Divorce His - Divorce Hers

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (as Jane and Martin Reynolds) star in a two-part TV movie, showing their characters' marriage crumbling into divorce. Mr. Burton's "Divorce His" aired February 6, 1973. Ms. Taylor's "Divorce Hers" aired February 7, 1973. Carrie Nye (as Diana Proctor) and Gabriele Ferzetti (as Turi Livicci) play the "other woman" and "other man". The children outperform their illustrious elders.

This sure sounded like a good idea -- divorce told from the differing husband/wife points of view; with notorious divorcées, and terrific performers, Taylor and Burton in the lead roles. The result is startlingly dull. There are few reasons to care whether the couple divorces, or not. The differing perspectives are slight, and uninteresting. And, don't expect any boozy "Virginia Woolf"-type arguments.

Although it's highly irrelevant, or should be, it must be said that Taylor looks very beautiful in many scenes. Since the effort to display her beauty is so obvious; I will mention she was, in my opinion, most alluring in the scene when she was in bed, in the blue nightgown, talking on the telephone.

** Divorce His (2/6/73) Waris Hussein ~ Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Carrie Nye

** Divorce Hers (2/7/73) Waris Hussein ~ Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Gabriele Ferzetti

Liz Taylor and Richard Burton star as an estranged couple whose lives have taken divergent paths following an acrimonious divorce several years earlier. The TV movie explores the impact of the separation from each other's perspective, Burton, a wealthy businessman in Rome sewing up a deal on behalf of his African company, Liz, juggling the care of their three children, each exhibiting different impacts of the separation. A great deal of postulating and ruminating is done about the travails of marriage, and time spent discussing 'what went wrong', people making, taking and declining phone calls, and a seemingly inordinate amount of time spent showing Burton in transit, clutching briefcase, looking concerned (or ambivalent, it's difficult to tell) in and out of Rome airport.

It's classic soap opera, and at over two hours, an epic one at that – mercifully, being shown in two parts allows for a much needed intermission, where you can decide whether you really want to return for more. Carrie Nye plays a promiscuous dalliance of Burton with whom he has a brief affair, while Gabriele Ferzetti is Liz's momentary Latin beau. Barry Foster has a prominent supporting role as Burton's associate and frustrated confidante, while some audiences might recognise ubiquitous West Indian actor Rudolph Walker (of "Love Thy Neighbour") in a small role as a businessman.

Given the locations (Rome/Munich), it's a shame there aren't more exterior shots, but then, this is a TV movie and much less a postcard than a long and sometimes tawdry account of the impact of divorce on all concerned. Nice music, but possibly more of interest to those who enjoy the Taylor/Burton collaborations; other audiences my find things a bit slow-moving and talky.

At the time, it was fun to watch every Liz and Dick movie they made together, but knowing they were divorced in 1974, it's not enjoyable to watch a movie in 1973 in which they play a couple in the midst of a terrible divorce. I'd skip Divorce His – Divorce Hers if I were you.

This is one of those movies that pretty much takes place over the course of a few days, but constantly flashes back in time. Usually, I find that kind of story annoying, and this movie is no exception. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton play a bickering, tired, estranged couple who are getting ready to finalize their divorce. Liz has custody of their three children, and each of them are in different stages in anger towards their father. But, none of the kids are particularly likable, so my heart was not tugged in their direction. Liz acts like an understudy; if this was the first movie of hers you saw you'd think she was a lousy actress. Dick is plain cranky, like they've filmed too many takes and he just wants to go home. The script is boring. The so-called surprises are hardly worth the build-ups, and the arguments lack fire, punch, and interest. The pace is slow, and it's not even enjoyable for fans who wish an inside view of what went wrong with the famous couple's marriages. The characters are obviously dissimilar to their offscreen personas. Just skip it. Watch Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? instead.

"Divorce/His...etc, is for hardcore Elizabeth Taylor fans (as are most of her vehicles, post 1967) Here you find her in all her latter-day glory--over-the-top and inappropriate in every way. The script, if you can call it that, tells the tale of a longtime married couple (wealthy, of course) whose marriage is coming apart. It's a tale told from two perspectives, tho both are equally silly and poorly written. You can just skip Burton, he's a burnt out zombie here. (Liz n' Dick would separate for the first time shortly after this thing hit the airwaves. Burton looks more than ready!) But our girl Liz gives it her all. She approaches every melodramatic moment, every abysmal line of dialogue as if her life or an Oscar depended on it. Quibble if you will if she is a good actress--she is certainly not a lazy one! She enlivens the material with her baroque presence--the wigs, the jewels, the gowns. The wigs! And of course a drinking game could be made out of her fluctuating weight. In one sequence she visits her horrible children's rooms to scold them. She loses ten pounds between the son and the daughter.

Taylor looks good, stll quite the beauty. Her real problem is her proportions. Very short, very short-waisted and that enormous bosom. Dressing her must have been a challenge even at her slimmest. Here, Edith Head does some excellent work, but Taylor sneaks in a few monstrosites from her own closet--the mini dress/tent she wears in a flashback sequence, in Africa! (She's sporting a fantastically distracting bullet bra, and a gigantic pendant hanging between the famed bazooms. When she sits down, the dress hikes to her crotch. Anybody can act, Miss Taylor puts on a show.) So, it's like that. Taylor's wacky, sometimes stuttering-placing- emphasis- on- the- wrong- word line-readings are also worth a peek.The high point is Liz and Carrie Nye. Nye, who looks like a transgendered corpse, thank you very much, reveals to poor Liz that she (Nye) has had an affair with Burton. Liz, rather tanky in her blue silk penoir get-up, pushes Nye away (how Nye didn't land in the next country is a miracle) "Stop talking, stop telling! He must have been drunk. How could anyone have an affair with you, you're not even beautiful!" This truthful statement seems beside the point, but Miss T. couldn't have given this (and other whoppers) more gusto had it been scripted by Edward Albee.

So, you have been warned. If you like this sort of thing, try to get a copy of "X, Y and Zee" which is much better and when "Zee" is funny, it is meant to be. Liz--we love, ya, honey.

Divorce His/Divorce Hers from 1973 is the only tv movie that Liz and Dick made. In fact, I think they were about to become divorced themselves, though they did remarry.

This movie is in two parts, showing the effect of divorce on each party as their 18-year marriage is ending.

They play Martin and Jane Reynolds. We meet them in Rome after a two-year separation. Martin is in Rome on business and has unhappy memories of their union.

Jane is more focused on their family life and the hurt the divorce caused their children.

Overly long and kind of boring. Rome is beautifully photographed, and Taylor looks gorgeous and bejeweled. Burton seems a little out of it.

Actually the whole thing is kind of trashy. I don't think either one of them were in a good place in their lives, since they split the next year. And their lives were much more interesting than those of the characters in this film.