Elizabeth Taylor, RIP

A true beauty - yes, the violet color of her eyes was real - no faking that.

She gave herself over to helping the AIDS cause...even before her friend, Rock Hudson, came out just before he died.  Okay, maybe there wasn't AIDS back in the 1950s...but Elizabeth Taylor was a very good friend of Montgomery Clift, who was gay...and had to keep it quiet.

After all, we're talking the 1950s, here.

Montgomery Clift was involved in a horrific accident, right in the middle of filming (I think) Raintree County, Liz's try at a Gone With the Wind-type movie.  She stayed by his side, even as he recuperated, and loved him as a dear friend until he passed.

Here's the weird thing for me.  I remember watching all of those silly old Doris Day-Rock Hudson "sex" flicks back in the 1960s (watched them in the 1970s, as I was a liddle too young in the 1960s ;-)).  Since Rock came out, I've never been able to take him seriously in any love scenes.

But I have no problem with Montgomery Clift in love scenes; he's still believable when he's in an embrace with a woman.  ::shrug::  Maybe he's just a better actor than Rock Hudson.

Anyhoo, Liz made a lot of really great movies.  Hard to say which one was my favorite, but two come to mind: Elephant Walk and Father of the Bride.  The first takes place in India; Liz's role originally went to Vivien Leigh, who was having a nervous breakdown (I read somewhere that there might still be some glimpses of Vivien if you look real quick).  The second is the best version (sorry, the Steve Martin version sucked) of, well, Spencer Tracey as the father of the bride, Liz.  Soon afterwards, Liz married Nicky Hilton (of Hilton Hotels), the first of her 7(!) husbands (Richard Burton twice, naturally).

I thought this was a nice compilation of photos and movie stills with a really nice Sammy Davis, Jr. song accompanying it.