The sad news of Elizabeth Taylor’s death last week marked the end of Hollywood’s Golden Era for me, the last remaining superstar finally expired. As a fan of Taylor’s since childhood – I’ll never forget seeing Cleopatra (1963) for the first time at 11 years old and literally being transfixed with the actress’s beauty for the entire 4 hour run time! – I’ve decided to abandon my usual Top 10 format and offer you her 20 greatest roles…because 10 is simply not a big enough number for the biggest diva of the screen!
Beginning in the industry at the tender age of 9, Taylor quickly rose to stardom on the MGM lot and become the most iconic actress of the 20th century. With an impressive 70 acting credits to her name, her life was plagued with illness but never prevented her from succeeding. Transcending her inimitable beauty, she proved that she was a...
Beginning in the industry at the tender age of 9, Taylor quickly rose to stardom on the MGM lot and become the most iconic actress of the 20th century. With an impressive 70 acting credits to her name, her life was plagued with illness but never prevented her from succeeding. Transcending her inimitable beauty, she proved that she was a...
- 3/31/2011
- by Stuart Cummins
- Obsessed with Film
Extracts from our digital archive show that Guardian film critics were not always as kind as history about Elizabeth Taylor's films. Click on the links in the headings of each extract to read the original articles
National Velvet
9 October 1945, page 3
'A most exciting and engaging film'
"National Velvet," the Technicolor film of Enid Bagnold's story about the butcher's daughter who won the Grand National, asks for a suspension of disbelief, but, admitting the fairy tale element, it makes a most exciting and engaging film, and the basic improbability is no bar to the enjoyment of the story. There is naturally something fresh, and unusual about the plot and its setting, and if the Brown household and the village they live in seem almost too delightful to be true, there can be no doubt that many of the country and seashore scenes where Velvet trains the Pie horse are: lovely-to look at.
National Velvet
9 October 1945, page 3
'A most exciting and engaging film'
"National Velvet," the Technicolor film of Enid Bagnold's story about the butcher's daughter who won the Grand National, asks for a suspension of disbelief, but, admitting the fairy tale element, it makes a most exciting and engaging film, and the basic improbability is no bar to the enjoyment of the story. There is naturally something fresh, and unusual about the plot and its setting, and if the Brown household and the village they live in seem almost too delightful to be true, there can be no doubt that many of the country and seashore scenes where Velvet trains the Pie horse are: lovely-to look at.
- 3/24/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Elizabeth Taylor, the iconic Hollywood star whose tumultuous romances and precarious health challenges often played out as larger-than-life Elizabethan dramas, died of congestive heart failure at Los Angeles's Cedars-Sinai Hospital. She may have been 79, but with more than 65 years of screen time preserved for all time, she will remain a glorious, glamorous and full-blooded image. Revered for her generous charity work but sometimes controversial for her turbulent personal life, the three-time Oscar honoree, fragrance and jewelry mogul and tenacious AIDS activist possessed many talents, including a remarkable gift for self-appraisal. Just before turning 60 in 1992, she summed herself up for Life magazine,...
- 3/23/2011
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
1942: There's One Born Every Minute - her first movie, aged nine.1943: Lassie Come Home - she played Priscilla.1943: Jane Eyre - minor role, film starring Orson Welles. 1944: The White Cliffs of Dover - with young Roddy McDowall1944: National Velvet - horseriding movie, starring Mickey Rooney.1946: Courage of Lassie - second dog film, aged 14.1951: A Place in the Sun - with Montgomery Clift.1951: Quo Vadis - with Peter Ustinov.1954: Beau Brummell - with Ustinov again.1958: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - with Paul Newman.1959: Suddenly, Last Summer - with Katherine Hepburn.1960: Butterfield 8 - best actress Oscar.1963: ...
- 3/23/2011
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
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