Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes?
The film premieres Sunday 4 August on Binge, available on Hubbl, and Monday 5 August at 8.30pm on Famous and available On Demand.
Five essential films starring Elizabeth Taylor
- National Velvet (1944)
Taylor’s breakout performance as a 12-year-old owner of a rambunctious horse, which she decides to train for England’s Grand National race. - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Taylor is mesmerising as Maggie the Cat, trying to seduce her drunken husband, the aptly named Brick (Paul Newman) in this adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play about sexual repression. - Cleopatra (1963)
It’s not a great film but it has to be watched as one of the most disastrously expensive and notorious movies ever made. Taylor plays the legendary queen of Egypt, while Richard Burton plays Marc Antony in this sprawling epic loosely based on Shakespeare’s play. - Giant (1956)
Taylor plays the refined new wife of a wealthy Texan rancher (Rock Hudson), who catches the eye of his rival (James Dean in his last role). Their competition continues over decades in this sweeping Western drama. - Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Taylor is incendiary as the angry middle-aged wife, playing beside her real-life husband Richard Burton in this adaptation of the Edward Albee play, directed by Mike Nichols.
