Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred together in a total of 12 movies. 10 were made for the silver screen, one was made for TV, and one hardly counts.
1. Cleopatra (1963)
Liz Taylor’s romance with Burton almost did not begin with Cleopatra. Stephen Boyd had originally been cast as Marc Antony. However, he bowed out after production continued to drag. The role was then taken over by Richard Burton.
The fact that Cleopatra started the Taylor-Burton love affair is about the only interesting element of this colossal flop. Even Liz Taylor hated this movie!
2. The V.I.P.s (1963)
Their second movie was The V.I.P.s, a soap opera about the love triangle between the characters played by Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Louis Jourdan. Oddly enough, the film was based on the real life love triangle of Vivien Leigh, Lawrence Olivier, and Peter Finch.
3. The Sandpiper (1965)
The first movie Taylor and Burton made together after their first marriage was The Sandpiper. This is a rather sordid tale about a single mother, played by Taylor, who seduces a married Episcopal priest played by Burton. Needless to say, this film was quite racy for 1965!
4. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Probably Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s most famous movie is Mike Nichols’ Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This movie won Taylor her second and final Academy Award for Best Actress.
5. The Comedians (1967)
The Comedians , based off of a Graham Greene novel, is a political story about a hotel owner (Burton) who watches as the law and order in Haiti crumbles to pieces while he is having a steamy affair with the wife of another man (Taylor).
6. The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew may not be the purest production of Shakespeare’s play. However, it certainly is the most fun! Burton is superb as Petruchio and Taylor is phenomenal considering her lack of experience and obvious nerves over having never performed Shakespeare before. Zeffirelli later said that The Taming of the Shrew was more fun to make than any other movie he had worked on.
7. Doctor Faustus (1967)
Taylor and Burton’s Doctor Faustus is a movie version of Christopher Marlowe’s 400 year old play. Although this movie is technically “worth watching”, it is not exactly on the list of the best movies ever made! Let’s just say it is pretty obvious that this one was made during the late ’60s.
8. Boom! (1968)
Boom! is based on a play by Tennessee Williams. This movie was condemned by critics in 1968 and is still considered a poor effort.
9. Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
O.K., this is the one that hardly counts: Liz made an un-credited cameo appearance in Burton’s Anne of the Thousand Days. She is the masked woman who briefly speaks to Katherine of Aragon.
10. Under Milk Wood (1971)
Taylor and Burton’s oddest movie probably has to be Under Milk Wood. This lame film is an adaptation a work by Dylan Thomas. This one pretty much comes down to whether or not you like this eccentric Welsh poet.
11. Hammersmith is Out (1972)
Hammersmith is Out is an extremely “’70s” comedy that marked the lovebirds second attempt at the Faust legend. This was their final movie for the silver screen
12. Divorce His; Divorce Hers (1973)
Ironically, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s final movie together was a TV movie titled Divorce His; Divorce Hers. One year later, the two stars did indeed divorce his and hers. Although they remarried not long afterwards, they never starred together again.
Sources: imdb.com’s pages on Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
