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Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis

"You are cordially invited to George and Martha's for an evening of fun and games." Thus read the ad copy for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which in 1966 went farther than any previous big-studio fi... read more read more...lm in its use of profanity and sexual implication. George (Richard Burton) is an alcoholic college professor; Martha (Oscar-winner Elizabeth Taylor) is his virago of a wife. George and Martha know just how to push each other's buttons, with George having a special advantage: he need only mention the couple's son to send Martha into orbit. This evening, the couple's guests are Nick (George Segal), a junior professor, and Honey (Sandy Dennis), Nick's child-like wife. After an evening of sadistic (and sometimes perversely hilarious) "fun and games," the truth about George and Martha's son comes to light. First staged on Broadway in 1962 with Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill, Edward Albee's play was adapted for the screen by Ernest Lehman, who managed to retain virtually all of Albee's scatological epithets (this was the first American film to feature the expletive "goddamn"). Lehman opened up the play by staging one of George's speeches in the backyard, and by relocating the film's second act to a roadside inn (he also added four lines--"all bad," according to Albee). Thanks to the box-office clout of stars Taylor and Burton, not to mention the titilation factor of hearing all those naughty words on the big screen, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf was a hit, and it won 5 Oscars, including awards for Taylor and Dennis, though it lost Best Picture to A Man for All Seasons. First-time director Mike Nichols lost the Oscar, but this movie gave him a perfect transition from his stage work and established him as a hot young Hollywood director, leading to his acclaimed (and Oscar-winning) work on his next movie, The Graduate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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20,229 ratings

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97% liked it

32 critics

R, 2 hr. 7 min.

Directed by: Mike Nichols

Release Date: June 22, 1966

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DVD Release Date: May 18, 1999

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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Richard Burton & Sandy Dennis in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid in Virginia Woolf Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Sandy Dennis in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? Elizabeth Taylor George Segal in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Woolf Sandy Dennis in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Sandy Dennis in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
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Flixster Reviews (1,503)

  • brooklynspo
    July 7, 2007
    brooklynspo
    mthebee

    haven't seen 4 ever
  • paulkoh110
    February 27, 2013
    paulkoh110
    Extremely heartbreaking and hard to watch. Its a film of human emotions flying out with alcohol. The whole cast (4 people) were all nominated for an Oscar and they deserve it. Standing the test of time, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a beautifully shot film of melancholy.
  • cosmo313
    December 21, 2012
    cosmo313
    Mike Nichols made his directorial debut with this adaptation of Edward Albee's play about a delusional, dysfunctional middle-aged couple who invite a young couple over for drinks and casual conversation, only to draw them into their path of destruction.

    I must say, this is one o... read moref the most unpleasant, awkward, and uncomfortable movies I've endured. It's emotionally exhausting, brutal, cynical,and a real downer. Here's the thing, though: there are people like this who really exist in real life. It's painful, but honest.

    The film garnered much controversy (as did the play) for the language and sexual content. It's rather tame by today's standards, but the viciousness of the verbal abuse and vitriol still stings. The insults and badgering in this movie are quite venomous at times, and I was somewhat unnerved by it all. Polanski's movie Carnage is comparable, but that one at least started off mildly pleasant before descending into savagery, whereas this one is uncivil from the start.

    This really isn't a film I want to endure very often, if ever again. There is a point to it all, and while it is good to experience stuff like this from time to time, you'd have to be a little off to think this warrants frequent rewatches.


    Besides the unpleasantness, the film is overlong and somewhat repetitive, but what makes it all worth it are Haskell Wexler's excellent cinematography, and, most of all, the excellent performances from a cast where all four main players got Oscar nods, with two of them winning. That's easily the biggest redeeming factor here. This is a real master classic in acting, especially from Taylor and Burton.

    It's overrated, grueling, and really joyless, but if you want to see excellent acting, and how dark relationships can get sometimes, then give this a watch.
  • fb100002359227440
    August 3, 2012
    fb100002359227440
    Jaw dropping, controversial Mike Nichols' masterpiece is a portrait of the decadent and indecent American good custom, that remember Luis Bunuel classic El Angel Exterminador.
  • fb1341085175
    October 23, 2011
    fb1341085175
    The Texas Chainsaw Masssacre with the incredible Liz Taylor and Richard Burton in the roles of the Leatherface family, destroying and entraping a young-faced wholesome American couple. One of the all-time greats
  • axadntpron
    September 4, 2011
    axadntpron
    Sadly, there are very few films that are capable of eliciting a visceral reaction out of me. However, Mike Nichol's 1966 debut film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is such a powerful film on so many levels that I cannot imagine anybody watching it without being significantly mo... read moreved. The film is based on Edward Albee's Tony Award winning play and covers the events of one very long and alcohol induced night. It follows the plight of an aging couple George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor). When friends Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis) come over for a nightcap, they become caught in the middle of a series of games in which George and Martha take their pain and attempt to push each other to the breaking point. Albee's dialogue is explosive, both in terms of being emotionally charged and how it is projected, and is adeptly handled by the entire cast.. There is a brilliant mix of temperamental humor and anguish which includes one of my favorite lines, "There isn't an abomination award going that you haven't won."
    While Albee's superb script provides a well-built chassis for the film, it is Nichol's direction mixed with Haskell Wexler's brilliant cinematography that makes this film really take off. Often times the camera will capture the scene as if it were merely a fly on the wall. However, Nichols really knows the material and will zoom in to the point of intrusion when a character feels emotionally isolated or verbally backed into a corner. In one particularly distinguished scene that deviates from the play, Nichols captures George walking into the back of the house when the Martha and the guests are still conversing in the living room. Even though George is out of ear shot of the others, Nichols keeps the audio of their conversation going while he follows George. This illuminates the extent of Martha's deviance as George can still knows that Martha will be speaking ill of him even when he is not in her company. Also, in the same vein as a noir, Nichols uses mirrors to show how these characters never take a good hard look at themselves and what they have become. One is even shoved in the face of George at one point, yet he is too steeped in his own misery to even see the man on the other side.
    The performances here are simply astounding by all players involved. Although Taylor would nab the Oscar for best actress, I really feel as though Burton was snubbed. While his character could have just been watered down to nothing more than a dispensary of caustic wit, Burton injects a sense of humanity into the character that is present in the smallest of gestures.
    Historically, this film is bold as it was produced in some of the most impassioned years of the civil rights movement. These years saw a mass movement to finally put an end to the anti-miscegenation laws that had previously prevented interracial marriages in America. This film shows that even white upper-middleclass marriages, which were seen as a bulwark against the decay of the human race, had their blemishes.
    In the end, it is a beautiful film about a volatile relationship. It is about pain and the fiction that we manufacture in order to deal with it. The film isn't easy to watch, but if you do you will find that this is an absolutely astounding film.
  • fernandorafael
    March 27, 2011
    fernandorafael
    Mike Nichols's (Closer) film debut, adapted from Edward Albee's play, is an intriguing mazelike mess of marital troubles. In this tense movie, George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) compose the ultimate screwed-up relationship. Incisive, extraordinary script by Ern... read moreest Lehman (West Side Story, North by Northwest) allows for some stunning performances to erupt. Taylor is at her scenery-chewing best, Burton is even better in a restrained, ice-cold turn. George Segal is certainly impressive as morally ambiguous Nick and Sandy Dennis is devastatingly perfect as naïve Honey. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is like a dinner party thrown by a dysfunctional family: intermittently entertaining but ultimately uncomfortable and a little too long. Though unpleasant it may be, you cannot look away.
  • theylovealexis
    November 9, 2010
    theylovealexis
    This whole movie is an awkward, drunken fight between two married people and their newly married guest hostages. I guess the acting was pretty good, I really did believe these people are awful.. but I still didn't like the movie and it was pretty long.
  • aliceinpunderland
    May 8, 2010
    aliceinpunderland
    It's an acting masterclass - that's for sure - but I've just never liked the play. I'm not a fan of Albee's. He's so damn good at loading a scene with cutting vitriol, but it's clear that the characters are on stage/screen because the playwright is pulling the strings. The cha... read moreracters don't have any exigence. There's no character-based reason why Nick and Honey stay; they're only there to move George and Martha's story through the dramatic arc.
  • fb619846742
    April 26, 2010
    fb619846742
    A gripping, dialogue-driven smash a movie featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at the top of their games as a husband and wife who involve a young, innocent-seeming couple in a torrid, bitter conversation. Although initially slow-moving, it picks up a head of steam once ... read morethe young couple (George Segal and Sandy Dennis, who also give outstanding turns) enters into a household full of turmoil and anger - one which they are eventually affected by drastically. The dialogue is simply incredible, with Burton and Taylor possessing an on-screen chemistry like few other, capped off by a devastating twist at the film's end which sears into your memory forever. Although it does miss perfection (the slow-moving beginning and the restaurant scene felt forced) by ever so little, this is without a doubt one of the most arresting dialogue-fueled movies I've seen in quite some time (the last movie to come to mind would be Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds").

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Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
June 28, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

When Nichols finally settles down, it's almost too late. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
February 11, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Edward Albee's vitriolic stage portrayal of domestic blisslessness translated grainily and effectively to the screen. Full Review

Stanley Kauffmann
May 21, 2003
Stanley Kauffmann, New York Times

And in its forthright dealing with the play, this becomes one of the most scathingly honest American films ever made. Full Review

February 13, 2001
Variety

Keen adaptation and handsome production by Ernest Lehman, outstanding direction by Mike Nichols in his feature debut, and four topflight performances score an artistic bullseye. Full Review

Dwight Garner
January 1, 2000
Dwight Garner, Salon.com

'You have ugly talents,' George says, almost admiringly, to Martha. So does this movie. Full Review

Dan Callahan
May 22, 2011
Dan Callahan, House Next Door

"I am the earth mother, and you are all flops," Martha proclaims toward the end, and Taylor never had a line of dialogue that better suited her fighting maternal spirit. Full Review

David Parkinson
February 26, 2010
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

A time capsule now of all that was considered controversial and gutsy in 1966. Full Review

February 26, 2010
Film4

A painful and compelling masterpiece. Full Review

Tony Macklin
March 3, 2009
Tony Macklin, tonymacklin.net

If one examines Albee's The Zoo Story, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Tiny Alice as three views of the struggle for faith and the Christ myth and its nuances, the plays, on a particular level, g... Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
November 2, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Scathing scream of a black comedy that's based on a play by Edward Albee. Full Review

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    • George: Martha, will you show her where we keep the, er, euphemism? [meaning, the bathroom]
    • Martha: George and Martha; sad, sad, sad....
    • George: Yes dear, but you mustn't bray.
    • Martha: I don't bray!
    • George: And that's how you play "Get the Guests."
    • Martha: I hope that was an empty bottle, George! You can't afford to waste good liquor, not on YOUR salary!
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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Trivia

  • How many academy awards did "From Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" 1966 win ?  Answer »
  • Which of the following films was not directed by Alfred Hitchcock?  Answer »
  • Which actress won an Oscar in 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"?  Answer »
  • "You have ugly talents, Martha." Which Movie is this quote from?  Answer »
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