Elizabeth Taylor is so beautiful. I remember her in "National Velvet", which I saw when I was about 10 years old. Her beauty was nearly unbelievable to me. I wanted to look like her, even then. Elizabeth grew up gracefully, never passing through the awkward stage.
Then I remember "A Place in the Sun" with the marvelous Montgomery Clift, with whom Elizabeth remained dear friends as long as he lived. Indeed, she was in love with him, but, he was gay. Monty loved Elizabeth, too, but not the way she loved him. He did a damned fine job of acting the part of a man deeply in love in the film.
Elizabeth as Maggie the Cat in "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof" is one of my favorites of her roles. She maneuvers Brick (Paul Newman) and Big Daddy (Burl Ives), until she gets what she wants."That girl's got life in her, alright."
Words that Tennessee Williams put into the mouth of Big Daddy have a permanent place on my sidebar.
"There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity...You can smell it. It smells like death."
What an emotional workout it was when Grandpère and I went to see "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" We felt battered and bruised when we left the theater after watching Elizabeth and Richard Burton verbally duke it out for a couple of hours. The movie caused us to cringe a bit, because it hit home in that we both realized that a good many of our own quarrels were unnecessary and served no useful purpose, except to upset us and those around us. For me, as a result of seeing the movie, I was inspired to try to do better.Though Elizabeth may have been a bit confused at times about the direction of her life, as we all are from time to time, she was as good as she was beautiful. Don't fail to read Leonardo's moving post at Eruptions At the Foot of the Volcano about Elizabeth's early advocacy in the cause of AIDS. She was amongst the first of the Hollywood celebrities to jump in and call attention to and demand help for those suffering from AIDS and HIV.
Eternal rest grant unto Elizabeth, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.
