Burton & Taylor premieres tonight on BBC America. The TV film stars English actors Dominic West (The Wire) and Helena Bonham Carter (Merlin) as the volatile yet legendary Hollywood couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The film centers around the duo's preparation for a 1983 Broadway production of the play Private Lives. Based on the time period, Burton and Taylor were already divorced (and for the second time) but the love/hate relationship that made their love affair famous still remained strong. Though Burton and Taylor were passionately in love with another, they just brought out the worst in each other when they were together. Remember, their love affair blossomed while each was married to someone else. Their first marriage was publicly condemned by the Vatican as "erotic vagrancy." The couple later divorced only to remarry sixteen months later. The love attraction between the two was incredible especially after Burton was quoted to have said that "calling her the most beautiful woman in the world is absolute nonsense. She has wonderful eyes, but she has a double chin and an overdeveloped chest, and she's rather short in the leg." No doubt Burton and Taylor exemplified the tumultuous Hollywood love story.
West and Bonham Carter give excellent performances and really exhibit the excitement, passion, and explosiveness that defined Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's relationship. Burton & Taylor more than makes up for the disastrous 2012 Lifetime production, Liz & Dick. BBC develops a beautiful, emotionally draining production that is equally matched by the invested performers and gives us the Liz and Dick story that we want to see on the small screen.
Burton & Taylor airs at 9 pm on BBC America. Catch a glimpse of the production with this trailer:
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