Divorce His - Divorce Hers

How well I remember from my youth all the media coverage of Elizabeth Taylor and her love life. First her affair with Eddie Fisher and the breaking up of that marriage and then the page one stories for days from the set of Cleopatra where she and Richard Burton were an item. She shed Fisher and married Burton and Liz and Dick married, twice in fact, and did several joint projects. Sad to say this made for television film about a couple's dwindling affection for each other was one of the least of their projects, maybe THE least.

Divorce His - Divorce Hers examines a marriage that has not stood the test of time. Both Burton and Taylor have gone their separate ways have taken on lovers, still is their a chance they could reunite. The viewer will conclude by the end that we don't really care.

Given all the marriages by both parties in real life they could have played these parts in their sleep. In fact I'm reasonably sure that Burton and Taylor were sleepwalking part of the film.

God knows that both individually and jointly Liz and Dick gave us some great performances. But in this strictly star vehicle it all seems by rote.

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

The real-life first marriage of the two stars is nearing its own point of divorce during the creation of this torpid film, the last wherein Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are teamed, and this provides probably the only reason for watching what is at best an exercise in costly kitsch. Produced by the Welsh National Network, HTV Harlech, the work scripted by John Hopkins was made for television to be seen on consecutive evenings, ostensibly presenting first the standpoint of Burton's character Martin Reynolds and latterly that of Taylor's part - his wife Jane - as their 18 year marriage decomposes. As presented, the two seem to have agreed upon the general causes of the passage of events, as there is little variance between any of the scenes supposedly contemplated separately by the married pair and a lack of posture from the scriptor becomes a fatal flaw for the narrative. A large portion of the picture involves Martin's relationship with his employer, and since this requires continual global travel, marital strain ensues, with this intended ancillary plot regarding his career choice becoming the trunk of the scenario, instead of the union between Martin and Jane. Director Waris Hussein has a less than marvelous assignment in eliciting meaningful performances from Burton and Taylor, disastrously failing at it although Burton's innate intensity gives some life to most of his scenes despite the too often fatuous dialogue around which he seems too weary to ad lib. The excellent Italian actor Gabriele Ferzetti smoothly deals with a pallid part as Jane's latest lover, Carrie Nye emotes outrageously as the "other woman" and Barry Foster does well as Martin's sturdy adjutant, but we are never really shown why the couple's marriage is ending, a point not adequately addressed by scattershot plotting.

These two connecting movies, made in the early seventies were obviously tax write-offs for the over indulgent Burtons - but to see Carrie Nye, wafting about Rome in orange and canary yellow chiffon dresses, sipping champagne out of her golden slippers and charmingly trying to step in between Burton and Taylor's 'on again-off again' love affair is a treat that makes these two 70's period pieces great! With her honest husky drawl, she growls and drinks and brazenly seduces Burton so matter-of-factly, that you really can't understand why he turns her down for the shrill harping's of Taylor's needy character. A fun movie of a time long past - where material excess was accepted and longed for, and the only care in the world was 'what diamonds to wear' that day. Carrie Nye shines in these films.

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.