There is a good argument to be made for that, man. A real star, and in her prime, really terrific actress too. Man, even "after" her prime...I mean, she really tore it up in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" didn't she?
Great in "Place in the Sun" and "Butterfield 8" and as Maggie the Cat, to name just a few.
people have to stop comparing Angelina Jolie to her, just stop it.
I think in the age of blogs and TMZ we've left the "star system" that created people like Liz, and Bacall, and Paul Newman behind. People point to the rise of the indies in the late '60's as the beginning of the movement away from "movie stars." After all, Dick getting Liz a 79 karat diamond doesn't seem quite as relevant when Easy Rider is changing the world.
but I think that theory sells short everyone from Warren Beatty to Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts who had their own star quality. Its not that there aren't any more "true" stars, its just that they're now so accessible to us and the Hollywood narrative of rise/fall/redemption is so predictable, that I don't think we pay them the same kind of reverence we did 50 years ago. And I don't think thats necessarily a bad thing.
I recently saw a documentary on Cary Grant. He, for better or worse, understood he was a product. Stars from that generation shrived to give the public what their minds-eye expected of them: to be a star. Taylor was a star and she played the role for nearly seven decades.
For anyone interested, there's going to be a 24-hour Elizabeth Taylor movie marathon on Turner Classic Movie channel beginning on Sunday April 10th starting at 6AM.
[4] I think Beatty sort of straddles the line as he came up during the death throes of the system and he cultivated an image that's similar to the ones the studios created for their stars.
I'm not saying it's good or bad, it's just very different. Cary Grant didn't seem like someone you could meet on the street or see in a restaurant around "common" people. Neither did Liz Taylor. Clint Eastwood is a huge icon in the history of cinema, but you can imagine him cleaning his gutters or mowing his lawn.
[5] Grant's identity issues go deeper - it sounds like he always thought of himself as Archie Leach and "Cary Grant" as a manufactured persona. He once said something to the effect of "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. *I* want to be Cary Grant."
[8, 10] you always get the feeling with Grant that he would've been just as happy being an acrobat for a few years and eventually just living a normal life and then fate intervened and made him "CARY GRANT!" and he never quite knew how to deal with it.
that, and ya know, the whole Randolph Scott, umm..."issue"
[9] no it doesn't at all. The parallels are inevitable, but it just isn't the same thing. Remember when people compared the Keifer Sutherland/Julia Roberts/Jason Patric thing to them? Yeah, me neither.
[11] Yeah, never knew what to make of the Randolph Scott rumors. Wouldn't surprise me, but I've heard it refuted, too. It definitely adds some weird subtext to those Budd Boetticher westerns Scott starred in.
The last of the real "movie stars?"
There is a good argument to be made for that, man. A real star, and in her prime, really terrific actress too. Man, even "after" her prime...I mean, she really tore it up in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" didn't she?
Great in "Place in the Sun" and "Butterfield 8" and as Maggie the Cat, to name just a few.
She's sort of the last of those truly glamorous stars who seem not quite human, in a way.
people have to stop comparing Angelina Jolie to her, just stop it.
I think in the age of blogs and TMZ we've left the "star system" that created people like Liz, and Bacall, and Paul Newman behind. People point to the rise of the indies in the late '60's as the beginning of the movement away from "movie stars." After all, Dick getting Liz a 79 karat diamond doesn't seem quite as relevant when Easy Rider is changing the world.
but I think that theory sells short everyone from Warren Beatty to Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts who had their own star quality. Its not that there aren't any more "true" stars, its just that they're now so accessible to us and the Hollywood narrative of rise/fall/redemption is so predictable, that I don't think we pay them the same kind of reverence we did 50 years ago. And I don't think thats necessarily a bad thing.
I recently saw a documentary on Cary Grant. He, for better or worse, understood he was a product. Stars from that generation shrived to give the public what their minds-eye expected of them: to be a star. Taylor was a star and she played the role for nearly seven decades.
Lord, she was stunning!
For anyone interested, there's going to be a 24-hour Elizabeth Taylor movie marathon on Turner Classic Movie channel beginning on Sunday April 10th starting at 6AM.
Abby
...not sure why I "signed" my name. I think I'm getting my work e-mails and lunch-time blog posts all mixed up! DOH!
[4] I think Beatty sort of straddles the line as he came up during the death throes of the system and he cultivated an image that's similar to the ones the studios created for their stars.
I'm not saying it's good or bad, it's just very different. Cary Grant didn't seem like someone you could meet on the street or see in a restaurant around "common" people. Neither did Liz Taylor. Clint Eastwood is a huge icon in the history of cinema, but you can imagine him cleaning his gutters or mowing his lawn.
[5] Grant's identity issues go deeper - it sounds like he always thought of himself as Archie Leach and "Cary Grant" as a manufactured persona. He once said something to the effect of "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. *I* want to be Cary Grant."
[4] And "Brangelina" just doesn't compare to Liz & Dick.
{8} Agreed, Grant had issues far deeper than the topic of stardom.
[8, 10] you always get the feeling with Grant that he would've been just as happy being an acrobat for a few years and eventually just living a normal life and then fate intervened and made him "CARY GRANT!" and he never quite knew how to deal with it.
that, and ya know, the whole Randolph Scott, umm..."issue"
[9] no it doesn't at all. The parallels are inevitable, but it just isn't the same thing. Remember when people compared the Keifer Sutherland/Julia Roberts/Jason Patric thing to them? Yeah, me neither.
[11] Yeah, never knew what to make of the Randolph Scott rumors. Wouldn't surprise me, but I've heard it refuted, too. It definitely adds some weird subtext to those Budd Boetticher westerns Scott starred in.