Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes – intimate portrait of the film star
The life of the Hollywood icon is explored, including her infamous marriages to Richard Burton

"'Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes' could have been called 'Elizabeth Taylor: A Lost Era'," said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. The Sky documentary features excerpts from 40 hours of tapes that were recently found in the archive of the late journalist Richard Meryman, who interviewed the film star extensively as part of research for a book.
The audio is interwoven with archive footage from the time: so we see clips from her films, footage of 1940s and 1950s Hollywood, and watch Taylor at publicity events.
The resulting film is "partial" and "inescapably hagiographic" – Meryman "lets Taylor speak with barely any pushback" – but it remains a "heady treat. Because it is about Elizabeth Taylor. They don't make them like they used to – and they probably never will again."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The film "takes us through Taylor's life, from child stardom in 'Lassie Come Home' to her fundraising for Aids research", said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. Along the way, she is remarkably candid, discussing her struggle to be taken seriously as an actress, and her frustrations with fame ("I became a public utility"). She also talks about her marriages: her and Richard Burton's rows, she recalls, were "like an atom bomb going off".
For the "Taylor enthusiast", there isn't much that's new here, said Alissa Wilkinson in The New York Times. "But that's not really the point." As she talks about her interior life, the film serves as a reminder of the disjunction "between what we think we know about stars — who they are, how they feel — and what's actually going on inside".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How wild horses are preventing wildfires in Spain
Under The Radar The animals roam more than 5,700 hectares of public forest, reducing the volume of combustible vegetation in the landscape
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Soundproof web
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
6 dream homes with chef’s kitchens
Feature Featuring a house with two kitchen islands in Utah and a kitchen with a stove nook in New York
By The Week US Published
-
6 dream homes with chef’s kitchens
Feature Featuring a house with two kitchen islands in Utah and a kitchen with a stove nook in New York
By The Week US Published
-
Warfare: an 'honest' account of brutal engagement in Iraq
The Week Recommends Alex Garland's film focuses on the 'overwhelming, sensory journey' of conflict
By The Week UK Published
-
Is This Working?: a 'strangely gripping' look at British working life
The Week Recommends Author Charlie Colenutt weaves an 'utterly fascinating and thoroughly depressing' history of jobs
By The Week UK Published
-
Critics’ choice: Restaurants worthy of their buzz
feature A fun bistro, a reservation worth the wait, and a modern twist on Mexican dishes
By The Week US Published
-
Film reviews: Snow White, Death of a Unicorn, and The Alto Knights
Feature A makeover for Disney’s first animated feature, greedy humans earn nature’s wrath, and a feud between crime bosses rattles the mob
By The Week US Published
-
Art review: Jack Whitten: The Messenger
Feature Museum of Modern Art, New York City, through Aug. 2
By The Week US Published
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectives
Feature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published