| On August 3, 2024, Max released ‘Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes’, which has received predominantly positive reviews, holding fresh at 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the documentary, access to archives and a newly discovered interview between the Hollywood icon and journalist Richard Meryman is presented with the star unafraid to tackle not only her success but her scandals. Read our full review round-up below. |
Christopher Llewellyn Reed of Hammer to Nail says, “In 1964, journalist and biographer Richard Meryman sat down with actress Elizabeth Taylor for a series of taped interviews, covering a range of topics, from childhood to early stardom to her tempestuous personal life and more. In the new documentary Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, director Nanette Burstein (Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee) uses these recordings as the spine of a fascinating look at this great cinematic icon. On top of that wonderful archive she adds a wealth of film clips, photographs, other period interviews, and the occasional artistic recreation for effect. It’s a well-crafted, engaging celebration of the woman and her œuvre.” Concluding, “For those looking for entertaining anecdotes about production histories, there are many, including tales of the vastly over-budget Cleopatra, during the initial shooting of which Taylor almost died from pneumonia. She survived, but emerged with a scar on her throat from the hole doctors cut there so she could breathe. During her recovery, she won her first Oscar for Butterfield 8 (a film she apparently hated, as she makes clear many times), a fact she explains to Meryman thusly: “I won the award for my tracheotomy.” Perhaps, but she was also terrific in most of her roles (my personal favorite, not mentioned here, is Reflections in a Golden Eye).”
Chris Cassingham of In Review Online was less impressed, stating, “If the material at Burstein’s disposal holds within it deep insights about the toxic nature of hypervisible celebrity, about an industry’s exploitations, her film deploys them hesitantly.”
Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood Daily writes, “Meryman got Taylor to sit for some tape-recorded sessions in 1964, so he would be able to write the book as if Taylor did it herself. Sixty years later, those presumed “lost” recordings have been found and cleared for release by Taylor’s and Meryman’s estates. They have been in Meryman’s wife’s possession all these years, but now filmmaker Nanette Burstein (Hillary, The Kid Stays In The Picture) has rediscovered a treasure trove of about 40 hours of interview in order to produce the new HBO Documentary, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.” Adding, “Using the visual device of an old reel-to-reel tape recorder rolling along, and mixing in film clips, newsreels, interviews and home movies, the film meticulously follows the dots of the highs, lows and marriages of this great and iconic star. No one was bigger in her day. Even as a kid she was considered an extraordinary beauty, and by the time she got discovered by Lassie Come Home producer Sam Marx, they didn’t even bother with a screen test and rolled the dice that she could act. Her looks were that powerful.”
Caryn James of Hollywood Reporter notes, “As she did in Hillary, about Hillary Clinton, and The Kid Stays in the Picture, based on Robert Evans’ autobiography, Burstein stays out of her celebrity subject’s way. Taylor’s voice is playful, almost girlish. Occasionally she is blunt, but more often seems cautiously aware of being recorded. Richard Meryman, the Life magazine reporter doing the interviews, is heard asking questions at times, but Taylor is firmly in control, at least on the surface.” Continuing, “Beneath that you can tell how beautifully Burstein and her editor and co-writer, Tal Ben-David, shaped the visuals. The archival photos and news clips offer a telling backdrop of images and sound bites, often more informative than what Taylor says — from shots of crowds filling the streets of London to see her on the day of her second wedding, to the actor Michael Wilding, to film of her in mourning black at the funeral of her beloved third husband, the producer Mike Todd, who died in a plane crash. The visual exceptions are the clichéd, recurring establishing shots of an old-fashioned reel-to-reel tape recorder, next to a martini glass.”
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