The Sandpiper
Before there was "Brangelina" there was "Liz and Dick", as in Taylor and Burton. Their affair, which had begun during the shooting of
Cleopatra in 1963 had become the world's most publicized marriage - and dynamite at the box office. To capitalize on the media frenzy surrounding them, producer Martin Ransohoff wrote an original story of a minister falling in love with a free-spirited artist. Based on W. Somerset Maugham's
Miss Thompson, and scripted by former blacklisted screenwriters Dalton Trumbo and Michael Wilson, it became
The Sandpiper (1965).
Elizabeth Taylor remembered it a little differently in her autobiography: "A lot of people, because the plot involves an illicit romance between a bohemian artist and a minister, may think that
The Sandpiper was written specifically for Richard and me in order to capitalize on our notoriety. I did feel it necessary to see a rough cut and take out anything so pertinent to us that I would just die. Actually, the script had been knocking around for several years and at first they didn't ask Richard to be in it. Then, I had to talk him into doing it. We never thought it would be an artistic masterpiece. We were playing two people in love, so it was not particularly difficult. I must say, when we looked at each other, it was like our eyes had fingers and they grabbed hold, and perhaps something special did happen."
While working with her husband came easily for her, the film did call for Taylor to move beyond her comfort level, physically. "I did a scene - very reluctantly - in which for a split second I'm nude to the waist but covering myself with my hands so it's actually about as nude as a low halter neck. When I did the scene, I had somebody standing in front of me with a towel while I covered myself with my hands. I turned puce from head to foot. I won't even go swimming in a bathing suit in front of strangers, that's how much of an exhibitionist I am!"
Director Vincente Minnelli was chosen to direct after William Wyler turned down the project. He later wrote, "Richard [Burton] was appearing in New York in his much-acclaimed
Hamlet, and I flew back to see him and Elizabeth [Taylor]. Though I found the premise of the story ludicrous and dated, it being an updated version of Reverend Davidson and Sadie Thompson, with superficial philosophizing thrown in, I let the Burtons' enthusiasm color my judgment. I wanted the opportunity to work with them, and I accepted the assignment. We were trying to suffuse the picture with these elements, but the more Dalton Trumbo worked on the story, the more we all realized it was too ponderous and pretentious. Michael Wilson's additions to the script didn't solve the difficulty either. As we prepared to start filming, I was still plotting ways to improve the script. And then a brouhaha sidetracked these plans. Elizabeth suggested Sammy Davis [Jr.] to play the sculptor in the film. Neither Ransohoff nor Trumbo liked the idea, for this would add the suggestion of an interracial romance to the already overburdened story. I agreed with them. When the dispute was ended, with Charles Bronson cast in the part, it was time to start the picture."
"Because of the Burtons' tax situation, they could only work four weeks in the United States and not at all in England. The shooting at Big Sur [in Northern California] would take that much time. From there we would go over to the Boulogne-Billiancourt studios in Paris. The name of their game, as the press insisted on repeating, was money, and they were getting a lot of it for
The Sandpiper. [Taylor made a cool million, Burton $500,000 and they both got a percentage of the profits.] Metro [MGM] hosted a cocktail party for the company at the Georges Cinq. One hundred photographers, all of them maniacs, descended on Richard and Elizabeth. Denise [Minnelli's wife] and I were caught in this torrential movement toward the Burtons. I was afraid we would all be killed. Richard and Elizabeth, however, took it in their stride. We were pushed with them into a small office near the ballroom where the party was held, and the four of us had drinks with each other before going back to brave the mob. It was constant terror during our stay in Paris. Whenever we went out with the Burtons, there was this frenzy of attention that I couldn't cope with. We did take them one night for a quiet dinner at Elie Rothschild's, but everywhere else we went had a built-in cast of thousands."
The Sandpiper made $14,000,000, ten percent of it going to Taylor. Audiences flocked to see "Liz and Dick" despite the roasting the film took from the critics, most notably by Judith Crist, who wrote "Miss Taylor and Mr. Burton were paid $1,750,000 [sic] for performing in
The Sandpiper. If I were you, I wouldn't settle for less for watching them." While the film may not have become a classic, the theme song did.
The Shadow of Your Smile, written by Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster, won an Academy Award.
Producer: Martin Ransohoff
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Screenplay: Martin Ransohoff (story), Irene Kamp, Louis Kamp, Dalton Trumbo, Michael Wilson
Cinematography: Milton R. Krasner
Art Direction: George W. Davis, Urie McCleary
Music: Johnny Mandel
Film Editing:David Bretherton
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor (Laura Reynolds), Richard Burton (Dr. Edward Hewitt), Eva Marie Saint (Claire Hewitt), Charles Bronson (Cos Erickson), Robert Webber (Ward Hendricks), James Edwards (Larry Brant), Torin Thatcher (Judge Thompson), Tom Drake (Walter Robinson), Peter O'Toole (voice cameo, uncredited).
C-118m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.
by Lorraine LoBianco
SOURCES:
Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal Memoir by Elizabeth Taylor.
I Remember it Well by Vincente Minnelli with Hector Arce.
TCM Remembers Charles Bronson - Sept. 13th
Turner Classic Movies will honor the passing of Hollywood action star Charles Bronson on Saturday, Sept. 13, with a four-film tribute.
After years of playing supporting roles in numerous Western, action and war films, including
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960, 8 p.m.) and
THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967, 1:15 a.m.), Bronson finally achieved worldwide stardom as a leading man during the late 1960s and early 1970s. TCM's tribute will also include
THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963, 10:15 p.m.), Bronson's second teaming with Steve McQueen and James Coburn, and will conclude with
FROM NOON TILL THREE (1976, 4 a.m.), co-starring Jill Ireland.
TCM will alter it's prime-time schedule this Saturday, Sept. 13th. The following changes will take place:
8:00 PM - The Magnificent Seven (1960)
10:15 PM - The Great Escape (1963)
1:15 AM - The Dirty Dozen (1967)
4:00 AM - From Noon Till Three (1976)
Charles Bronson, 1921-2003
Charles Bronson, the tough, stony-faced actor who was one of the most recognizable action heroes in cinema, died on August 30 in Los Angeles from complications from pneumonia. He was 81.
He was born Charles Buchinsky on November 3, 1921 in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, one of fifteen children born to Lithuanian immigrant parents. Although he was the only child to have graduated high school, he worked in the coalmines to support his family until he joined the army to serve as a tail gunner during World War II. He used his money from the G.I. Bill to study art in Philadelphia, but while working as a set designer for a Philadelphia theater troupe, he landed a few small roles in some productions and immediately found acting to be the craft for him.
Bronson took his new career turn seriously, moved to California, and enrolled for acting classes at The Pasadena Playhouse. An instructor there recommended him to director Henry Hathaway for a movie role and the result was his debut in Hathaway's
You're in the Navy Now (1951). He secured more bit parts in films like John Sturges' drama
The People Against O'Hara (1951), and Joseph Newman's
Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952). More substantial roles came in George Cukor's Pat and Mike (1952, where he is beaten up by Katharine Hepburn!); Andre de Toth's classic 3-D thriller
House of Wax (1953, as Vincent Price's mute assistant, Igor); and De Toth's fine low-budget noir
Crime Wave (1954).
Despite his formidable presence, his leads were confined to a string of B pictures like Gene Fowler's
Gang War; and Roger Corman's tight
Machine Gun Kelly (both 1958). Following his own television series,
Man With a Camera (1958-60), Bronson had his first taste of film stardom when director Sturges casted him as Bernardo, one of the
The Magnificent Seven (1960). Bronson displayed a powerful charisma, comfortably holding his own in a high-powered cast that included Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. A few more solid roles followed in Sturges'
The Great Escape (1963), and Robert Aldrich's classic war picture
The Dirty Dozen (1967), before Bronson made the decision to follow the European trail of other American actors like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. It was there that his hard, taciturn screen personae exploded in full force. In 1968 alone, he had four hit films: Henri Verneuil's
Guns for San Sebastian, Buzz Kulik's
Villa Rides, Jean Herman's
Adieu l'ami which was a smash in France; and the classic Sergio Leone spaghetti Western
Once Upon a Time in the West.
These films established Bronson as a huge box-office draw in Europe, and with some more stylish hits like Rene Clement's
Rider on the Rain (1969), and Terence Young's
Cold Sweat (1971) he soon became one of the most popular film stars in the world. It wasn't easy for Bronson to translate that success back in his homeland. In fact, his first few films on his return stateside: Michael Winners'
Chato's Land, and
The Mechanic (both 1972), and Richard Fleischer's
Mr. Majestyk (1973), were surprisingly routine pictures. It wasn't until he collaborated with Winner again for the controversial
Death Wish (1974), an urban revenge thriller about an architect who turns vigilante when his wife and daughter are raped, did he notch his first stateside hit. The next few years would be a fruitful period for Bronson as he rode on a wave of fine films and commercial success: a depression era streetfighter in Walter Hill's terrific, if underrated
Hard Times (1975); Frank Gilroy's charming offbeat black comedy
From Noon Till Three (1976, the best of many teamings with his second wife, Jill Ireland); Tom Gries tense
Breakheart Pass; and Don Siegel's cold-war thriller
Telefon (1977).
Sadly, Bronson could not keep up the momentum of good movies, and by the '80s he was starring in a string of forgettable films like
Ten to Midnight (1983), The Evil That Men Do (1984), and
Murphy's Law (1986, all directed by J. Lee Thompson). A notable exception to all that tripe was John Mackenzie's fine telefilm
Act of Vengeance (1986), where he earned critical acclaim in the role of United Mine Workers official Jack Yablonski. Although he more or less fell into semi-retirement in the '90s, his performances in Sean Penn's
The Indian Runner (1991); and the title role of Michael Anderson's
The Sea Wolf (1993) proved to many that Bronson had the makings of a fine character actor. He was married to actress Jill Ireland from 1968 until her death from breast cancer in 1990. He is survived by his third wife Kim Weeks, six children, and two grandchildren.
by Michael T. Toole
