Aside from possibly Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Equus, I really haven't seen any of Richard Burton's films. I've always known his name and recognised his face, but never saw him until, I suppose, I was a senior in high school or perhaps just starting college when I watched Woolf. I wasn't terribly impressed - he was just a man on the screen either yelling at his wife or being berated by her. I believe that the greatest actors are those which never really impress you. He was just a mean, nasty, sad man and I wondered about George long after the movie ended, but I never wondered about Burton. Neither of the films which I saw showed a man with much warmth, so I became one of those people who automatically associate the actor with the role he plays. Much like Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List who was so cruel and cold that I really didn't seek out his later films. I didn't like Amon Goeth and so I assumed I didn't like Ralph Fiennes. Then I saw The English Patient and all that changed. With Burton it was the same.
Recently while working from home, I've taken to watching old interviews or TV movies on YouTube (such as Phar Lap, The Loneliest Runner, as well as Sterling Hayden interviews with Tom Snyder which were absolutely marvelous). Today I was looking up some old eps of The Dick Cavett Show. I adore Dick Cavett and his show was so wonderful - more on Mr. Cavett later. The interview with Richard Burton today from 1980 was completely mesmerising and I had no idea Burton was so charming and intriguing. It was such an intimate and wonderful conversation between the two men and I'm so grateful I was able to witness it. Get online and check it out. You won't be disappointed, I assure you.
Well, for God's sake, whatever you do don't watch THE EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC!!!!
ReplyDeleteActually I've never gone apeshit over Richard Burton but found the actor and the man more interesting than the performances I've seen. Believe it or don't, I've still never managed to see VIRGINIA WOOLF but I can recommend an old favourite from my kiddiedom: BECKET with the great Peter O'Toole as Henry II (a role he would reprise a few years later with Katharine Hepburn in the magnificent LION IN WINTER) and Burton as the martyred Archbishop of Canterbury. The film itself is rather a tad too "stately" but still worth seeing. The movie BECKET can't match the magnificence of THE LION IN WINTER though.
I also quite like Richard Burton's LP's in which he reads the poetry of John Donne, Thomas Hardy etc. I really don't think Burton's filmwork does him justice.