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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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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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Flixster Reviews (1,430)

  • brooklynspo
    July 7, 2007
    brooklynspo
    mthebee

    haven't seen 4 ever
  • 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").
  • romy861
    March 20, 2010
    romy861
    While I agree the acting is pretty good in this one, I actually did have a problem with bits of this not ringing true. I could buy the married couple with issues, it was when the younger couple were introduced into it that this film suffers.... ..........SPOILERS........... To m... read moree, realistically, that evening would have been over after the younger woman threw up. Surely at that time of morning, you've been sick, it's late, you do not hang around and then start up drinking again, let alone stop off at a late night bar to go dancing (and don't even get me started on that bar, not a customer or staff member in sight for quite some time. Very realistic. Not). Let alone after she finds out her husband told the older guy about her phantom pregnancy - there would have been no coming back from that one! I discussed this one with someone who has not seen it, and an interesting theory, (given how screwed up this couple was with bitterness and disappointments in life), perhaps the younger couple was all in their mind and "made up" just like the son, as there was parallels such as childlessness. If that was the intention, I like this movie a little more than I did, however, I think it was more likely meant to be taken literally.
  • bottcorecords1
    March 1, 2010
    bottcorecords1
    Real life (at the time) couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor star in this cynical send-up of not just marriage, but the human race in general. Burton plays George, an aging history professor who's married to the daughter of the university president, Martha. George, at fir... read morest glance, appears to be a henpecked and harried husband, whereas Martha is loud and "braying" as he describes her. They both seem to be (somewhat) functioning alcholics, and they both seem to loathe one another on some deeply fundamental level. It's not only that they loathe one another, they can't even be bothered to pretend at the pleasantries of marriage anymore. The film begins as George and Martha arrive home (at approximately 2am) drunk from a party and begin to bicker. Martha then tells George she's invited the new professor and his wife over for drinks and they should be there at any moment. When the young couple arrives, it's clear to George exactly what the new professor's motivations are, especially when he begins to butter up Martha. From then on, it's an escalating war of words and painful diatribes as everyone's weaknesses are brought to the fore. It's not the twist at the end that's so shocking when compared to the other twist that it's really George and Martha who truly love one another, and the young couple whose marriage seems more out of convenience than genuine affection. The viciously well-written play by Edward Albee is excellently adapted to the big screen by Mike Nichols ("The Graduate"). Taylor and Burton seem to delight in ripping into each other, and even when the second half begins to meander along (including the unsatisfying and bizarre ending), it doesn't really dull the blistering impact of the first. Modern sensibilities might be more shocked by the venom than the taboo subject matter, which I'm sure was ground-breaking at the time.
  • ythelastman89
    January 17, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Essentially a story about two people who hate each others guts, yet can't live without one another. It has knockout performances from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who play against their usual roles. It also works as an extremely dark comedy because nearly every argument i... read mores started by the most ridiculous things.

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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

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

Emanuel Levy
June 29, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Director Nichols, in his auspicious Hollywood debut, and scripter Ernest Lehman smartly keep Albee's corrosively witty black comedy intact, allowing their ensmeble, including Liz Taylor, to dig deep a... 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 »
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  • 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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