Editing Richard Burton (section)

=== 1955–1959: Setback in films and on-stage fame ===
[[File:Richard Burton Maggie McNamara Prince of Players.jpg|thumb|right|With Maggie McNamara in ''Prince of Players'' (1955)]]
After The Old Vic season ended, Burton's contract with Fox required him to do three more films. The first was ''[[Prince of Players]]'' (1955), where he was cast as the 19th-century Shakespearean actor [[Edwin Booth]], who was [[John Wilkes Booth]]'s brother. [[Maggie McNamara]] played Edwin's wife, Mary Devlin Booth.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=100}} Philip thought the script was "a disgrace" to Burton's name.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=101}} The film's director [[Philip Dunne (writer)|Philip Dunne]] observed, "He hadn't mastered yet the tricks of the great movie stars, such as [[Gary Cooper]], who knew them all. The personal magnetism Richard had on the sound stage didn't come through the camera."{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=71}} This was one aspect that troubled Richard throughout his career on celluloid. The film flopped at the box office and has since been described as "the first flop in CinemaScope".{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=71|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=101}} Crowther, however, lauded Burton's scenes where he performed Shakespeare plays such as ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]''.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E4D9123AE53BBC4A52DFB766838E649EDE | title=The Screen in Review; 'Prince of Players' Bows at the Rivoli | work=The New York Times | date=12 January 1955 | access-date=21 April 2016 | first=Bosley | last=Crowther | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421054453/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E4D9123AE53BBC4A52DFB766838E649EDE | archive-date=21 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Shortly after the release of ''Prince of Players'', Burton met director [[Robert Rossen]], who was well known at the time for his Academy Award-winning film, ''[[All the King's Men (1949 film)|All the King's Men]]'' (1949). Rossen planned to cast Burton in ''[[Alexander the Great (1956 film)|Alexander the Great]]'' (1956) as the eponymous character. Burton accepted Rossen's offer after the director reassured him he had been studying the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] king for two years to make sure the film was historically accurate. Burton was loaned by Fox to the film's production company [[United Artists]], which paid him a fee of $100,000 ({{Inflation|US|100000|1956|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=$}}). ''Alexander the Great'' was made mostly in Spain during February 1955 and July 1955 on a budget of $6&nbsp;million. The film reunited Burton with Bloom and it was also the first film he made with her. Bloom played the role of [[Barsine]], the daughter of [[Artabazos II of Phrygia]], and one of Alexander's three wives. [[Fredric March]], [[Danielle Darrieux]], [[Stanley Baker]], [[Michael Hordern]] and [[William Squire]] were respectively cast as [[Philip II of Macedon]], [[Olympias]], [[Attalus (general)|Attalus]], [[Demosthenes]] and [[Aeschines]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=72–73|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=101–102}}
[[File:Photo of Claire Bloom Richard Burton.jpg|thumb|left|With Claire Bloom in ''Alexander the Great'' (1956)|alt=]]
After the completion of ''Alexander the Great'', Burton had high hopes for a favourable reception of the "intelligent epic", and went back to complete his next assignment for Fox, [[Jean Negulesco]]'s ''[[The Rains of Ranchipur]]'' (1955). In this remake of Fox's own 1939 film ''[[The Rains Came]]'', Burton played a [[Hindu]] doctor, Rama Safti, who falls in love with Lady Edwina Esketh ([[Lana Turner]]), an invitee of the Maharani of the fictional town of Ranchipur.<ref name="sterritt1955">{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87641/the-rains-of-ranchipur#articles-reviews | title=The Rains of Ranchipur (1955) – TCM Article | publisher=Turner Classic Movies | access-date=21 April 2016 | first=David | last=Sterritt | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421071238/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87641/The-Rains-of-Ranchipur/articles.html | archive-date=21 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> Burton faced the same troubles with playing character roles as before with Belch.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=103}} ''The Rains of Ranchipur'' released on 16 December 1955, three months before ''Alexander the Great'' rolled out on 28 March 1956.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17416/alexander-the-great | title=Alexander the Great&nbsp;— Overview | publisher=Turner Classic Movies | access-date=21 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421090030/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17416/Alexander-the-Great/ | archive-date=21 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87641/the-rains-of-ranchipur | title=The Rains of Ranchipur&nbsp;— Overview | publisher=Turner Classic Movies | access-date=21 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421090036/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87641/The-Rains-of-Ranchipur/ | archive-date=21 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> Contrary to Burton's expectations, both the films were critical and commercial failures, and he rued his decision to act in them.<ref name="sterritt1955"/>{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=73–75|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=102–104}} ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine critic derided ''The Rains of Ranchipur'' and even went as far as to say Richard was hardly noticeable in the film.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=75}} [[A. H. Weiler]] of ''The New York Times'', however, called Burton's rendering of Alexander "serious and impassioned".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0DEFD71430E23BBC4151DFB566838D649EDE | title=Screen: A Saga of Ancient Titans; 'Alexander the Great' Is Sweeping Pageant | work=The New York Times | date=29 March 1956 | access-date=21 April 2016 | first=A. H. | last=Weiler | author-link=A. H. Weiler | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421085451/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0DEFD71430E23BBC4151DFB566838D649EDE | archive-date=21 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Burton returned to The Old Vic to perform ''Henry V'' for a second time. The Benthall-directed production opened in December 1955 to glowing reviews and was a much-needed triumph for Burton.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=104–105}} Tynan made it official by famously saying Burton was now "the next successor to Olivier".{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=74|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=105}} The reviewer from ''[[The Times]]'' began by pointing out the deficiencies in Burton's previous rendition of the character in 1951 before stating "Mr. Burton's progress as an actor is such that already he is able to make good all the lacks of a few short years ago ... what was greatly metallic has been transformed into a steely strength which becomes the martial ring and hard brilliance of the patriotic verse. There now appears a romantic sense of a high kingly mission and the clear cognisance of the capacity to fulfil it ... the whole performance&nbsp;— a mostly satisfying one&nbsp;— is firmly under the control of the imagination".{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=105}}

In January 1956, the ''[[London Evening Standard]]'' honoured Burton by presenting to him its [[Evening Standard Theatre Awards#Best Actor|Theatre Award for Best Actor]] for his portrayal of Henry V.{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=75|2a1=Bragg|2y=1988|2p=104}} His success in and as Henry V led him to be called the "Welsh Wizard".{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=104}} ''Henry V'' was followed by Benthall's adaptation of ''[[Othello]]'' in February 1956, where he alternated on successive openings between the roles of [[Othello (character)|Othello]] and [[Iago]] with [[John Neville (actor)|John Neville]]. As Othello, Burton received both praise for his dynamism and criticism with being less poetical with his dialogues, while he was acclaimed as Iago.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|pp=104, 106}}

Burton's stay at The Old Vic was cut short when he was approached by the [[Italian neorealism|Italian neorealist]] director [[Roberto Rossellini]] for Fox's ''[[Sea Wife]]'' (1957), a drama set in [[World War II]] about a nun and three men marooned on an island after the ship they travel on is torpedoed by a [[U-boat]]. [[Joan Collins]], who played the nun, was his co-star. Burton's role was that of an RAF officer who develops romantic feelings for the nun.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=75}} Rossellini was informed by Zanuck not to have any kissing scenes between Burton and Collins, which Rossellini found unnatural; this led to him walking out of the film and being replaced by Bob McNaught, one of the executive producers.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=76}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89334/sea-wife#trivia | title=Sea Wife&nbsp;— Trivia | publisher=Turner Classic Movies | access-date=21 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421124332/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89334/Sea-Wife/trivia.html | archive-date=21 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> According to Collins, Burton had a "take-the-money-and-run attitude" toward the film.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|pp=75–77}} ''Sea Wife'' was not a successful venture, with biographer Munn observing that his salary was the only positive feature that came from the film.{{Sfnm|1a1=Monaco|1y=1991|1p=89|2a1=Munn|2y=2014|2p=110}} Philip saw it and said he was "ashamed" that it added another insult to injury in Burton's career.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=111}}
[[File:Richard Burton Yvonne Furneaux Wuthering Heights 1958.jpg|thumb|right|With Yvonne Furneaux in ''Wuthering Heights'' (1958)]]
After ''Sea Wife'', Burton next appeared as the British Army Captain Jim Leith in [[Nicholas Ray]]'s ''[[Bitter Victory]]'' (1957).{{Sfn|Munn|2014|p=113}} Burton admired Ray's ''[[Rebel Without A Cause]]'' (1955) and was excited about working with him,{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=78}} but unfortunately despite positive feedback, ''Bitter Victory'' tanked as well.{{Sfnm|1a1=Bragg|1y=1988|1p=119|2a1=Munn|2y=2014|2p=113}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bitter_victory/ | title=Bitter Victory (1957) | website=Rotten Tomatoes | date=17 January 1958 | access-date=21 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211224128/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bitter_victory | archive-date=11 February 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> By mid-1957, Burton had no further offers in his kitty. He could not return to the UK because of his self-imposed exile from taxation, and his fortunes in film were dwindling.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=78}} It was then that film producer and screenwriter [[Milton Sperling]] offered Burton to star alongside [[Helen Hayes]] and [[Susan Strasberg]] in [[Patricia Moyes]]' adaptation of Jean Anouilh's play, ''Time Remembered'' (''[[Léocadia]]'' in the original French version).{{Sfnm|1a1=Alpert|1y=1986|1p=78|2a1=Hischak|2y=2009|2p=469}} Sensing an opportunity for a career resurgence, Burton readily agreed to do the role of Prince Albert, who falls in love with a [[Hatmaking|milliner]] named Amanda (Strasberg).{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=78}} It was on 10 September 1957, a day before he left for New York, that Sybil gave birth to their first child, [[Kate Burton (actress)|Kate Burton]].{{Sfn|Munn|2014|p=113}} ''Time Remembered'' was well received on its opening nights at Broadway's [[Morosco Theatre]] and also at the [[National Theatre (Washington, D.C.)|National Theatre]] in Washington, D.C.{{Sfn|Ferris|1981|p=130}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ebay.com/itm/Richard-Burton-Susan-Strasberg-Time-Remembered-Playbill-1957-Washington-HZ-/291724349422?hash=item43ec204fee | title=Richard Burton Susan Strasberg "Time Remembered" Playbill 1957 Washington HZ | publisher=[[eBay]] | date=8 October 1957 | access-date=22 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422124653/http://www.ebay.com/itm/Richard-Burton-Susan-Strasberg-Time-Remembered-Playbill-1957-Washington-HZ-/291724349422?hash=item43ec204fee | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> The play went on to have a good run of 248 performances for six months. Burton received his first [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play]] nomination while Hayes won her second [[Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play]] for her role as Burton's mother, The Duchess of Pont-Au-Bronc.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.playbill.com/production/time-remembered-morosco-theatre-vault-0000002433 | title=Time Remembered | work=Playbill | access-date=22 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422124635/http://www.playbill.com/production/time-remembered-morosco-theatre-vault-0000002433 | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1958, Burton appeared with [[Yvonne Furneaux]] in [[DuPont Show of the Month]]'s 90-minute television adaptation of [[Emily Brontë]]'s classic novel ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'' as [[Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)|Heathcliff]].{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=Appendices: Television}} The film, directed by [[Daniel Petrie]],{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=83}} aired on 9 May 1958 on [[CBS]] with Burton garnering plaudits from both the critics and Philip, who thought he was "magnificent" in it.{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=123}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.paleycenter.org/p-70-tv-countdown-50 | title=The Paley Center's Countdown to the 70th Anniversary of Television: TV Facts You Will Want to Know! | publisher=[[Paley Center for Media]] | access-date=13 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313093703/https://www.paleycenter.org/p-70-tv-countdown-50 | archive-date=13 March 2018 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Burton next featured as Jimmy Porter, "an angry young man" role, in the film version of [[John Osborne]]'s play ''[[Look Back in Anger (1959 film)|Look Back in Anger]]'' (1959), a gritty drama about middle-class life in the British Midlands, directed by [[Tony Richardson]], again with Claire Bloom as co-star. Biographer Bragg observed that ''Look Back in Anger'' "had defined a generation, provided a watershed in Britain's view of itself and brought [Osborne] into the public prints as a controversial, dangerous figure".{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=124}} Burton was able to identify himself with Porter, finding it "fascinating to find a man who came presumably from my sort of class, who actually could talk the way I would like to talk".{{Sfn|Ferris|1981|p=134}} The film, and Burton's performance, received mixed reviews upon release.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/81782/look-back-in-anger#articles-reviews | title=Look Back in Anger (1959)&nbsp;— Article | publisher=Turner Classic Movies | access-date=22 April 2016 | first=David | last=Sterritt | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422143522/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/81782/Look-Back-in-Anger/articles.html | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> Biographer Alpert noted that though reviews in the UK were favourable, those in the United States were more negative.{{Sfn|Alpert|1986|p=86}} Crowther wrote of Burton: "His tirades are eloquent but tiring, his breast beatings are dramatic but dull and his occasional lapses into sadness are pathetic but endurable."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0DE2DE1431EE3BBC4E52DFBF668382649EDE | title=Screen: Briton's Protest; ' Look Back in Anger' Opens at 2 Theatres | work=The New York Times | date=16 September 1959 | access-date=22 April 2016 | first=Bosley | last=Crowther | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422143902/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0DE2DE1431EE3BBC4E52DFBF668382649EDE | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> [[Geoff Andrew]] of ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' magazine felt Burton was too old for the part,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timeout.com/us/film/look-back-in-anger | title=Look Back in Anger | work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] | access-date=22 April 2016 | first=Geoff | last=Andrew | author-link=Geoff Andrew | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422143617/http://www.timeout.com/us/film/look-back-in-anger | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> and the ''Variety'' reviewer thought "the role gives him little opportunity for variety".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://variety.com/1958/film/reviews/look-back-in-anger-2-1200419369/ | title=Review: 'Look Back in Anger' | work=Variety | date=31 December 1958 | access-date=22 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422143908/http://variety.com/1958/film/reviews/look-back-in-anger-2-1200419369/ | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Contemporary reviews of the film have been better and it has a rating of 89% on the review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012672-look_back_in_anger/ | title=Look Back in Anger (1959) | website=Rotten Tomatoes | date=January 1958 | access-date=22 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422150718/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012672-look_back_in_anger/ | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> ''Look Back in Anger'' is now considered one of the defining films of the [[British New Wave]] cinema, a movement from the late 1950s to the late 1960s in which working-class characters became the focus of the film and conflict of social classes a central theme.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/445176/ | title=British New Wave | publisher=[[Screenonline]] | access-date=22 April 2016 | first=Phil | last=Wickham | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422150314/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/445176/ | archive-date=22 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> Jimmy Porter is also considered one of Burton's best on-screen roles;{{Sfn|Monaco|1991|p=89}} he was nominated in the Best Actor categories at the [[13th British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA]] and [[17th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe]] Awards but lost to [[Peter Sellers]] for ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'' (1959) and [[Anthony Franciosa]] for ''[[Career (1959 film)|Career]]'' (1959) respectively.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1960/film/british-actor | title=Film&nbsp;— British Actor in 1960 | publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts | access-date=30 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430013300/http://awards.bafta.org/award/1960/film/british-actor | archive-date=30 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1960 | title=Winners & Nominees 1960 | publisher=Golden Globe Award | access-date=30 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430012325/http://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1960 | archive-date=30 April 2016 | url-status=live}}</ref> Though it didn't do well commercially, Burton was proud of the effort and wrote to Philip, "I promise you that there isn't a shred of self-pity in my performance. I am for the first time ever looking forward to seeing a film in which I play."{{Sfn|Bragg|1988|p=125}} While filming ''Look Back in Anger'', Burton did another play for BBC Radio, participating in two versions, one in Welsh and another in English, of Welsh poet [[Saunders Lewis]]' ''Brad'', which was about the [[20 July plot]]. Burton voiced one of the conspirators, [[Caesar von Hofacker]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/cymruaryrawyr/database/brad.shtml | title=Richard Burton a Brad | publisher=BBC | access-date=23 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423013449/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/cymruaryrawyr/database/brad.shtml | archive-date=23 April 2016 | url-status=live | language=cy}}</ref>