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Friday, March 25, 2011

Friday's Top 5... Elizabeth Taylor Performances

#5: Giant


George Stevens' epic tale of multiple generations of a Texas family enduring social upheaval stars Taylor opposite fellow icons Rock Hudson and James Dean. Taylor plays beautifully off of both of them and expertly guides her character through decades worth of character development.

#4: The Taming of the Shrew


An underrated Taylor-Burton collaboration which features great performances from them both. Taylor's performance is appropriately spirited and forceful and altogether terrific.

#3: A Place In The Sun


Elizabeth + Monty forevah.

#2: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof


I'm not sure any actor has ever personified sensuality as well as Taylor does in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I've never truly believed the ending of that story, but the combination of Taylor and Paul Newman is enough to make me suspend disbelief at least a little.

#1: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf


This is the performance that won her her second Oscar and it's one of the great force of nature performances ever committed to film. Richard Burton is equally excellent, but lost out to Paul Scofield for Best Actor.

2 comments:

M. Carter @ the Movies said...

You ABSOLUTELY picked the right choice for no. 1. I'll confess that I have not seen many Elizabeth Taylor films (particularly her earlier ones), but she knocked me senseless with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Somehow she manages to be mean and spiteful and sadistic and vulnerable all at the same time.

Norma Desmond said...

I actually haven't seen all that many of her movies myself - I think I'll have to do something about that. I'm sure "Who's Afraid" is definitely the cream of the crop, though.