Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story (1995) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writers (WGA):

C. David Heymann (book)
Burr Douglas (teleplay)

Release Date:

21 May 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

The story of 'Elizabeth Taylor' 's rise to stardom, beginning in Los Angeles 1942. Her dominating mother...

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Child Star | Elizabeth Taylor | Husband Wife Relationship | Cruise Ship

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Sherilyn Fenn	...	Elizabeth Taylor
Nigel Havers	...	Michael Wilding
Katherine Helmond	...	Hedda Hopper
Angus Macfadyen	...	Richard Burton
Kevin McCarthy	...	Sol Siegel
Michael Shure	...	Reporter
William McNamara	...	Montgomery Clift
Corey Parker	...	Eddie Fisher
Ray Wise	...	Mike Todd
Christine Healy	...	Sara Taylor
Daniel McVicar	...	Rock Hudson
Eric Gustavson	...	Nicky Hilton
John Saxon	...	Richard Brooks
Charles Frank	...	John Warner
Michael McGrady	...	Larry Fortensky

Runtime:

USA:210 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:6 | UK:15 (video premiere)

Filming Locations:

RMS Queen Mary - 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Lester Persky Productions

Trivia:

Kevin McCarthy is both an actor and a character in this production. He plays reporter/producer Sol Siegel and is portrayed by Patrick Robert Smith.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The 1940s audiences watch a trailer is for National Velvet (1944). The trailer ends with a "G-rating" classification. These ratings were not in use until the 1960s - the filmmakers obviously used the '70s re-release version.

Movie Connections:

References Ben-Hur (1959)

more high camp than good

Originally, Emma Samms was to play Elizabeth Taylor in a biography based on the tell-all by Kitty Kelly. This fell through for some reason. This particular version, done some years later starring Sherilynn Fenn, uses public domain information. Therefore, it's like watching a series of headlines.

All well and good, but in this day and age, there really isn't a reason for inaccuracies. Just to mention one, the highly publicized accident of Montgomery Clift. This has been recounted many times by eminent biographers such as Patricia Bosworth, who wrote "Montgomery Clift," and the story of that night has been told by the various people who attended a gathering at Ms. Taylor's house that night. It was not -- as shown in this film -- a huge outdoor barbecue. It was instead a small group of friends who sat through a very quiet, almost melancholy evening, with Elizabeth Taylor playing the same song over and over again on the record player (for those who remember them) and her husband lying on the couch with intractable back pain. The party broke up, Monty drove down the hill, and the rest is history. While this may not be the rousing good drama of a barbecue, the accuracy of this story would have at least told the viewer that the writers and producers ATTEMPTED to be somewhat accurate where they could be. Evidently that was too difficult.

The only other thing I'll mention is the calling of Elizabeth Taylor Liz which any even remote fan knows, she is never called in real life. She is Elizabeth. Just like Lucille Ball was Lucille and not Lucy. Sherilynn Fenn is a beautiful woman, but she deserved better. William McNamara, as Clift, took the time to go to friends of Clift to research his role. Clift's friends looked at the script and told him that basically, he had to follow the script he had. So we know where to place the blame.