Translated from Richard Burton: Prince of Flowers by Michael Moon
The Burtons have spent most of their time in the Swiss ski resort of Gözstad, from where he flew to London in January 1965 to meet director Martin Ritter to discuss the development of the Dublin film "The Blind Man". .
Unlike any James Bond spy movie of the time, it was a chilling thriller in black and white. Having lunch with Ritter is lead actress Claire Bloom, who plays the librarian who falls in love with Burton.
Of all the lovers in Richard's early life, Elizabeth hated Claire the most, at least some say. Before Elizabeth, Claire was considered the only woman who could take Richard away from Sybil.
Claire could be the one who can take Richie away from Elizabeth. But by then, the relationship was over, and Claire had made up her mind to never have anything to do with Richie. As for Richard, he said, "Claire is a perfect fit for the role, and that's the most important thing to me." Rod Steiger told me:
"I'm sure Claire was surprised when Richard agreed to cast her because he could have gotten her out of that movie, he's a big star and has veto power, but he didn't use it. She was worried My take on her working with Burton, I told her she had to do it, she wanted that role, there was no reason for her to give up, whatever happened to her once with him was in the past.
But Elizabeth, gosh, she hated Claire and Richard together. Of course, Elizabeth would always be on set, no matter what he was doing, no matter where he was, whenever she needed him, she would scream, 'Richard! ' The sound could be heard for miles and he would run over every time. Claire would make a brilliant parody of 'Richard' shouted out by Elizabeth Taylor. "
Claire said Richard was still drinking heavily, with his hands shaking until around 9am in the morning, when he would have a cup of coffee that wasn't just coffee -- it had something stronger in it.
In "Berlin," Ritchie had one of his best plays, but he was immersed in a deep depression, or in his own words, "an unfathomable melancholy." ".
There are many possible reasons for this. In the beginning, Ritter asked Richard to play down his role in order to keep the spy character low profile, which Ritchie felt gave him no chance to exercise his acting muscles, especially his voice, and he felt like he was just going through the motions , without interest or enthusiasm.
Another reason lies in the script, Richard finds the dialogue dull. Claire Bloom's presence didn't disappoint Richie, but Elizabeth, who barely kept Richard out of her sight because, Rod Steiger said, Claire was now considered the only one who could The woman Richard took from Elizabeth.
"There may have been a time when Claire might have been the one for me," Ritchie said. "But I was never, and never will be, unfaithful to Elizabeth."
However, Elizabeth was not willing to take any risks, as it would be difficult to make their marriage happy.
Michael Holden, one of Richard's many actor friends, is a frequent presence in his films, including The Blind.
This guy said to me: "They do drink a lot and make a lot of noise. They live at the Gresham Hotel, and they have intercoms between every room, so no matter where they are in the suite, they can keep fighting." When you visit them, you hear them shouting over the walkie-talkie. I also heard a slap, but it wasn't Richard."
I asked Holden if he was sure of that. "Richard is the guy with the red face," he said. However, Richard's on-screen performance was still great, which baffled him, "I don't understand how I could be like this." But he was great, and It was also nominated for an Oscar.
Variety noted that the spy film was "completely restrained and understated," and was nothing like the gimmicky spy films of the 1960s. "Burton is perfectly suited to play the role of the apparently exhausted British agent," the article states.
Ritchie was really tired, and he was often drunk and bored, which was probably just what director Martin Ritter wanted. Ritter told me, "I want Richard Burton's exhaustion, not a doer. I want a spy who is the exact opposite of James Bond. He wants me to let him go, but I hold on tight. Hold the reins. He said I pissed him off, and even if I did piss him off, he was doing well."
That's typical Richard's way of acting, he didn't try to create a character, he just created a character like him, as he was at the time.
The success of "Berlin Spy" and "Hate in the Spring" put Richard on the top 10 box-office stars once again. The success of "Berlin" now confirms that the public is definitely going to see Burton rather than Taylor. The role of Limas earned Burton his fourth Best Actor Oscar nomination and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor
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