Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Dominic West, Helena Bonham-Carter, Lenora Crichlow, William Hope, Michael Jibson, Trevor White, Christopher Cowlin, Lucille Sharp, Isabella Brazier-Jones.
It was a love affair that captured millions of people’s imaginations. The unceasing desire between two people at the end of their long acting powers that both brought them together but also tore them apart, both mentally as well as physically, was captured in all its glory in the latest well produced one-off drama by B.B.C. 4 in Burton and Taylor.
Sadly for B.B.C.4, the quality of the drama it has put together for the corporation now seems to be at an end, the notable and noteworthy look, the peek behind the dressing room door at some of the lives that have thrilled generations of fans, Tony Hancock, Frankie Howard and Kenneth Williams for example, look as if now that the B.B.C has either thrown in the rather large and despairingly gleaming white towel to its rivals or just wants to showcase television that will once again appeal to so few. It is a sad day when the B.B.C. decides to go either way.
However if the drama that the channel has produced was going to go out on a high then looking at the final period of time in which the two screen legends and icons were together in New York performing Noel Coward’s Private Lives, then no better film could have been chosen or produced. To some and with almost no arguments Richard Burton was the finest actor that Britain produced in the 21st Century, perhaps even better than Lord Olivier. With his smouldering good lucks, devilish charm and a voice that could make people putty in his hands, there was no doubting his consummate talent. However like Elizabeth Taylor, his co-star in the play and his ex-wife on two occasions, he had a destructive streak, both loved the drink just as much as they loved each other.
It may be difficult to cast anyone in the role of Richard Burton, the voice is not easily captured, the mannerisms perhaps to dignified to get exactly right but Dominic West gave as good a performance as the fiery but brilliant Welshman. However in Elizabeth Taylor, a woman who exemplified the word star, the excellent Helena Bonham-Carter framed everything it was possible to glean from the moment the camera looked at her. The pairing of Mr. West and Ms. Bonham-Carter may not be the same as looking at Richard Burton or Elizabeth Taylor but there was the spark between them which was needed to ensure that this production merited its place as one of the highlights of the series of television plays made by the corporation.
If there is a cause for concern it was with the near leaving out of the gracious Sally Burton, a woman whose life was shattered when her husband of only a few months died at home in Switzerland. Although there were shots of her, the film didn’t do justice to the love that was also between these two people. That surely is though a time for another tale, sadly one that won’t be made it seems by B.B.C. 4.
Ian D. Hall