The Palm Springs Cultural Center is celebrating Elizabeth Taylor with a cinema retrospective of the actress’ work—from her breakthrough as a child actress to her later roles.
The Elizabeth Taylor Retrospective will include one Saturday-evening film per month, starting on April 11 with National Velvet. The series will continue on May 16 with The Mirror Crack’d, June 20 with Father of the Bride, July 18 with The Last Time I Saw Paris, and Aug. 15 with A Place in the Sun, plus additional screenings through June 2027.
“When we screened a few Elizabeth Taylor films last summer, audiences immediately asked for more,” said Tim Rains, marketing director of the Palm Springs Cultural Center. “Taylor wasn’t just one of Hollywood’s greatest stars; she was also a beloved Palm Springs resident and philanthropist. This series celebrates both her remarkable film legacy and her deep connection to our community, while giving audiences the rare chance to see these films the way they were meant to be seen: on the big screen.”
Film historian and author Matthew Kennedy will host each screening, offering commentary and historical context. He authored On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide and Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, along with several biographies.
National Velvet, which Taylor made at the age of 12 in 1944, secured her stardom.
“It is exciting to see a star being created before our eyes—and 82 years later, it is still a popular film and beloved family classic,” Kennedy said about National Velvet.
Taylor often chose to play moral characters who were being wronged, without being preachy or self-serving, Kennedy said. The ultimate film in which moral fiber is reflected in her character is Giant, a 1956 film co-starring Rock Hudson and James Dean. She plays a virtuous character, the wife of Hudson’s character, and she’s the centerpiece of the film.
“The character has flaws,” Kennedy said. “She’s multidimensional. But she’s also doing the right thing. … She is a character who’s fighting for racial justice. She’s protective of her children and their well-being, and she calls out her husband’s racism in the film. She seeks medical care for people who are suffering, the Mexican laborers on her husband’s ranch. It’s politically progressive in a film that’s 70 years old.”
Kennedy said Taylor was known for her empathy. He shared an anecdote from the filing of Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).
“There’s a scene at the end where she does an extended monologue; it’s difficult, and her emotions are absolutely raw,” Kennedy said. “And it goes on for quite a long time.” At the end of the first day’s shooting, she found a corner of the set, all by herself, and started sobbing. The director asked her if she was OK. All Taylor could say was “that poor girl,” referring to her character.
She was also a consummate professional.
“Two weeks into filming Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, her third husband, Mike Todd, died in a plane crash,” Kennedy said. “She went into deep, deep grief and could barely function— but she actually delivered this fantastic performance. It was the height of professionalism and strength that she was able to do that.”
Taylor reportedly said, “When the camera was rolling, and I was Maggie the Cat, I was on fire. When the camera stopped rolling, I could barely speak.”
Kennedy said he finds Taylor “fascinating” in part because she was privileged throughout her life. Her parents were well-off; she lived in Beverly Hills, and since she was “so profoundly beautiful as a child, the movies seemed almost inevitable.” She never needed money, and she didn’t apologize for being wealthy. She loved opulence and luxury, but she never lost her humanity.
“She found a way to cope with the throngs of people who were constantly buzzing around her whenever she went out,” Kennedy said. “She never shut herself off, either as an actress or as a compassionate person. She continued to take bold chances as an actress. And then later on, she chose a great deal of visibility around AIDS activism.”
Even after her film career went into decline, she remained popular and sought after.
“It was due to her inherent magnetism; she had a long and highly decorated career with two Academy Awards and great box office successes,” Kennedy said. “And then when acting and film stardom didn’t really work for her, she used her fame to better people’s lives.”
In the 1980s, there was an extraordinary amount of ignorance and cruelty toward people who were living with HIV/AIDS. That fact hit close to home when Taylor’s good friend Rock Hudson contracted AIDS, and she saw the public indifference and fear—so she spoke out and got involved. The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, both founded or co-founded by Taylor, raised more than $270 million for HIV/AIDS research and support—and are still going today.
“This was the last chapter of her life,” Kennedy said. “It’s what has endeared her and given her basically the sainthood among quite a few people, including a lot of residents of Palm Springs and gay men who are extraordinarily grateful for all the work and efforts she did. The series is about celebrating that, and her as an artist—and what made her immortal as a screen star.”
The Elizabeth Taylor Retrospective begins at 6 p.m., Saturday, April 11, with a screening of National Velvet, and will continue one Saturday a month through June 2027. A pre-show featuring vintage film materials from the year of the film’s release will start at 5 p.m., before each screening. Tickets are $16.81. For tickets or more information, find the series on Eventbrite, or visit www.psculturalcenter.org.
