The Elizabeth Taylor Collection: A Mixed Bag of Films from a Legendary Actress (Blu-ray)

The Films:

There have been few classic film stars to reach the tremendous heights of the incomparable Elizabeth Taylor. Starring in a wide range of classics from smaller works like "Little Women, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "A Place in the Sun" to large-scale epics like "Giant" and "Cleopatra," she was a one-of-a-kind actress who left an indelible mark on cinema in a career that spanned over 50 years. To celebrate her incredible career, Warner Bros. has assembled a collection of four of her films in a new Blu-ray set to give us just a small taste of her extraordinary talent, so without further ado, let's dive into the films they've selected.

Starting with what is probably the most well-known film in the set, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" starts with a married couple, George (Richard Burton), an associate professor of history at a local college, and his wife Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), returning home from a party in the middle of the night. When they get back home, Martha tells George that she has invited a young couple, Nick (George Segal), a professor of biology at the same college, and his wife Honey (Sandy Dennis), over for drinks. The couple arrives and they all start drinking, which leads to much verbal sparring between George & Martha, who clearly have many issues between them. Nick & Honey find it all rather awkward at first, but are soon entangled in a long night of discussions, arguments, and the revealing of personal secrets that were never meant to be shared.

Mike Nichols' "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is based on the Tony & Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Edward Albee, though, even if you had never even heard of the play, it wouldn't take much deduction to figure out that it was based on one given the structure of the film. The play itself is a rather fascinating one, built upon the aforementioned discussions and arguments that the four central characters have throughout these two hours, but the strange part is that the play is almost beside the point.

The true pleasure of the film lies in getting the chance to watch the two brilliant leads, Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton, actors at the very top of their game, go head-to-head in their relentless battle of words. They are the primary reason why this 131-minute film feels like it goes by in a flash, with it hardly being a wonder that Taylor won an Oscar for her performance, while Burton received a nomination (he had the bad luck of being nominated the same year as Paul Scofield for "A Man for All Season"). In fact, the film received a whopping 13 Oscar nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Segal), and a win for Supporting Actress (Dennis).

This is simply one of those films where you sit back and get lost in the stunning performances. Again, the story itself is pretty interesting, and you're always somewhat on the edge of your seat as to how far the verbal sparring will go, but what you'll remember most is having the privilege of seeing Taylor & Burton light up the screen with their remarkable talent, ultimately turning what could've easily been a somewhat stilted film adaptation of a popular play into something so much more.

Moving on now to Vincente Minnelli's "Father of the Bride" from 1950 (not to be confused with the 1991 remake), the film centers on Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy), a successful lawyer who's happily married to Ellie (Joan Bennett), and has three children: Kay (Elizabeth Taylor), Tommy (Rusty Tamblyn), and Ben (Tom Irish). One night over dinner, Kay makes the bombshell announcement that she has accepted a proposal of marriage from her boyfriend Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor), which immediately ignites several concerns in Stanley (Who is this boy?, Will he be able to support Kay?, etc.). After calming down and having a talk with Buckley, he becomes supportive of the marriage and begins to help in the planning, which Ellie and Kay have already begun to tackle, a process that we follow along with through its ups and downs.

"Father of the Bride" is one of those films that takes a rather simple plot, which in this case follows a father through the emotional roller coaster of helping to put together his daughter's wedding, and uses it to great effect. There are no particularly big plot twists here or shocking developments that will have you on the edge of your seat, just the complexity of trying to plan this joyous event and dealing with the frustration, anxiety, and adjustments that come with it.

The two greatest elements that the film possesses are the amusing, and at times, emotionally-rich screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (based on the novel by Edward Streeter), and its lead man, the marvelous Spencer Tracy, who is absolute perfection in the role of a father trying his best to get through these strenuous times. It comes as no surprise that both he and the screenwriters earned Oscar nominations for their efforts, while the film itself earned a nod for Best Picture. Again, there's no narrative complexity here, just a sweet, funny, and touching film that grabs you from the start and gives you a delightful, emotional experience for its brief 90 minutes. Even after 75 years, there's simply no denying that the film remains a great classic.

Next up we have one of the lesser-known films in this set, Richard Brooks' "The Last Time I Saw Paris." The story begins with Charles Wills (Van Johnson), a reporter for Stars and Stripes, roaming the streets of Paris to cover the celebration of the end of WWII. During the celebration, he is grabbed and kissed by a young woman, Helen Ellswirth (Elizabeth Taylor), who then disappears into the crowd. Charles ends up at a nearby cafe where he meets Marion Ellswirth (Donna Reed), who invites him to join her father's celebration at home. The two are clearly attracted to each other, so he joins her at the Ellswirth household, where he once again runs into Helen, Marion's younger sister. It's not long before Charles & Helen fall in love and start dating, which eventually leads to marriage. They seem like a perfect couple, but will their happiness last?

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" has the makings of a decent romance, one that had at least a little potential to give audiences a compelling relationship between its two central characters, played admirably by Elizabeth Taylor & Van Johnson. However, it's unfortunate to have to say that screenwriters Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Richard Brooks (loosely basing their story on F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited") make the unwise decision to steer the film into sheer melodrama, some of which is simply & ridiculously over-the-top. Because of this, there's not much in the way of engaging or compelling material to be had in this romantic tale, ultimately leading to a two-hour outing that turns out to be a bit of a slog. Again, the performances are fine throughout, but the material just isn't worthy of their talents. When all is said and done, it becomes rather apparent as to why this entry in Taylor's filmography is not mentioned all that often.

Finally, we have another somewhat obscure Taylor outing with John Huston's "Reflections in a Golden Eye." Taking place at a US Army post in the late '40s, the film revolves around five main characters: Major Weldon Penderton (Marlon Brando) and his wife Leonora (Elizabeth Taylor), Lt. Colonel Morris Langdon (Brian Keith) and his wife Alison (Julie Harris), and Private L. G. Williams (Robert Forster). Alison still suffers mental anguish from the loss of a baby three years earlier, which makes her think she's imagining Private Williams sneaking into the Penderton home at night. However, the Private, whom Major Penderton has been keeping a close eye on ever since noticing his strange behavior, actually has been sneaking into Leonora's room to watch her. Will his voyeurism be found out?

What we have with "Reflection in a Golden Eye," based on the novel by Carson McCullers, is an unfortunate example of a film where the plot appears to have been left behind, that is, at least something substantial enough to be referred to as a plot. The film is basically a rather plodding two hours of following these characters around as they go about their usual activities, which does involve Private Williams' inappropriate behavior and Major Penderton's noted attraction to him, but that's not nearly enough firm material for the audience to get engaged with, especially given the screenwriters' (Chapman Mortimer and Gladys Hill) refusal to do much of anything with it. Like "The Last Time I Saw Paris," much of it is rather melodramatic, with a final shot that goes so far over-the-top that it ends up eliciting laughter more than anything else. Again, we have decent performances all around, but also once more, it's definitely not hard to see why this has become a forgotten entry in Elizabeth Taylor's marvelous career.

Video/Audio:

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: 1.85:1, 1080p HD, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio

Father of the Bride: 1.37:1, 1080p HD, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio

The Last Time I Saw Paris: 1.75:1, 1080p HD, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio

Reflections in a Golden Eye: 2.35:1, 1080p HD, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio

The four films are presented on Blu-ray in 1080p High Definition transfers of outstanding quality. All four films have cleaned up beautifully, making them look practically new again. Likewise, the 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks are all fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue and music in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a marvelous job in both departments for this new set.

Special Features:

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Commentary by Mike Nichols and Steven Soderbergh

Commentary by Haskell Wexler

Too Shocking for Its Time (11 Minutes)

A Daring Work of Raw Excellence (20 Minutes)

1966 Mike Nichols Interview (9 Minutes)

Sandy Dennis Screen Test (7 Minutes)

Elizabeth Taylor: Intimate Portrait (67 Minutes)

Father of the Bride

Wedding Bells for Movie Star Elizabeth Taylor (1 Minute)

President Truman Meets the Father of the Bride (1 Minute)

The Last Time I Saw Paris

Touche Pussycat (7 Minutes)

Reflections in a Golden Eye (Golden Hue Version)

Vintage Behind the Scenes Footage (23 Minutes)

Reflections in a Golden Eye (Traditional Color Version)

None.

Unfortunately the only film that comes with any extras of particular substance is "Virginia Woolf," which includes commentaries, retrospectives, and vintage material, though at least "Golden Eye" comes with some interesting behind the scenes footage on the disc containing the rather hideous "Golden Hue" version of the film.

Conclusion:

"The Elizabeth Taylor Collection" presents a mixed bag of films from the legendary actress' career, offering up two great works with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Father of the Bride" and two that are unfortunately rather sub-par with "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "Reflections in a Golden Eye," ultimately balancing it out to be a fine set for those that don't already own the two aforementioned great films.

Score: 3.5/5

Now available on Blu-ray.

Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.