Elizabeth Taylor in "The Sandpiper" (1965)

Elizabeth Taylor in "The Sandpiper" (image from JSR Pages)

REVIEW:
In the mid 60's, the Taylor-Burton couple continued to attract the public's attention. The world still remembers images with Taylor-Burton passing through the European capitals like they were maharajahs: Rolls Royce cars and yachts, 200 suitcases, secretaries and hairstylists, children with their nannies and teachers, lawyers, maids, doctors, personal photographers, dogs, cats and body-guards. This was the huge Taylor-Burton entourage. No passport was required ever from Elizabeth Taylor, because she was so loved and known by everybody, everywhere. When they would check in a  hotel, they used to pay for three entire floors for their entire entourage. Taylor-Burton always chose to accommodate in the middle floor, to avoid the media and avoid being heard by other people in the hotel. If they went to a restaurant, they would never make a reservation and the restaurant's owners had to provide meal for the couple and their animals. The tips they gave to restaurants and hotels were a stuff of legend, known by all who worked in the industry. After the documentary about London, Elizabeth Taylor chose not to play in any movie, anymore. Instead she accompanied Richard Burton in his projects. After Burton finished "Becket" starring opposite Peter O'Toole, Taylor-Burton went to Mexico, where Burton was to play in "The Night of the Iguana" by John Huston. Here, in Puerto Vallarta - at that time, a small village on the Pacific coast -, the famous couple bought a house (Casa Kimberley). And then...an unprecedented thing happened: because Taylor-Burton were residents, Puerto Vallarta became a great seaside resort! In the spring of 1964, Burton began his tour with "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare in Canada and the U.S. Although not part of the project, the involvement of Elizabeth Taylor in the production, made "Hamlet" the greatest success on Broadway. Also, in March 1964 in Montreal, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got married, 9 days after Eddie Fisher had agreed to grant her a divorce. In New York, huge crowds were waiting at the entrance of the theater just to get a glimpse to Taylor-Burton and the whole downtown was blocked. Frank Sinatra testified that he had never seen in his entire life something like this, and he knew what he was saying! Elizabeth Taylor got a taste for theater and she and Burton gave a performance of poetry together in 1964 on Broadway. Richard Burton seemed to have everything a man could want: a solid career, the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife and money, especially money, lots of them... Their new project together ("The Sandpiper") promised nothing good from an artistic point of view...but it brought to both of them millions of dollars!

FILM TITLE
"THE SANDPIPER" (U.S.A./M.G.M./1965)

PROMO
"You told her about me? How could you tell anyone about me...much less your own wife?"
She gave men a taste of life that made them hunger for more!
It was the right thing. It was the wrong thing. It was the only thing their hearts would allow.
An Adult Love Story

OVERVIEW
A beautiful temperamental woman meets a married and frustrated priest. All in all, this is what happens in "The Sandpiper", a film that got its title from an injured bird with the same name, trying to resume her flight, after Taylor took care of her. Magnificent music and image! The title song - "The Shaddow of Your Smile" - has long become an international favourite for all the generations. Today, the film can seem downright boring and long, but at the time of its release it broke all records at the box office and it pulled out of their homes all the TV watchers in the world back into the theaters. The only explanation is the magic power exerted on the public by Taylor-Burton, for the film's success had nothing to do with the artistic performances of the actors; the script was poor and the film director seemed to had fallen asleep...Taylor (Laura Reynolds) is a bohemian artist who lives with her (out of wedlock) child, Mason (Danny Reynolds), in a fabulous villa on the beach at Big Sur, one of the most spectacular areas on the California coast. How can she afford to have such a home, an artist who doesn't care about money... the script forgets to explain. Taylor wants to keep her son away from the education provided in American public schools and teaches him herself. This brings her into a conflict with the local authorities. Mason is always getting into trouble, having no other ideas about morality, other than his nonconformist mother teaches him. When Thatcher (Judge Thompson) deliberates that Mason must either go to school or is to be taken away from her, Taylor sends Mason at a private school run by an episcopelian priest - Richard Burton (Dr. Edward Hewitt), who is married to Eve Marie Saint (Claire Hewitt) and has two children. Mason astonishes Saint and Burton with his knowledge of English literature and he begins to adjust to school without any problems. Taylor is furious that she can not educate Mason herself and her anger against Burton gradually turns into a passionate love, as everyone in the audience waits to finally happen. The love scenes between Taylor-Burton were hot for that time. Taylor is surrounded by her hippie friends, all of them bohemian artists, including Charles Bronson (Cos Erickson), a sculptor who makes a nude statue of Taylor. Burton is torn by guilt of his illicit lovemaking to Taylor. Unable to bear this guilt, he confesses to his wife. The new situation makes Burton a model manager and a fighter against hypocrisy, fighting the local politicians and making public his relationship with Taylor. That being the case, Taylor decides to separate from him. Burton, in turn, decides to separate from both his wife and mistress, and to leave his job and retire somewhere to regain his faith and morality. Crossed lovers all over the world as well as Elizabeth Taylor's fans will be thrilled to see such a film, but otherwise it is quite inexplicable how such a superficial blockbuster could have been seen by so many people everywhere and continues to be! But perhaps this was - and still is - the key to success in the film industry...

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), Morgan Mason (Danny Reynolds), Peter O'Toole (voice).
DIRECTED BY
Vincente Minnelli.
SCREEN PLAY
Martin Ransohoff, Irene Kamp, Louis Kamp, Dalton Trumbo, Michael Wilson.
PRODUCED BY
Martin Ransohoff, John Calley.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Milton Krasner.
MUSIC
Johnny Mandel.
COLOR
Metrocolor.
DURATION
117 minutes.
GENRE
romance, drama.
PRODUCTION DATES
between September 1964 - December 1964.
RELEASED
June 1965.

NOMINATED AT
- Golden Laurel for Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor); Golden Globe for Best Soundtrack;
AWARDS
- Oscar for Best Music ("The Shadow Of Your Smile" by Johnny Mandel); Golden Laurel for Best Music, Grammy for Best Music.

TRIVIA
- Taylor received $1 million for her part plus 10% of the gross. Burton was given $750,000 and probably the audience should have received money too for coming to see the movie...On the contrary, the audience paid lots of money and the film was number 1 at the box office;
- With this film, Richard Burton enters for the first time the "Top Ten" at the box office, directly at position 1, while Taylor goes down at 11!
- Exteriors were filmed in California for 8 weeks and then filming moved to France as Taylor and Burton could not work more than 2 months in the U.S. due to taxes; the rest was filmed in Paris;
- California filming took place in Big Sur and the Coast Gallery in Monterey;
- This was the first film of Taylor-Burton since they were legally married, and the audience was eager to see them;
- Taylor had been absent from the big screens in the last two years, but Burton had been working constantly in "The Longest Day", "Becket", "The Night of the Iguana" and "Hamlet";
- "The Sandpiper" premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York and despite the acid chronicles, the public rushed to see Taylor and Burton;
- The music from the movie is really gorgeous and it was taken over by all the orchestras in the world and played in all the restaurants and it continues to be sung today;
- The character of Laura Reynolds takes care of a bird ("the sandpiper") that has a broken wing, and the bird stays in the house until it heals and can fly again; the bird is used as a symbol of the film, suggesting life and freedom;
- German singer Nico was an extra in this film;
- Charles Bronson is playing a beatnik sculptor;
- Sammy Davis Jr. was originally hired to play the role of Charles Bronson at the suggestion of Elizabeth Taylor, but had to withdraw due to an engagement in Las Vegas and because it was unthinkable at the time to imagine a love affair between a white woman and a black man;
- Raquel Welch was understudy for Elizabeth Taylor in a few scenes on the beach;
- The child in the movie was the son of actor James Mason;
- The mahogany sculpture that depicts naked Elizabeth Taylor was destroyed when it was discovered that it was invaded by termites.

Watch TRAILER aici.

Watch MAKING OF THE SANDPIPER aici.