The “rubbish” movie Richard Burton wanted to delete from history: “The bane of my life”
For whatever reason, some of the greatest actors of all time seem to really hate acting. Marlon Brando is perhaps the most famous, but fellow all-time greats like Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton are also famed for their apathetic attitude towards the profession that made them icons.
Then again, a lot of people can probably sympathise. Just because somebody is good at something doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll enjoy doing it for decades. Burton was bullish, headstrong, and by all accounts a nightmare to work with, but even at his worst, he was still nigh-on untouchable.
He once told Michael Caine to go fuck himself because he’d dared to wish Burton a merry Christmas, and he branded Clint Eastwood’s acting style as “dynamic lethargy,” which the four-time Academy Award winner wasn’t sure was a compliment or a criticism. At no point during his career were any fucks given, which makes it even more striking that he was such a potent force onscreen.
A hard-drinking, hard-partying hellraise who made several enemies, turned his back on Hollywood multiple times, and ultimately became a shadow of his former self in his twilight years, Burton nonetheless remained capable of pulling out a showstopping performance as and when required, even when he was doing it in a movie he hated with every fibre of his being.
The most prominent example, at least as far as he was concerned, came in 1953’s biblical epic The Robe. Playing the lead role of Marcellus Gallio, the Roman military officer wins Jesus Christ’s titular garment in a game of dice, sending him down a path towards enlightenment and redemption.
It wasn’t exactly rapturously received, but it was popular enough to win Oscars for its art direction and costume design, and secure a further three nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Actor’ for Burton. And yet, he never had a single positive thing to say about the experience.
“It is the bane of my life,” he said per Time. “Whenever a fan comes up to me and says, ‘I enjoyed you in…’ I wince, and I wait. It’s almost always The Robe. The picture was rubbish. It was tastelessly sentimental, and badly acted by me.” The Academy clearly disagreed, but Burton was adamant he was crap in the film.
In his posthumously published diaries, Burton only makes a fleeting mention of The Robe, which he refers to as “a terrible thing”. Not only that, but he was so disgusted with both the movie and his contributions to it that he rejected a contract offer from 20th Century Fox, most likely out of fear that he’d be pushed into starring in something equally terrible.
Burton was utterly bemused by how successful The Robe was at the box office and during awards season, blasting it as “lousy, but an almighty hit” and calling himself “dull as ditchwater and an almighty flop” in a feature that he said made him want to “throw up” for how irredeemably bad it was. It’s not the best thing he’s ever been in, but it’s not the worst either, although it’s an understatement to say nobody hates the film more than Burton.
