A professor (Richard Burton) and his wife (Elizabeth Taylor) drink and verbally assault each other in front... (Learn more)
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal (View All)
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Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal
"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 film 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, All Movie Guide
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US Release Date
7/2/66
MPAA Rating
Not Rated
Running Time
131 mins.
Locations
- Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
Language
- English
Awards
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1966 Directors Guild of America [Festival/A Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture - Drama award at the 1966 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1966 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best British Actress award at the 1966 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama award at the 1966 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 1966 New York Film Critics Circle [Festival Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Screenplay award at the 1966 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1966 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti award at the 1966 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Original Score award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Black and White Costume Design award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 1966 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Editing award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Sound award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Actor award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Black and White Cinematography award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama award at the 1966 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best Black and White Art Direction award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Film - Any Source award at the 1966 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Best Supporting Actress award at the 1966 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion award at the 1966 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best British Actor award at the 1966 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
Distributor
- Warner Brothers
